Date modified: 2024-09-25
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Historical Flood Events
Explore historic information of floods in Canada.
Historical Flood Events
Floods have affected communities across Canada for centuries. Indigenous people have passed on the knowledge of flooding through oral histories, stories, and song (traditional knowledge). More recently, the flood events have been documented in newspaper articles, reports, and other written publications.
The Historical Flood Events layer brings together over 1,400 publications of floods in more than 7,000 locations since 1696. This is a unique compilation of Canada’s flood history. Precipitation statistics are available for flood events caused by heavy rain and coastal storms from January 1, 1980 onwards.
Related Data
The Canada Flood Map Inventory (CFM) layer provides information for accessing flood hazard maps. Depending on license and public availability, the inventory may provide download links and references to the original source or owner of the data.
The Floods in Canada – Current Year layer lets you visualize the extent of some floods generated in near-real time (4 hours) and for the current year. The Floods in Canada – Archive layer shows the extent of selected floods from past years. These data are provided by emergency geomatics services using satellite imagery.
No consultation was conducted with the various providers and stakeholders on historic floods. Data quality is influenced by data source. The accuracy and completeness of the information provided is not guaranteed. Information may be missing. The absence of information does not mean that there has been no flooding in the area.
Related Sites
Learn About Flood Mapping
Flood maps show an area that may be covered by water, or show where the water reaches during a specific flood event. They are critical tools that can help us identify potential risks and mitigate flood impacts.
Flood Map and Dataset Gallery
Explore available flood maps and variety of technical data contributing to flood mapping.
