Photo: Earl Andrew · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Laurentian: 1 on record, latest by Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Laurentian, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% 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. In Health Canada’s survey, 6.2% of homes tested in Laurentian’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Laurentian a grade of C+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Laurentian’s hazards
For Laurentian, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Laurentian faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Laurentian: C+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Laurentian 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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 64 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Laurentian has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Laurentian’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.001% of the land near Laurentian burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Fire has stayed at least 16 km from Laurentian’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel rises from 0.2% within 5 km of Laurentian to 8.8% 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
The land around Laurentian burns at 0.001% a year, the 83rd highest rate of 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops it at 0.16%.
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.
Some fire is mapped around Laurentian, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% rank 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.
Laurentian is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Laurentian: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Laurentian the inventory points to Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s 2014 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa River | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario: 69% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Laurentian is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Laurentian to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Laurentian’s costliest hazard: $0.15 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Laurentian loses $0.15, 5 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Laurentian, at $0.15, sits above the median of $0.043.
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 Laurentian.
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).
For Laurentian the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Ottawa
6.2% of homes tested around Laurentian are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the City of Ottawa Health Unit: radon tests
Around Laurentian, 6.2% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; the survey area around Laurentian has 6.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Laurentian’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
A low area share in Laurentian doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Laurentian
Alerts for Laurentian come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Evacuation orders for Laurentian come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Laurentian
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurentian | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Whitehaven - Woodpark - Glabar Park 11,111 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Westboro 12,899 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Carlington 16,354 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Braemar Park-Belair Heights-Copeland Park 9,248 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Island Park-Wellington Village 5,486 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Queensway Terrace North 3,160 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Whitehaven - Woodpark - Glabar Park (low), still no more than Laurentian (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Laurentian faces
What to do about the hazards Laurentian 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 Laurentian.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Laurentian without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Laurentian’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 Laurentian until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Laurentian
Does Laurentian flood?
A flood study covers Laurentian on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Laurentian?
Around Laurentian, 64 survey homes were tested and 6.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Laurentian at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Laurentian since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Laurentian?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Laurentian $0.15 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Laurentian’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Laurentian C+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).