A flood study covers South Calgary: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Wildfire isn’t South Calgary’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk in South Calgary sits near the middle: $0.023 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is about average around South Calgary: 8.1% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. South Calgary grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about South Calgary’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for South Calgary: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What South Calgary faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in South Calgary: B+
Seismic risk and radon set South Calgary’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
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 South Calgary: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around South Calgary’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near South Calgary burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 11 km from South Calgary’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest fuel is scarce around South Calgary: 0.2% of the land within 5 km, 1.4% 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
Among the 478 towns in Alberta, Wainwright burns fastest (1.43% a year); South Calgary is with the 386 near zero.
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; South Calgary 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.
A flood study covers South Calgary, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for South Calgary: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Government of Alberta holds the flood mapping that covers South Calgary (2025), linked below.
| 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 South Calgary has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that South Calgary floods.
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 South Calgary $0.023 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.023 per $1,000, South Calgary’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.023, South Calgary 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.
South Calgary’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).
The model counts damage to South Calgary’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Not measured by town: earthquake risk (the city of Calgary)
Some radon around South Calgary: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Near the middle for radon: South Calgary’s area 8.1%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. South Calgary doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Calgary Health Region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around South Calgary 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.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share South Calgary’s band of 5 to 10%; 26% sit 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 survey sample isn’t a map: any home in South Calgary can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for South Calgary
Alerts for South Calgary come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for South Calgary to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How South Calgary’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Calgary | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Richmond 4,811 · 0.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Bankview 5,610 · 0.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Altadore 7,675 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Sunalta 4,151 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Upper Mount Royal 2,758 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Garrison Woods 3,138 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
Among its neighbours South Calgary has the most fire on record (low); Richmond follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what South Calgary faces
Practical steps for South Calgary’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as South Calgary’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 South Calgary.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of South Calgary’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for South Calgary is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in South Calgary
Is radon a problem in South Calgary?
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 South Calgary.
How big is the earthquake risk in South Calgary?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in South Calgary $0.023 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does South Calgary flood?
There is flood mapping for South Calgary on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is South Calgary at risk of wildfire?
Some, but South Calgary’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2014) is short of the level that counts.
How is South Calgary’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
South Calgary grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers 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).