Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Orford: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Ville de Sherbrooke
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Orford, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). NRCan expects $0.042 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Orford, near the typical $0.030. Radon is about average around Orford: 7.3% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Orford a grade of B, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Orford’s hazards
For Orford, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Orford faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Orford: B
Two inputs always count for Orford, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #63 of 507 in Quebec and #1,442 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 55 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Orford: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Orford’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.000% burned a year, Orford is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Fire has stayed at least 6.1 km from Orford’s homes since 1986.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Orford: 32% within 5 km and 31% 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 Quebec · highest of 513
To three decimals the burn rate around Orford is zero, as for 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec, while Mistissini reaches 0.31%.
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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Orford sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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.
Orford is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Ville de Sherbrooke
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Orford: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Ville de Sherbrooke studied flooding in an area that includes Orford (2010); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke Zones inondables | Ville de Sherbrooke | 2010 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Orford among them, below the 58% across Canada.
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 Orford.
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 Orford $0.042 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.042 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Orford is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.4 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Quebec peaks in La Pocatière ($0.48); Orford, at $0.042, is below the median of $0.14.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Orford sits mid-range among Canada’s 2,611 towns: 43% expect more shaking damage.
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 Orford.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
7.3% of homes tested around Orford are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Estrie health region: radon tests
Orford’s area, at 7.3%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Orford is ordinary for towns in Quebec: 7.3%, beside a median of 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Orford with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Orford, 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 Orford
Alerts for Orford 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 Orford 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)
Hazards in the places around Orford
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orford | Low | $0.042 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Magog 30,764 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.047 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Eastman 2,706 · 8.3 km | Low | $0.040 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Austin 1,959 · 9.8 km | Low | $0.042 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 2,938 · 14 km | Low | $0.038 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Saint-Denis-de-Brompton 5,249 · 15 km | Low | $0.047 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Racine 1,441 · 15 km | Low | $0.041 | 7.3% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Magog (low), still no more than Orford (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Orford faces
What to do about the hazards Orford 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. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Orford.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Orford’s included.
- 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 Orford.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Orford takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Orford
Is Orford at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Orford has burned since 1986, the last in 2016, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Orford’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Orford grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Orford?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Orford $0.042 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Orford?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.3% of 55 homes tested in Orford’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Orford flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Orford; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
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).