Photo: Diego Torres Silvestre from Sao Paulo, Brazil · CC BY 2.0A flood study covers Rockcliffe-Smythe: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
Around Rockcliffe-Smythe, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Rockcliffe-Smythe as in most places, at $0.043 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 2.7% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Rockcliffe-Smythe grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Rockcliffe-Smythe’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Rockcliffe-Smythe: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Rockcliffe-Smythe faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Rockcliffe-Smythe grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Rockcliffe-Smythe, 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 Rockcliffe-Smythe has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Rockcliffe-Smythe’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 Rockcliffe-Smythe, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Little near Rockcliffe-Smythe’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.4% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.8% 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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Rockcliffe-Smythe, as for 638 of the 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops the list 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Rockcliffe-Smythe, burning rounds to zero.
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.
Flooding around Rockcliffe-Smythe is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Rockcliffe-Smythe: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Toronto Regional Conservation Authority and others have studied flooding in areas that include Rockcliffe-Smythe: 2 studies, the latest from 2021.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
| Rockcliffe Special Policy Area | Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Rockcliffe-Smythe 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Rockcliffe-Smythe’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Ordinary seismic risk in Rockcliffe-Smythe: $0.043 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.043 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Rockcliffe-Smythe is about even 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; Rockcliffe-Smythe, 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.
Middle of the pack: 36% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Rockcliffe-Smythe.
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 Rockcliffe-Smythe’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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Toronto
2.7% of homes tested around Rockcliffe-Smythe are over the radon 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
Rockcliffe-Smythe’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
Fewer homes top the guideline around Rockcliffe-Smythe (2.7%) than in the typical town in Ontario (4%).
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 Rockcliffe-Smythe; 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Rockcliffe-Smythe can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Rockcliffe-Smythe
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Rockcliffe-Smythe; 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 Rockcliffe-Smythe 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 Rockcliffe-Smythe’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockcliffe-Smythe | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Mount Dennis 13,364 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Lambton Baby Point 7,966 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Keelesdale-Eglinton West 11,407 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Junction Area 14,205 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Runnymede-Bloor West Village 10,129 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Edenbridge-Humber Valley 15,480 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Rockcliffe-Smythe (low), with Mount Dennis next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Rockcliffe-Smythe faces
What to do about the hazards Rockcliffe-Smythe 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Rockcliffe-Smythe.
- 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 Rockcliffe-Smythe’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Rockcliffe-Smythe’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Rockcliffe-Smythe takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Rockcliffe-Smythe
How big is the earthquake risk in Rockcliffe-Smythe?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Rockcliffe-Smythe’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Rockcliffe-Smythe flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Rockcliffe-Smythe; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Rockcliffe-Smythe at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Rockcliffe-Smythe’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Rockcliffe-Smythe?
In Health Canada’s survey, 2.7% of 74 homes tested in Rockcliffe-Smythe’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Rockcliffe-Smythe’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Rockcliffe-Smythe grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).