Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainWellington is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Wellington’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Wellington sits near the middle: $0.031 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 3.5% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Wellington a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Wellington’s hazards
For Wellington, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Wellington faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Wellington: A−
The grade weighs Wellington’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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 Wellington: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Wellington’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Wellington is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Wellington: 45% within 5 km and 40% 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
None of the 13 towns on Prince Edward Island has a burn rate above zero to three decimals; Wellington is no exception.
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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Wellington, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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.
Flooding around Wellington is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action - Government of Prince Edward Island
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Wellington: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Wellington 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
100% of towns on Prince Edward Island have a flood study, more than Canada’s 58%; Wellington has one too.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Wellington.
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 Wellington: $0.031 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Wellington’s $0.031 matches the typical town’s $0.030.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.031, Wellington is above the typical town on Prince Edward Island ($0.020); O'Leary has the most at $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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 48% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Wellington.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Wellington.
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 Wellington: 3.5% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Prince Edward Island Health Region: radon tests
A lower share than most: 3.5% of tested homes around Wellington, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Wellington is ordinary for towns on Prince Edward Island: 3.5%, beside a median of 3.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Wellington, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Wellington, 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).
Where to get warnings in Wellington
Alerts for Wellington 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 Wellington 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 Wellington’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | Low | $0.031 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Miscouche 1,113 · 12 km | Low | $0.036 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Central Prince 1,287 · 14 km | Low | $0.032 | 3.5% | Yes |
| Summerside 19,006 · 18 km | Low | $0.030 | 3.5% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Wellington (low), with Miscouche next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Wellington faces
What to do about the hazards Wellington 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Wellington.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Wellington, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Wellington is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Wellington’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Wellington
Is Wellington at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Wellington’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Wellington?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Wellington $0.031 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Wellington?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3.5% of 113 homes tested in Wellington’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Wellington flood?
There is flood mapping for Wellington on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Wellington’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Wellington’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).