Photo: LittleT889 · CC0Valley Ridge is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Government of Alberta
Fire seldom reaches Valley Ridge: since 1986, 0% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.001% a year). Earthquake risk in Valley Ridge 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. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Valley Ridge’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Valley Ridge grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Valley Ridge’s hazards
For Valley Ridge, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Valley Ridge faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Valley Ridge: B+
Two inputs always count for Valley Ridge, 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Valley Ridge: 0.1% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Valley Ridge’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.001% of the land near Valley Ridge burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Valley Ridge: forest fuel is 0.7% within 5 km and 4.6% 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
Wainwright burns fastest in Alberta at 1.43% a year; Valley Ridge, at 0.001%, ranks 79th of 478.
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.
Valley Ridge is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
2 flood studies cover Valley Ridge, the newest from Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Valley Ridge: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Valley Ridge is Government of Alberta’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow and Elbow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2025 | final |
| Upper Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Valley Ridge has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Valley Ridge to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Valley Ridge: $0.023 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Earthquake losses in Valley Ridge, $0.023 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Valley Ridge, at $0.023, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Valley Ridge’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).
For Valley Ridge 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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Calgary
8.1% of homes tested around Valley Ridge are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
The survey area of Valley Ridge reads 8.1%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Calgary Health Region, Valley Ridge included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Valley Ridge’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.
Valley Ridge 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.
A low area share in Valley Ridge 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).
Where to get warnings in Valley Ridge
Alerts for Valley Ridge 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 Valley Ridge to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Valley Ridge
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Ridge | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Cougar Ridge 7,101 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Tuscany 19,986 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Scenic Acres 8,026 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Bowness 11,548 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| Silver Springs 9,042 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | Yes |
| West Springs 11,632 · 5.7 km | Low | $0.023 | 8.1% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Valley Ridge (low); Tuscany comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Valley Ridge faces
What to do about the hazards Valley Ridge 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Valley Ridge’s included.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Valley Ridge takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Valley Ridge.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Valley Ridge.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Valley Ridge
Is Valley Ridge at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Valley Ridge has burned since 1986, the last in 2021, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Valley Ridge flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Valley Ridge; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is Valley Ridge’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Valley Ridge B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Valley Ridge?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of 86 homes tested in Valley Ridge’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Valley Ridge?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Valley Ridge $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).