Photo: Balcer · Public domainFlood mapping exists for Woodstock: 1 on record, latest by Grand River Conservation Authority
Fire has left almost no mark near Woodstock: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is about as much of a worry in Woodstock as in most places, at $0.019 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Woodstock grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Woodstock’s hazards
For Woodstock, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Woodstock faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Woodstock: B−
Seismic risk and radon set Woodstock’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #659 of 866 in Ontario and #1,621 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.
Little of the land around Woodstock has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Woodstock’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Woodstock, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest fuel is scarce around Woodstock: 2.6% of the land within 5 km, 0.9% 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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Woodstock, 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.
Woodstock shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Woodstock, from Grand River Conservation Authority: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Woodstock, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Woodstock is Grand River Conservation Authority’s, dated 2018; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand River Regulatory Floodplain | Grand River Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
69% of towns in Ontario have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Woodstock has one too.
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 Woodstock’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 Woodstock: $0.019 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Woodstock, $0.019 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.6 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Ontario peaks in Alexandria ($0.21); Woodstock, at $0.019, is below the median of $0.043.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
66% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Woodstock.
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 Woodstock 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).
12% of homes tested around Woodstock are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A higher share than most: 12% of tested homes around Woodstock, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Oxford County Health Unit, with Woodstock one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Woodstock, 12% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1% over 600, against a median of 4% in Ontario.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Woodstock, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go 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.
Neighbouring homes in Woodstock can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Woodstock
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Woodstock; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Woodstock, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Woodstock
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock | Low | $0.019 | 12% | Yes |
| Tavistock 8,710 · 12 km | Low | $0.020 | 12% | Yes |
| Ingersoll 14,911 · 16 km | Low | $0.021 | 12% | None listed |
| South-West Oxford 8,375 · 16 km | Low | $0.022 | 12% | None listed |
| Thamesford 9,755 · 17 km | Low | $0.019 | 12% | None listed |
| Plattsville 8,251 · 18 km | Low | $0.022 | 12% | Yes |
Among its neighbours Woodstock has the most fire on record (low); Tavistock follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Woodstock faces
Practical steps for Woodstock’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Woodstock’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 Woodstock floods.
- 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 Woodstock sits in.
- 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 Woodstock.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Woodstock
Is radon a problem in Woodstock?
12% of the 104 homes Health Canada tested around Woodstock topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is Woodstock at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Woodstock since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How big is the earthquake risk in Woodstock?
About $0.019 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Woodstock.
How is Woodstock’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Woodstock B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Woodstock flood?
Woodstock’s 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).