Kingston faces fewer hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
For Kingston, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk in Kingston sits near the middle: $0.018 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 3.5% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Kingston a grade of A, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Kingston’s hazards
For Kingston, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Kingston faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Kingston: A
For Kingston, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Kingston: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Kingston’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Kingston is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest crowds in on Kingston: 20% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 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 on Prince Edward Island · highest of 13
Fire is all but absent around the 13 towns on Prince Edward Island, Kingston included.
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 Kingston, 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.
2 flood studies cover Kingston, the newest from Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Kingston: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Kingston is Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI Pluvial Flood Mapping | Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island | 2024 | final |
| Prince Edward Island Coastal Hazards | Province of PEI, Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action | 2021 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Kingston is one of the 100% of towns on Prince Edward Island 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.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Kingston floods.
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 Kingston $0.018 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.6 times the typical $0.030: Kingston’s $0.018 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Kingston runs at $0.018 a year, near the $0.020 of the typical town on Prince Edward Island; O'Leary has $0.034.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
68% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Kingston.
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 Kingston 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 Kingston: 3.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Prince Edward Island Health Region: radon tests
Fewer homes than usual test high around Kingston: 3.5% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Kingston, 3.5% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town on Prince Edward Island (3.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few tests over the guideline: Kingston shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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.
Whatever Kingston’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Kingston
Alerts for Kingston 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Kingston are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Kingston’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | Low | $0.018 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Miltonvale Park 1,279 · 7.6 km | Low | $0.019 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Cornwall 7,920 · 8.8 km | Low | $0.019 | 3.5% | Yes |
| West River 4,155 · 12 km | Low | $0.016 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Charlottetown 48,118 · 13 km | Low | $0.019 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Crapaud, Part 1 1,781 · 13 km | Low | $0.015 | 3.5% | Yes |
| New Glasgow 5,502 · 13 km | Low | $0.020 | 3.5% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Kingston (low); Miltonvale Park comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Kingston faces
Practical steps for Kingston’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
- 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 Kingston.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Kingston’s included.
- 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 Kingston.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Kingston takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Kingston
Does Kingston flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Kingston; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Kingston?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Kingston’s buildings lose $0.018 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Kingston’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Kingston A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Kingston at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Kingston: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
Is radon a problem in Kingston?
The area’s survey found 3.5% of 113 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Kingston.
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).