Photo: Canmenwalker · CC BY 4.0A quiet place for hazards: low wildfire, little earthquake risk, and 2.7% of tested homes over the radon guideline in High Park North’s area
Wildfire isn’t High Park North’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). NRCan expects $0.043 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in High Park North, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives High Park North a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about High Park North’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for High Park North: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What High Park North faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
High Park North grades A− for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like High Park North 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: 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 High Park North has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around High Park North’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 High Park North, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
With 0.5% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.7% within 25 km, the land around High Park North gives a fire little to burn.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around High Park North is zero, as for 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario, while Sioux Lookout reaches 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; High Park North, 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.
No flood study is listed for High Park North
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for High Park North: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, High Park North has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Ontario reaches 69% of towns, beside 58% across Canada, but not High Park North.
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 High Park North’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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in High Park North: $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, High Park North’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, High Park North included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around High Park North ($0.043) matches the middle in Ontario ($0.043), far from Alexandria’s $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.
Middle of the pack: 36% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than High Park North.
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 High Park North’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 High Park North: 2.7% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 2.7% of tested homes around High Park North, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Ontario (4%), the area around High Park North 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.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and High Park North; 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.
One home in High Park North can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the City of Toronto Health Unit
Weather and fire alerts for High Park North
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for High Park North; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for High Park North come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How High Park North’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Park North | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| Junction Area 14,205 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Runnymede-Bloor West Village 10,129 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Junction-Wallace Emerson 23,484 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
| High Park-Swansea 22,970 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Weston-Pelham Park 10,680 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Roncesvalles 14,725 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than High Park North (low); Junction Area comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what High Park North faces
What to do about the hazards High Park North 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around High Park North’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; High Park North’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for High Park North is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for High Park North.
Questions about flooding and hazards in High Park North
Is High Park North at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around High Park North (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
How big is the earthquake risk in High Park North?
In NRCan’s seismic model, High Park North’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in High Park North?
Around High Park North, 74 survey homes were tested and 2.7% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is High Park North’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
High Park North grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does High Park North flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, High Park North’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).