Photo: Michael from Calgary, AB, Canada · CC BY 2.0Cougar Ridge is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Fire seldom reaches Cougar Ridge: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.000% a year). Earthquake risk in Cougar Ridge is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.023 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Cougar Ridge’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Cougar Ridge a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Cougar Ridge’s hazards
For Cougar Ridge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Cougar Ridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Cougar Ridge grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Cougar Ridge, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #282 of 474 in Alberta and #1,102 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Cougar Ridge: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Cougar Ridge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Cougar Ridge burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Forest makes up 0.3% of the land within 5 km of Cougar Ridge and 3.2% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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 Alberta · highest of 478
Little or nothing burns around Cougar Ridge in a typical year; 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta share that, and Wainwright leads at 1.43%.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Cougar Ridge is among the many where the yearly burn rate 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.
Government of Alberta has mapped flooding for Cougar Ridge (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Cougar Ridge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Cougar Ridge is Government of Alberta’s, dated 2025; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Cougar Ridge 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Cougar Ridge’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Cougar Ridge $0.023 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.8 times the typical $0.030: Cougar Ridge’s $0.023 is ordinary.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Calgary, Cougar Ridge included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Cougar Ridge, at $0.023, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Cougar Ridge’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 54% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Cougar Ridge is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
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 Cougar Ridge: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 8.1% over the guideline, the area around Cougar Ridge is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Cougar Ridge is ordinary for towns in Alberta: 8.1%, beside a median of 7.5%.
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 Cougar Ridge 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 Cougar Ridge, 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Calgary Health Region
Where to get warnings in Cougar Ridge
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cougar Ridge; 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. |
For fires near Cougar Ridge, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Cougar Ridge
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cougar Ridge | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| West Springs 11,632 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Bowness 11,548 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Coach Hill 3,383 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Aspen Woods 9,606 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Patterson 4,169 · 3.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Strathcona Park 8,680 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
West Springs (low) has the heaviest fire record of Cougar Ridge’s neighbours, and Cougar Ridge (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cougar Ridge faces
What to do about the hazards Cougar Ridge 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Cougar Ridge’s included.
- 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 Cougar Ridge until then.
- 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 Cougar Ridge.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Cougar Ridge without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cougar Ridge
Is radon a problem in Cougar Ridge?
Around Cougar Ridge, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Cougar Ridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Cougar Ridge grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Cougar Ridge flood?
A flood study covers Cougar Ridge on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cougar Ridge?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Cougar Ridge’s buildings lose $0.023 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Cougar Ridge at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Cougar Ridge since 1986 (last in 2018); at low, it neither helps nor hurts 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).