Air quality data
We combine two sources in a collector that runs every hour. The static site also fetches the same sources when it builds as a fallback; in the browser, the latest validated collector snapshot updates the displayed readings and rankings without waiting for another site build.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (AQHI). Canada's official Air Quality Health Index from the government monitoring network, via the MSC GeoMet open-data API. We show a town's AQHI when there is a monitoring station within 40 km. AQHI runs 1–10+: 1–3 is low health risk, 4–6 moderate, 7–10 high, above 10 very high.
Open-Meteo PM2.5 (modelled). Most beach and cottage towns have no monitoring station, so for every location we also use gridded fine-particle (PM2.5) estimates from Open-Meteo's air quality API, which is built on the Copernicus CAMS atmospheric model. Modelled values can differ from what a monitor on the ground would read, especially near active fires, but they are consistent across locations — which is what a ranking needs.
Ranking
For each origin city we list every destination town we track within roughly a 3-hour drive, sorted by current PM2.5 (lowest first), with drive time as the tie-breaker. We deliberately rank by measured air, not by reputation: a town that is usually clear can be the smokiest place on the list during the wrong wind, and the ranking will reflect that.
Drive times
Drive times are estimates: straight-line distance adjusted by a typical road-winding factor (×1.3) at an average trip speed of 85 km/h. They are good to roughly ±20 minutes on most Ontario routes. Always check a routing app before leaving — during major fire events some highways close.
Lodging links
Hotel and rental links go to third-party booking sites' search results for each town. Some links may earn us a commission at no cost to you; commissions never affect rankings, which are computed purely from air-quality data.
Limits
Air quality during wildfire events changes hour to hour. This site is a planning tool, not a health service — for health decisions follow Environment Canada's advisories and your local public-health unit. If every destination on your city's page shows poor air, the best getaway may be staying indoors with filtration.