Photo: P199 · Public domainFlood mapping exists for Cumberland: 6 on record, latest by Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Cumberland, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.15 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Cumberland’s survey area, 6.2% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Cumberland a grade of C+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Cumberland’s hazards
For Cumberland, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Cumberland faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Cumberland grades C+ for hazard risk
The grade weighs Cumberland’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #703 of 866 in Ontario and #1,894 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 64 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Cumberland: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Cumberland’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Cumberland at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Cumberland’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 13 km off.
10% of the land within 25 km of Cumberland is forest fuel, yet only 3.9% within 5 km of its homes.
Shares of land within 5 and 25 km of populated blocks: burned at least once in 1986–2025 (CWFIS burned-area composite), forest fuel and grass (fire behaviour fuel types, 2026, 250 m grid).
Burn rate a year, towns in Ontario · highest of 871
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); Cumberland is with the 638 near zero.
Each bar: the yearly average share of land within 25 km of a town’s homes that burned, 1986–2025 (CWFIS); the seven highest towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cumberland shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
Bands of the yearly burn rate: low under 0.05%, moderate under 0.25%, high under 1%, very high 1% or more; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System: National Burned Area Composite 1986–2025 and fire behaviour fuel types (2026), Natural Resources Canada. Measured within 25 km and 5 km of each populated dissemination area; past fire, not a forecast.
6 flood studies cover Cumberland, the newest from Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Cumberland, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Cumberland the inventory points to 6 studies, most recently Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s in 2019.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billberry Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2019 | final |
| Becketts Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
| Rideau River, Hogs Back to Rideau Falls | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2016 | final |
| Gatineau-Argenteuil-Collindes-de-l'Outaouais | Municipalité de Pontiac | 2016 | final |
| Cardinal Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
| Ottawa River | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Cumberland is one of the 69% of towns in Ontario with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Cumberland’s homes stand in a flood zone.
The inventory’s own caution (NRCan): “The Canada Flood Map (CFM) does not include every flood hazard map in Canada and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. It should not be relied upon as the official source of flood mapping information. Furthermore, if a map appears to be missing, this does not necessarily mean that the area has never been mapped. For the official version of a map, updated information, or confirmation of applicable regulations, please contact the local authority responsible for flood mapping.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is Cumberland’s costliest hazard: $0.15 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.15 per $1,000, Cumberland carries roughly 5 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Ottawa as a whole, not for Cumberland alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Above the middle in Ontario: Cumberland’s $0.15 against a median of $0.043, with Alexandria highest at $0.21.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cumberland sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 15% are higher.
Each column: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more in that range of yearly loss per $1,000 (NRCan, 2022).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Cumberland is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Cumberland: 6.2% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Around Cumberland, 6.2% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the City of Ottawa Health Unit, with Cumberland one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around Cumberland has 6.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cumberland is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
Each bar: the share of Canada’s towns of 2,500 people or more whose survey area had that share of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
Whatever Cumberland’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Cumberland
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cumberland; Alert Ready carries the urgent ones to phones, radio and TV.
| Alert | What it means |
|---|---|
| Warning | Severe weather is happening or about to: act now. |
| Watch | Conditions favour severe weather: be ready. |
| Advisory | Weather that is less severe but could disrupt the day. |
| Special weather statement | Unusual weather worth knowing about. |
| Special air quality statement | Poor air, often wildfire smoke. |
For fires near Cumberland, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Cumberland
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Bassin-de-la-Lièvre 10,571 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Cardinal Creek 11,676 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Fallingbrook 17,836 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Vallée-de-la-Lièvre 15,388 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Queenswood - Chatelaine 4,537 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Portobello South 29,960 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
Bassin-de-la-Lièvre burns a little more than Cumberland, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cumberland faces
What to do about the hazards Cumberland faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- Never drive through floodwater.
- Move papers and medicines upstairs.
- Ask whether your street is mapped.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Cumberland.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Cumberland without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Cumberland’s included.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Cumberland until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cumberland
How big is the earthquake risk in Cumberland?
About $0.15 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Cumberland.
How is Cumberland’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Cumberland C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Cumberland flood?
A flood study covers Cumberland on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Cumberland at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Cumberland has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Cumberland?
In Health Canada’s survey, 6.2% of 64 homes tested in Cumberland’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Seismic risk: Natural Resources Canada. Radon: Health Canada. Wildfire: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Flood studies: Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Sources: NRCan, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model 2022 · Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes · CWFIS, National Burned Area Composite and FBP fuel types · NRCan, Canada Flood Map Inventory. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).