Photo: Kay Röllig · CC BY 3.0Dover is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Wildfire isn’t Dover’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). For earthquakes Dover is middling, $0.023 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Dover’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Dover a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Dover’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Dover: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Dover faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Dover grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Dover, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Dover: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Dover’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Dover burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 15 km from Dover’s homes since 1986.
Little near Dover’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.6% within 25 km.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Dover is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Dover sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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 Dover (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Dover: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Dover 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
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Dover has one.
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 Dover’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Dover $0.023 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Dover’s $0.023 is close to the typical town’s $0.030 (0.8 times as much).
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Calgary as a whole, not for Dover alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Alberta expects $0.013 a year; Dover expects $0.023, and Black Diamond $0.048.
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: 54% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Dover.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Dover’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
8.1% of homes tested around Dover are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Calgary Health Region: radon tests
The survey area of Dover reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Dover’s area has 8.1%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Dover is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 share describes the area, not a house: in Dover as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Dover
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Dover; 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 Dover, 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)
How Dover’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Erin Woods 7,245 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Forest Lawn 7,513 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 8,433 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Forest Heights 6,120 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Penbrooke Meadows 10,001 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Inglewood 4,380 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Erin Woods (low), still no more than Dover (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Dover faces
What to do about the hazards Dover 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Dover 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 Dover until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Dover’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Dover’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Dover
Is Dover at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Dover has burned since 1986, the last in 2014, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Dover?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Dover $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Dover?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Dover’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Dover’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Dover’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Dover flood?
A flood study covers Dover on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).