Photo: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada · CC BY 2.0Downtown Commercial Core is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Government of Alberta
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Downtown Commercial Core, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Downtown Commercial Core, near the typical $0.030. About as many homes carry radon around Downtown Commercial Core as elsewhere, 8.1% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Downtown Commercial Core grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Downtown Commercial Core’s hazards
For Downtown Commercial Core, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Downtown Commercial Core faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Downtown Commercial Core grades B+ for hazard risk
For Downtown Commercial Core, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #282 of 474 in Alberta and #1,102 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Downtown Commercial Core: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Downtown Commercial Core’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Downtown Commercial Core’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Downtown Commercial Core’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 11 km out.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Downtown Commercial Core: forest fuel is 0% within 5 km and 0.9% 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
Of the 478 towns in Alberta, 386 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Downtown Commercial Core among them; Wainwright leads at 1.43% a year.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Downtown Commercial Core is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 7.5% rank higher.
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.
A flood study covers Downtown Commercial Core, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Downtown Commercial Core: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2025 study by Government of Alberta covers Downtown Commercial Core, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Downtown Commercial Core is one of the 46% of towns in Alberta with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 58%.
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 Downtown Commercial Core’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.
Ordinary seismic risk in Downtown Commercial Core: $0.023 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Downtown Commercial Core’s ground: $0.023 against a typical $0.030, 0.8 times.
Downtown Commercial Core shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Calgary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.023, Downtown Commercial Core is above the typical town in Alberta ($0.013); Black Diamond has the most at $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.
Middle of the pack: 54% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Downtown Commercial Core.
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).
For Downtown Commercial Core the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Downtown Commercial Core: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Downtown Commercial Core’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 8.1% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Downtown Commercial Core’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.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Downtown Commercial Core, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are higher.
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.
A low area share in Downtown Commercial Core doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Calgary Health Region)
Where to get warnings in Downtown Commercial Core
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Downtown Commercial Core; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Downtown Commercial Core, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Downtown Commercial Core’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown Commercial Core | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Eau Claire 3,733 · 0.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Sunnyside 2,976 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Downtown West End 2,796 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Beltline 26,171 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Rosedale 2,507 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Lower Mount Royal 3,136 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
Downtown Commercial Core’s low band tops its neighbours; Eau Claire is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Downtown Commercial Core faces
Practical steps for Downtown Commercial Core’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- 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 Downtown Commercial Core.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Downtown Commercial Core’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Downtown Commercial Core.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Downtown Commercial Core is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Downtown Commercial Core
Does Downtown Commercial Core flood?
There is flood mapping for Downtown Commercial Core on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Downtown Commercial Core?
The area’s survey found 8.1% of 86 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Downtown Commercial Core.
How is Downtown Commercial Core’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Downtown Commercial Core grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Downtown Commercial Core at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Downtown Commercial Core’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2014) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Downtown Commercial Core?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Downtown Commercial Core $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).