Photo: Rick Harris from Toronto, Ontario, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Uxbridge faces fewer hazards than 95% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Uxbridge’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.001% a year). Seismic risk in Uxbridge sits near the middle: $0.021 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is lower than usual: 0% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Uxbridge grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Uxbridge’s hazards
For Uxbridge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Uxbridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Uxbridge: A
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Uxbridge with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #19 of 866 in Ontario and #252 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Uxbridge: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Uxbridge’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Uxbridge burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Uxbridge’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 16 km out.
The ring nearest Uxbridge is the most wooded: 23% forest fuel within 5 km against 14% 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
The land around Uxbridge burns at 0.001% a year, the 83rd highest rate of 871 towns in Ontario; Sioux Lookout tops it 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Uxbridge stays low, with 92%.
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.
Uxbridge is on the flood map inventory: 3 studies, latest by Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority
Flood studies whose area touches Uxbridge, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 3 studies covering Uxbridge is Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lynde Creek Watershed | Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority | 2025 | final |
| Toronto Floodline Consolidation | Toronto Regional Conservation Authority | 2021 | final |
| Duffins Creek | Toronto and Region Conservation Authority | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Uxbridge has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Uxbridge to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Uxbridge $0.021 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Nothing unusual about Uxbridge’s ground: $0.021 against a typical $0.030, 0.7 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Uxbridge’s $0.021 sits under the median in Ontario, $0.043, and well under 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: 63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Uxbridge.
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).
For Uxbridge the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Uxbridge: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Fewer homes than usual test high around Uxbridge: 0% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Nobody publishes radon tests for Uxbridge alone, so this card uses the figure for the Durham Regional Health Unit.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Uxbridge’s area, at 0%, 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.
Uxbridge 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Uxbridge’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Uxbridge
Alerts for Uxbridge 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 Uxbridge 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)
How Uxbridge’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uxbridge | Low | $0.021 | 0% | Yes |
| Port Perry 23,928 · 18 km | Low | $0.023 | 0% | Yes |
| Stouffville 58,010 · 18 km | Low | $0.024 | 0% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Uxbridge (low), with Stouffville next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Uxbridge faces
What to do about the hazards Uxbridge 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Uxbridge’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Uxbridge sits in.
- 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 Uxbridge floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Uxbridge, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Uxbridge
How is Uxbridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Uxbridge’s Hazard risk grade is A, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Uxbridge?
Expected earthquake damage in Uxbridge comes to $0.021 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Uxbridge flood?
Uxbridge’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Uxbridge at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Uxbridge has burned since 1986, the last in 2006, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Uxbridge?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 95 homes tested in Uxbridge’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).