Flood mapping exists for Upper Mount Royal: 1 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Upper Mount Royal: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Upper Mount Royal, near the typical $0.030. Upper Mount Royal’s survey area, 8.1% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Upper Mount Royal a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Upper Mount Royal’s hazards
For Upper Mount Royal, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Upper Mount Royal faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Upper Mount Royal: B+
Two inputs always count for Upper Mount Royal, 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Upper Mount Royal: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Upper Mount Royal’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Upper Mount Royal burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Upper Mount Royal’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 12 km off.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 1.2% within 25 km, the land around Upper Mount Royal gives a fire little to burn.
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 Upper Mount Royal, 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Upper Mount Royal 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.
A flood study covers Upper Mount Royal, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Upper Mount Royal, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Upper Mount Royal 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
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Upper Mount Royal 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Upper Mount Royal’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.
Expected shaking damage in Upper Mount Royal: $0.023 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
With $0.023 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Upper Mount Royal is about even with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Above the middle in Alberta: Upper Mount Royal’s $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.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 54% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Upper Mount Royal.
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 Upper Mount Royal 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). · Earthquake risk published for the city of Calgary, not by town
Radon about average around Upper Mount Royal: 8.1% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
8.1% of tested homes around Upper Mount Royal 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; Upper Mount Royal’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.
Upper Mount Royal 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.
Neighbouring homes in Upper Mount Royal can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Calgary Health Region
Where to get warnings in Upper Mount Royal
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Upper Mount Royal; 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 Upper Mount Royal, 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 Upper Mount Royal
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Mount Royal | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Lower Mount Royal 3,136 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Bankview 5,610 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Mission 6,329 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Beltline 26,171 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Elbow Park 4,120 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| South Calgary 4,412 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
Lower Mount Royal (low) has the heaviest fire record of Upper Mount Royal’s neighbours, and Upper Mount Royal (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Upper Mount Royal faces
What to do about the hazards Upper Mount Royal 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. 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 Upper Mount Royal.
- 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 Upper Mount Royal until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Upper Mount Royal’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Upper Mount Royal without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Upper Mount Royal
Does Upper Mount Royal flood?
A flood study covers Upper Mount Royal on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Upper Mount Royal?
About $0.023 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Upper Mount Royal.
Is radon a problem in Upper Mount Royal?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Upper Mount Royal’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Upper Mount Royal’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Upper Mount Royal grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Upper Mount Royal at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Upper Mount Royal has burned since 1986, the last in 2014, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).