Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Westboro is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Municipalité de Pontiac
Fire has left almost no mark near Westboro: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% 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). Radon around Westboro is ordinary for Canada: 6.2% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Westboro a grade of C+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Westboro’s hazards
For Westboro, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Westboro faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Westboro: C+
Two inputs always count for Westboro, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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. 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 Westboro has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Westboro’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Westboro burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Westboro’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 15 km out.
Close to Westboro there is little to burn (0.3% forest fuel within 5 km), but 8.5% of the land within 25 km is forest.
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; Westboro, at 0.001%, ranks 83rd 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Westboro reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
2 flood studies cover Westboro, the newest from Municipalité de Pontiac
Flood studies whose area touches Westboro, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Westboro is Municipalité de Pontiac’s, from 2016; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatineau-Argenteuil-Collindes-de-l'Outaouais | Municipalité de Pontiac | 2016 | final |
| Ottawa River | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study puts Westboro with 69% of towns in Ontario; Canada’s share is 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Westboro.
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 Westboro’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.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Westboro loses $0.15, 5 times as much.
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Ottawa as a whole, not for Westboro alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Westboro, 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.
15% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Westboro, which places it in the upper third.
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 Westboro 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).
6.2% of homes tested around Westboro are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Around Westboro, 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 Westboro has 6.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Westboro 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.
Neighbouring homes in Westboro 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). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the City of Ottawa Health Unit
Where to get warnings in Westboro
Alerts for Westboro 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 Westboro 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 Westboro
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westboro | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Island Park-Wellington Village 5,486 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Laurentian 11,133 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Carlington 16,354 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Hintonburg-Mechanicsville 10,966 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Civic Hospital 6,091 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Whitehaven - Woodpark - Glabar Park 11,111 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Westboro (low), with Island Park-Wellington Village next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Westboro faces
What to do about the hazards Westboro 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Westboro’s included.
- 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 Westboro.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Westboro 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 Westboro.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westboro
Is Westboro at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Westboro since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Westboro flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Westboro; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is Westboro’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Westboro’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Westboro?
Expected earthquake damage in Westboro comes to $0.15 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Westboro?
Around Westboro, 64 survey homes were tested and 6.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).