Photo: Thivierr · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for University Heights: 1 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
Fire has left almost no mark near University Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquake risk in University Heights 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. Radon around University Heights is ordinary for Canada: 8.1% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). University Heights grades B+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about University Heights’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for University Heights: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What University 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 University Heights: B+
For University Heights, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near University Heights: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where University Heights’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around University Heights burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around University Heights’ homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 5.9 km out.
Little near University Heights’ homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 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
Wainwright has the highest burn rate in Alberta, 1.43% a year; around University Heights, as around 386 of the 478 towns, it rounds to 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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), University Heights 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 University Heights, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches University Heights, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches University Heights, Government of Alberta’s from 2025, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets University Heights apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
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 University 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 University 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.
0.8 times the typical $0.030: University Heights’ $0.023 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Above the middle in Alberta: University Heights’ $0.023 against a median of $0.013, with Black Diamond highest 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.
University Heights’ 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 University Heights’ 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). · Earthquake risk: the city of Calgary
Some radon around University Heights: 8.1% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Near the middle for radon: University Heights’ area 8.1%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; University 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.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share University Heights’ 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in University Heights as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Calgary Health Region
Weather and fire alerts for University Heights
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for University 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. |
For fires near University Heights, 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 University Heights
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Heights | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Banff Trail 4,175 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| West Hillhurst 10,319 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Montgomery 4,456 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Charleswood 5,642 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
| Wildwood 4,177 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Varsity 12,605 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than University Heights (low); Banff Trail comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what University Heights faces
Practical steps for University Heights’ 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
- 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 University Heights.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around University Heights’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for University Heights is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; University Heights’ figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in University Heights
How big is the earthquake risk in University Heights?
About $0.023 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for University Heights.
Is University Heights at risk of wildfire?
Some, but University Heights’ low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2014) is short of the level that counts.
Does University Heights flood?
There is flood mapping for University Heights on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is University Heights’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives University Heights B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in University Heights?
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 University Heights.
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).