Photo: Lord of the Wings© from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0West Rouge is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority
The national fire record shows next to nothing around West Rouge, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). For earthquakes West Rouge is middling, $0.043 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. 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 West Rouge a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about West Rouge’s hazards
For West Rouge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What West Rouge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in West Rouge: A−
For West Rouge, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Little of the land around West Rouge has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around West Rouge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put West Rouge at 0.001% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 6.1 km from West Rouge’s homes, none within 5 km.
About as much forest grows next to West Rouge’s homes (5.6% within 5 km) as across 25 km (5.6%).
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: West Rouge 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, West Rouge reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
A flood study covers West Rouge, from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for West Rouge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2021 study by Toronto Regional Conservation Authority covers West Rouge, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are common in Ontario: 69% of towns have one, against 58% nationally, and West Rouge is among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for West Rouge.
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.
Expected shaking damage in West Rouge: $0.043 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about West Rouge’s ground: $0.043 against a typical $0.030, 1.4 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around West Rouge ($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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than West Rouge (36%).
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 West Rouge 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: the city of Toronto
Radon runs low around West Rouge: 2.7% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
West Rouge’s area, at 2.7%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Ontario (4%), the area around West Rouge 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.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than West Rouge’s band, which holds 37%.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in West Rouge, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the City of Toronto Health Unit
Where to get warnings in West Rouge
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for West Rouge; 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 West Rouge 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 West Rouge’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Rouge | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Centennial Scarborough 13,453 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Highland Creek 12,678 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| West Hill 28,414 · 4.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Morningside 17,708 · 4.9 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Morningside Heights 24,972 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Malvern East 26,113 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
Nowhere around West Rouge burns more: Centennial Scarborough, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what West Rouge faces
Practical steps for West Rouge’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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 West Rouge sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, West Rouge’s included.
- 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 West Rouge floods.
- 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 West Rouge.
Questions about flooding and hazards in West Rouge
Is West Rouge at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: West Rouge’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2001), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is West Rouge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
West Rouge’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in West Rouge?
2.7% of the 74 homes Health Canada tested around West Rouge topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does West Rouge flood?
West Rouge’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 big is the earthquake risk in West Rouge?
In NRCan’s seismic model, West Rouge’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).