Flood mapping exists for Malvern West: 1 on record, latest by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
Wildfire isn’t Malvern West’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Malvern West 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. Hazard risk gives Malvern West a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Malvern West’s hazards
For Malvern West, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Malvern West faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Malvern West: A−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Malvern West 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Malvern West: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Malvern West’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Malvern West burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Malvern West’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 7.8 km away.
5.1% of the land within 25 km of Malvern West is forest fuel, yet only 3.6% within 5 km of its homes.
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; Malvern West, 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.
Some fire is mapped around Malvern West, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
Malvern West is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Malvern West: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Malvern West the inventory points to Toronto Regional Conservation Authority’s 2021 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Malvern West 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 studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Malvern West.
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 Malvern West: $0.043 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Malvern West, $0.043 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.4 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Ontario is $0.043; Malvern West, at $0.043, is right beside it, and Alexandria tops the list 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.
Malvern West’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 36% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Malvern West is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk published for the city of Toronto, not by town
2.7% of homes tested around Malvern West are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Malvern West’s area, at 2.7%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high. Malvern West shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the City of Toronto Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; around Malvern West it is 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 Malvern West, 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Malvern West’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Malvern West
Alerts for Malvern West 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 Malvern West 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 Malvern West
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malvern West | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Malvern East 26,113 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Morningside Heights 24,972 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Morningside 17,708 · 2.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Woburn North 26,662 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Agincourt South-Malvern West 24,438 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Agincourt North 27,790 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
Malvern West’s low band tops its neighbours; Malvern East is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Malvern West faces
What to do about the hazards Malvern West 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. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Malvern West sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Malvern West’s included.
- 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 Malvern West.
- 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 Malvern West floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Malvern West
How big is the earthquake risk in Malvern West?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Malvern West’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Malvern West at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Malvern West has burned since 1986, the last in 2001, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Malvern West flood?
Malvern West’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How is Malvern West’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Malvern West A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Malvern West?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.7% of 74 homes tested in Malvern West’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).