Radon in Kitchener
Kitchener is the largest of the three cities in Waterloo Region, on the Grand River, with a downtown that has been built up quickly and subdivisions growing out to the south and west.
Kitchener radon guide
Radon in Waterloo Region
Radon testing and mitigation in Waterloo Region
Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge on the Grand River, over the sand and gravel of the Waterloo Moraine, with farm country in the townships.
Radon in Waterloo Region
Waterloo Region is three cities and four townships: Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, plus Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot and North Dumfries. It is a different housing market from the rest of our service area, with two universities and a college, a large rental stock, and a lot of new construction. In the Health Canada survey data that Cancer Care Ontario tabulated by public health unit, 4.0% of the homes tested in the Region of Waterloo were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. That is lower than the Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton and Perth figures in the same table, and it still means about one home in 25.
What’s under the ground
Much of the region sits on the Waterloo Moraine, a ridge of sand, gravel and till that is also an important source of the region’s drinking water, and the Grand River and its tributaries run through all three cities. Sand and gravel move soil gas freely, and the Grand and Speed river valleys cut down to shallow bedrock in places around Cambridge.
The homes
The housing runs from century brick homes in central Kitchener and Galt to post-war bungalows, student rentals around the universities, and tall, tight new-build subdivisions in places like Doon South, Williamsburg, Laurelwood and Hespeler. The region also has a large number of basement apartments and finished lower levels, where Health Canada’s guideline applies to anywhere someone spends more than four hours a day.
Public health: Region of Waterloo Public Health.
What the data says
4.0%
Of homes tested in the Region of Waterloo were at or above 200 Bq/m³ in the Health Canada survey data tabulated by Cancer Care Ontario (2009 to 2013).Source: Cancer Care Ontario — Risk of Residential Radon Exposure Varies Geographically (results by public health unit, Health Canada survey data 2009–2013)
1 in 8
Ontario homes at or above Health Canada’s 200 Bq/m³ guideline in the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey, more than double the share found a decade earlier.Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Exposure in the Residential Buildings of Urban and Rural Communities (2024)
~100
Roughly how many homes per health region the first national survey (2009–2011) could test. Too few to clear any neighbourhood, which is why public maps can’t tell you about your house.Source: Health Canada — Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes, Final Report (2012)
Local factors
Why Waterloo Region homes should test
Sandy or gravelly soils
Sand and gravel let soil gas move freely and over longer distances. More of the radon formed in the ground can reach the air around your foundation instead of decaying in place.
Glacial soils with Shield debris
The till and gravel left by glaciers here includes ground-up rock carried south from the Canadian Shield. Uranium travels with it, so radon can form close to your footings even where the bedrock itself is low in uranium.
Shallow or fractured bedrock
Where rock sits close to the surface, as on the Niagara Escarpment or the limestone plains near Lake Erie, joints and fractures can act as pipelines that carry soil gas toward foundations.
New, airtight construction
Canadian research shows newer homes have tended to test higher than older ones. Bigger, taller and tighter homes create a stronger stack effect that draws soil gas in through the slab.
Century homes
Fieldstone, rubble and early concrete foundations, earth-floor cellars and open sumps give radon many ways in. Older doesn’t mean safer: these homes still need a test.
Lived-in basements
Radon is usually highest on the lowest floor. Basement bedrooms, home offices and rental suites mean people spend hours a day where exposure is greatest.
Communities
Where we work in Waterloo Region
Radon in Waterloo
Waterloo is home to two universities, a large technology sector and a large student rental market.
Waterloo radon guide
Radon in Cambridge
Cambridge is three old mill towns, Galt, Preston and Hespeler, that were merged into one city on the Grand and Speed rivers.
Cambridge radon guide
Questions
Radon in Waterloo Region: common questions
Is radon a problem in Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge?
It can be. In Health Canada survey data tabulated by Cancer Care Ontario, 4.0% of the homes tested in the Region of Waterloo were at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline, lower than elsewhere in southwestern Ontario but not zero. Across Ontario, about 1 in 8 homes tested at or above the guideline in the 2024 national survey. A 91-day test is the only way to know your own level.
Do you serve Elmira, St. Jacobs, New Hamburg and Baden?
Yes. We test and mitigate across the whole region, including the townships of Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot and North Dumfries, as well as Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.
Book a radon test in Waterloo Region
C-NRPP certified testing and mitigation across Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge.