Few places are as safe from hazards as Haddow: it beats 98% of Canadian towns
Wildfire barely registers for Haddow, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk runs low: $0.013 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is lower than usual: 1.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Haddow a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Haddow’s hazards
For Haddow, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Haddow faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Haddow: A+
Two inputs always count for Haddow, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 73 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Haddow: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Haddow’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Haddow at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 19 km from Haddow’s homes since 1986.
Around Haddow the forest is thin or far off: 1.4% of the land within 5 km and 0.5% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Haddow, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops the list at 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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Haddow 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.
Government of Alberta has mapped flooding for Haddow (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Haddow, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching Haddow is Government of Alberta’s, dated 2024; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Haddow is one of the 46% of towns in Alberta with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 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 Haddow’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.
Low seismic risk in Haddow: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Haddow’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Alberta: Haddow’s $0.013 against $0.013; Black Diamond reaches $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.
Haddow is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 75% 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 Haddow 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: one figure for all of the city of Edmonton
1.4% of homes tested around Haddow are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Haddow’s survey area reads 1.4% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Haddow doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Capital Health.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Haddow than in most towns in Alberta: 1.4% against 7.5%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Haddow, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see 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 Haddow 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).
Where to get warnings in Haddow
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Haddow; 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 Haddow, 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)
How Haddow’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haddow | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Terwillegar Towne 6,478 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Leger 4,108 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Rhatigan Ridge 7,066 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| South Terwillegar 8,183 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Windermere 14,922 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Cameron Heights 3,710 · 2.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Terwillegar Towne (low), still no more than Haddow (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Haddow faces
What to do about the hazards Haddow 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Haddow floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Haddow’s included.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Haddow sits in.
- 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 Haddow.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Haddow
How big is the earthquake risk in Haddow?
About $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Haddow.
Is radon a problem in Haddow?
Around Haddow, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Haddow’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Haddow A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Haddow flood?
Haddow’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Haddow at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Haddow since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts 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).