Hazard risk in La Perle is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near La Perle: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives La Perle a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about La Perle’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for La Perle: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What La Perle faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in La Perle: A+
Earthquake risk and radon make La Perle’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
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. Only 73 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near La Perle: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where La Perle’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around La Perle is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The 5 km ring around La Perle’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 23 km out.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around La Perle: forest fuel is 0% within 5 km and 0.6% 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
To three decimals the burn rate around La Perle is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; La Perle, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for La Perle
Flood studies whose area touches La Perle, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for La Perle on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and La Perle has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for La Perle.
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.”
Little shaking expected in La Perle: $0.013 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.
At $0.013 per $1,000, La Perle carries 0.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
La Perle shares its earthquake risk numbers with the rest of the city of Edmonton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
La Perle’s $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is 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.
La Perle 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).
The loss is to La Perle’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around La Perle: 1.4% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
La Perle’s area, at 1.4%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
La Perle’s area, at 1.4%, is below the median in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than La Perle’s band, which holds 37%.
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 La Perle 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Capital Health
Weather and fire alerts for La Perle
Alerts for La Perle 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near La Perle are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around La Perle
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Perle | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Belmead 3,970 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Aldergrove 5,311 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| West Meadowlark Park 5,386 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Thorncliff 3,564 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Glenwood 4,842 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Britannia Youngstown 4,616 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Among its neighbours La Perle has the most fire on record (low); Belmead follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what La Perle faces
Practical steps for La Perle’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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; La Perle’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 La Perle floods.
- 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 La Perle sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around La Perle’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in La Perle
Does La Perle flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers La Perle (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
How is La Perle’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives La Perle A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in La Perle?
1.4% of the 73 homes Health Canada tested around La Perle topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Is La Perle at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: La Perle’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2023), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in La Perle?
Expected earthquake damage in La Perle comes to $0.013 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).