Photo: Daniel from Glasgow, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0A flood study covers Mayland Heights: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Fire has left almost no mark near Mayland Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Mayland Heights, near the typical $0.030. About as many homes carry radon around Mayland Heights as elsewhere, 8.1% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Mayland Heights a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Mayland Heights’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Mayland Heights: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Mayland Heights faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Mayland Heights: B+
Two inputs always count for Mayland Heights, 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: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Mayland Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Mayland Heights’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.000% of the land a year around Mayland Heights, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Mayland Heights’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 15 km away.
Forest fuel is scarce around Mayland Heights: 0% of the land within 5 km, 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 Mayland Heights 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.
Mayland Heights shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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.
Flooding around Mayland Heights is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Mayland Heights, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Government of Alberta and others have studied flooding in areas that include Mayland Heights: 2 studies, the latest from 2025.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Nose and West Nose Creek Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2012 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Mayland Heights 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 mapping around Mayland Heights has come in steps: 2 studies from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Mayland Heights.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Mayland Heights’ 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 Mayland Heights $0.023 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Mayland Heights, $0.023 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Mayland Heights shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Calgary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Alberta expects $0.013 a year; Mayland Heights 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.
Middle of the pack: 54% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Mayland Heights.
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).
The loss is to Mayland Heights’ buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Mayland Heights: 8.1% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Calgary Health Region
8.1% of tested homes around Mayland Heights were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Mayland Heights’ 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.
Mayland Heights 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 Mayland Heights as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Mayland Heights
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Mayland Heights; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Mayland Heights come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Mayland Heights
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayland Heights | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Renfrew 6,685 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Bridgeland/Riverside 6,860 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Inglewood 4,380 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Albert Park/Radisson Heights 8,433 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Marlborough 8,932 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Rundle 10,549 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Mayland Heights has the most fire on record (low); Renfrew follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Mayland Heights faces
What to do about the hazards Mayland Heights 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Mayland Heights’ 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; Mayland Heights’ figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Mayland Heights.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Mayland Heights is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Mayland Heights
Is Mayland Heights at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Mayland Heights since 1986 (last in 2014); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Mayland Heights?
Expected earthquake damage in Mayland Heights comes to $0.023 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Mayland Heights’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Mayland Heights’ Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Mayland Heights?
Around Mayland Heights, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Mayland Heights flood?
There is flood mapping for Mayland Heights on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them 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).