Photo: Richard Coté · CC BY-SA 4.0Stratford’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 7.3% of area homes over the radon guideline
For Stratford, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Stratford is middling, $0.040 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Stratford grades B for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Stratford’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Stratford: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Stratford faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Stratford grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Stratford’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: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 55 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Stratford: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Stratford’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Stratford is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Stratford’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 14 km away.
The nearer ring around Stratford is less wooded (56% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (62%).
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 514
Near-zero burning puts Stratford with 145 of the 514 towns in Quebec, far below Mistissini at 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Stratford, 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Stratford
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Stratford: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Stratford on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Stratford.
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 Stratford’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.”
Expected shaking damage in Stratford: $0.040 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Stratford, $0.040 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.040, Stratford is below the typical town in Quebec ($0.14); La Pocatière is highest at $0.48.
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: 43% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Stratford.
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).
The model counts damage to Stratford’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Stratford: 7.3% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Estrie health region
The survey area of Stratford reads 7.3%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Stratford 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Stratford’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
The survey sampled homes around Stratford; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Stratford
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Stratford; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Stratford come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Stratford’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | Low | $0.040 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Disraeli 2,390 · 11 km | Low | $0.039 | 13% | None listed |
| Disraeli 1,169 · 13 km | Low | $0.044 | 13% | None listed |
| Weedon 2,845 · 16 km | Low | $0.041 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Saint-Joseph-de-Coleraine 1,920 · 18 km | Low | $0.045 | 13% | None listed |
| Lambton 1,714 · 19 km | Low | $0.038 | 7.3% | None listed |
Weedon burns a little more than Stratford, 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 Stratford faces
What to do about the hazards Stratford 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Stratford’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Stratford without grading them.
- 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 Stratford until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Stratford’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Stratford
How big is the earthquake risk in Stratford?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Stratford $0.040 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Stratford at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Stratford has burned since 1986, the last in 2001, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Stratford flood?
Nothing is listed for Stratford on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
Is radon a problem in Stratford?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.3% of 55 homes tested in Stratford’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Stratford’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Stratford’s Hazard risk grade is B, 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).