Photo: Hillelfrei · CC BY-SA 4.0Concord faces fewer hazards than 90% of Canadian towns
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Concord, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). NRCan expects $0.028 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Concord, near the typical $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Concord grades A for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Concord’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Concord: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Concord faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Concord grades A for hazard risk
The grade weighs Concord’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #74 of 866 in Ontario and #383 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Concord: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Concord’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Concord burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Little near Concord’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 2.9% 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
Among the 871 towns in Ontario, Sioux Lookout burns fastest (0.16% a year); Concord is with the 638 near zero.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Concord is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Concord, from Toronto Regional Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Concord: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Concord 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
Concord 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 mapping is shown for Concord 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.
Expected shaking damage in Concord: $0.028 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.9 times the typical $0.030: Concord’s $0.028 is ordinary.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Vaughan, with Concord one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Ontario: Concord’s $0.028 against a median of $0.043; Alexandria has $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.
Concord’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 51% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Concord’s 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).
Little radon around Concord: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the York Regional Health Unit: radon tests
A lower share than most: 0% of tested homes around Concord, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The median in Ontario is 4% over 200 Bq/m³; around Concord it is 0%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Concord 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Concord 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 Concord
Alerts for Concord 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Concord to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Concord
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concord | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Beverley Glen 38,720 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Westminster-Branson 26,027 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Edgeley 7,016 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Thornhill 17,940 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
| Newtonbrook West 23,978 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.043 | 2.7% | Yes |
| Crossroads 4,525 · 4.1 km | Low | $0.028 | 0% | Yes |
Beverley Glen burns a little more than Concord, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Concord faces
What to do about the hazards Concord 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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Concord until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Concord without grading them.
- 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 Concord’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Concord’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Concord
Is Concord at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Concord since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How big is the earthquake risk in Concord?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Concord’s buildings lose $0.028 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Concord?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 95 homes tested in Concord’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Concord’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Concord grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Concord flood?
A flood study covers Concord on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).