Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Springwater faces fewer hazards than 96% of Canadian towns
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Springwater’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Springwater sits near the middle: $0.017 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Springwater a grade of A+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Springwater’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Springwater: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Springwater faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Springwater: A+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Springwater with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #14 of 866 in Ontario and #237 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Springwater: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Springwater’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Springwater, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Springwater: 15% within 5 km, 13% within 25 km.
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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Springwater, as for 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops the list 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Springwater is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority has mapped flooding for Springwater (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Springwater: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2024 study by Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority covers Springwater, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Barrie - Barrie Creeks | Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario: 69% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and Springwater is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Springwater’s homes are at risk.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Springwater: $0.017 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Springwater’s $0.017 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.6 times as much).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Ontario expects $0.043 a year in shaking damage; Springwater expects less, $0.017, and Alexandria the most, $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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (70%) face more earthquake damage than Springwater.
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).
The loss is to Springwater’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Springwater: 0.9% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Springwater’s area, at 0.9%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Springwater than in most towns in Ontario: 0.9% against 4%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Springwater; 63% sit higher.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Springwater as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Springwater
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Springwater; 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 Springwater, 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)
How Springwater’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
Barrie burns a little more than Springwater, 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 Springwater faces
What to do about the hazards Springwater 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Springwater until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Springwater’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Springwater’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Springwater without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Springwater
How is Springwater’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Springwater’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Springwater?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0.9% of 109 homes tested in Springwater’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Springwater at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Springwater: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
Does Springwater flood?
A flood study covers Springwater on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Springwater?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Springwater $0.017 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).