Photo: Ross Dunn · CC BY-SA 2.0Hazards in Glen Cairn: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 6.2% of tested homes
Burn scars are few around Glen Cairn, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.002% a year). Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.15 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Glen Cairn a grade of C+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Glen Cairn’s hazards
For Glen Cairn, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Glen Cairn faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Glen Cairn grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Glen Cairn with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #703 of 866 in Ontario and #1,894 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. 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.
Wildfire is rare near Glen Cairn: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Glen Cairn’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.002% of the land near Glen Cairn burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Glen Cairn’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 19 km away.
Forest fuel rises from 4.8% within 5 km of Glen Cairn to 13% within 25 km: the fuel lies away from 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
Sioux Lookout burns fastest in Ontario at 0.16% a year; Glen Cairn, at 0.002%, ranks 54th of 871.
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.
Glen Cairn is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or higher.
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.
No flood study is listed for Glen Cairn
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Glen Cairn: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Glen Cairn on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Missing from a well-mapped province: Glen Cairn has no study, where 69% of towns in Ontario have one against 58% nationally.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Glen Cairn.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Glen Cairn $0.15 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Glen Cairn loses $0.15, 5 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.15, Glen Cairn is above the typical town in Ontario ($0.043); Alexandria has the most 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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 15% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Glen Cairn.
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 Glen Cairn 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). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Ottawa
6.2% of homes tested around Glen Cairn are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the City of Ottawa Health Unit
6.2% of tested homes around Glen Cairn were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Glen Cairn than in most towns in Ontario: 6.2% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Glen Cairn with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Glen Cairn can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Glen Cairn
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Glen Cairn; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Glen Cairn come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Glen Cairn
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Cairn | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Stittsville East 10,482 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Bridlewood - Emerald Meadows 25,824 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Katimavik-Hazeldean 11,437 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Stittsville North 13,331 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Stittsville 19,753 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Beaverbrook 6,762 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Glen Cairn (low); Stittsville East comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Glen Cairn faces
What to do about the hazards Glen Cairn 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Glen Cairn.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Glen Cairn’s included.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Glen Cairn takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Glen Cairn.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Glen Cairn
Is Glen Cairn at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Glen Cairn since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Glen Cairn flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Glen Cairn’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Glen Cairn?
Around Glen Cairn, 64 survey homes were tested and 6.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Glen Cairn?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Glen Cairn’s buildings lose $0.15 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Glen Cairn’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Glen Cairn grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).