Photo: Loozrboy from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A flood study covers Birchcliffe-Cliffside: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Birchcliffe-Cliffside as in most places, at $0.043 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is lower than usual: 2.7% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Birchcliffe-Cliffside grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Birchcliffe-Cliffside: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Birchcliffe-Cliffside faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Birchcliffe-Cliffside: A−
Two inputs always count for Birchcliffe-Cliffside, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #285 of 866 in Ontario and #700 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 74 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Birchcliffe-Cliffside has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Birchcliffe-Cliffside burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 19 km from Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel is scarce around Birchcliffe-Cliffside: 0.6% of the land within 5 km, 2.1% 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
At 0.001% a year, Birchcliffe-Cliffside is near the top in Ontario: 83rd of 871, behind Sioux Lookout (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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Birchcliffe-Cliffside 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.
A flood study covers Birchcliffe-Cliffside, from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Birchcliffe-Cliffside: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Toronto Regional Conservation Authority studied flooding in an area that includes Birchcliffe-Cliffside (2021); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Birchcliffe-Cliffside 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 mapping is shown for Birchcliffe-Cliffside 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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Birchcliffe-Cliffside: $0.043 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.043 per $1,000, Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.4 times).
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Toronto, Birchcliffe-Cliffside included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s $0.043 is close to the median in Ontario, $0.043; Alexandria is 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.
Birchcliffe-Cliffside sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 36% expect more shaking damage.
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 model counts damage to Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
2.7% of homes tested around Birchcliffe-Cliffside are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s area has fewer, 2.7%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Ontario (4%), the area around Birchcliffe-Cliffside has fewer high tests: 2.7%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Birchcliffe-Cliffside, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Birchcliffe-Cliffside as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the City of Toronto Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Birchcliffe-Cliffside
Alerts for Birchcliffe-Cliffside 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Birchcliffe-Cliffside to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Birchcliffe-Cliffside
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birchcliffe-Cliffside | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Oakridge 13,913 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Clairlea-Birchmount 27,690 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Taylor-Massey 15,050 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| East End-Danforth 22,055 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| O'Connor-Parkview 18,746 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Kennedy Park 17,156 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Birchcliffe-Cliffside has the most fire on record (low); Oakridge follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Birchcliffe-Cliffside faces
What to do about the hazards Birchcliffe-Cliffside 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Birchcliffe-Cliffside.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Birchcliffe-Cliffside takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Birchcliffe-Cliffside
How big is the earthquake risk in Birchcliffe-Cliffside?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Birchcliffe-Cliffside?
Around Birchcliffe-Cliffside, 74 survey homes were tested and 2.7% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Birchcliffe-Cliffside flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Birchcliffe-Cliffside; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Birchcliffe-Cliffside at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Birchcliffe-Cliffside since 1986 (last in 2001); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Birchcliffe-Cliffside’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).