Photo: SimonP · CC BY-SA 3.0Dufferin Grove faces few natural hazards: little fire nearby, low seismic risk, radon over the guideline in 2.7% of tested homes
Fire has left almost no mark near Dufferin Grove: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Dufferin Grove as in most places, at $0.043 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Dufferin Grove grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Dufferin Grove’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Dufferin Grove: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Dufferin Grove faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Dufferin Grove grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Dufferin Grove with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #285 of 866 in Ontario and #700 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. 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.
Wildfire is rare near Dufferin Grove: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Dufferin Grove’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Dufferin Grove’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Little near Dufferin Grove’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.5% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.6% 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
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); Dufferin Grove is with the 638 near zero.
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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Dufferin Grove, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Dufferin Grove
Flood studies whose area touches Dufferin Grove, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Dufferin Grove, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario, 69% of towns against 58% nationally, but none in the inventory touches Dufferin Grove.
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 Dufferin Grove.
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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Dufferin Grove: $0.043 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Nothing unusual about Dufferin Grove’s ground: $0.043 against a typical $0.030, 1.4 times.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Toronto, with Dufferin Grove one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Dufferin Grove at $0.043 beside a median in Ontario of $0.043, with Alexandria on top 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.
Dufferin Grove 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 Dufferin Grove’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 Dufferin Grove are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Dufferin Grove’s survey area reads 2.7% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Ontario (4%), the area around Dufferin Grove 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.
Dufferin Grove is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Dufferin Grove as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the City of Toronto Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for Dufferin Grove
Alerts for Dufferin Grove 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 Dufferin Grove 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 Dufferin Grove
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dufferin Grove | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Junction-Wallace Emerson 23,484 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Dovercourt Village 12,378 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Roncesvalles 14,725 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Little Portugal 15,669 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Palmerston-Little Italy 13,171 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Trinity-Bellwoods 15,691 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Junction-Wallace Emerson (low), still no more than Dufferin Grove (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Dufferin Grove faces
What to do about the hazards Dufferin Grove 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Dufferin Grove’s.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Dufferin Grove sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Dufferin Grove’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. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Dufferin Grove floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Dufferin Grove
Does Dufferin Grove flood?
Nothing is listed for Dufferin Grove on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Dufferin Grove’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Dufferin Grove A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Dufferin Grove?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.7% of 74 homes tested in Dufferin Grove’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Dufferin Grove?
About $0.043 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Dufferin Grove.
Is Dufferin Grove at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around Dufferin Grove (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
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).