Photo: Dillan Payne · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers Morningside Heights: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Morningside Heights’ homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Morningside Heights as in most places, at $0.043 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 2.7% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Morningside Heights a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Morningside Heights’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Morningside Heights: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Morningside Heights faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Morningside Heights grades A− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Morningside Heights’ seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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. The radon share rests on 74 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Morningside Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Morningside Heights’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Morningside Heights burns at 0.001% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Morningside Heights’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 5.5 km away.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Morningside Heights: 5.3% within 5 km, 5.8% 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
In the top quarter in Ontario: Morningside Heights ranks 83rd of 871 at 0.001% a year, with Sioux Lookout first 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.
Morningside Heights is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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 Morningside Heights, from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Morningside Heights: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Morningside Heights 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
Morningside Heights 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 Morningside Heights.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Morningside Heights $0.043 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Morningside Heights’ ground: $0.043 against a typical $0.030, 1.4 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Morningside Heights ($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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 36% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Morningside Heights.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Morningside Heights’ figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Toronto
Radon runs low around Morningside Heights: 2.7% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the City of Toronto Health Unit
At 2.7% over the guideline, the area around Morningside Heights is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Morningside Heights’ area, at 2.7%, is below the median in Ontario (4%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Morningside Heights 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.
One home in Morningside Heights 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Morningside Heights
Alerts for Morningside Heights 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Morningside Heights are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Morningside Heights
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morningside Heights | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Malvern East 26,113 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Malvern West 17,354 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Highland Creek 12,678 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Morningside 17,708 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Box Grove 25,496 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
| Vinegar Hill 19,543 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.034 | 0% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Morningside Heights has the most fire on record (low); Malvern East follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Morningside Heights faces
What to do about the hazards Morningside Heights 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
- 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 Morningside Heights floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Morningside Heights’ homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Morningside Heights sits in.
- 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 Morningside Heights’.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Morningside Heights
Is radon a problem in Morningside Heights?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.7% of 74 homes tested in Morningside Heights’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Morningside Heights?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Morningside Heights $0.043 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Morningside Heights at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Morningside Heights has burned since 1986, the last in 2001, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Morningside Heights’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Morningside Heights grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Morningside Heights flood?
Morningside Heights’ area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).