Hazard risk in Paisley is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Around Paisley, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Paisley a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Paisley’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Paisley: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Paisley faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Paisley: A+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Paisley with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 73 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Paisley: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Paisley’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Paisley burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The 5 km ring around Paisley’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 19 km out.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Paisley: forest fuel is 1% within 5 km and 0.5% 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 Paisley 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%; Paisley, 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.
No flood study is listed for Paisley
Flood studies whose area touches Paisley, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Paisley, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, and Paisley has none.
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 Paisley 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.”
Low seismic risk in Paisley: $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: Paisley’s $0.013 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Paisley at $0.013 beside a median in Alberta of $0.013, with Black Diamond on top 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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 75% of its 2,611 towns sit above Paisley.
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 Paisley’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). · Earthquake risk published for the city of Edmonton, not by town
Radon runs low around Paisley: 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.
Fewer homes than usual test high around Paisley: 1.4% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Paisley shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Capital Health.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Paisley (1.4%) than in the typical town in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Paisley is in the lowest band, with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns: under 5% of tests over the guideline, while 63% 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Paisley as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Paisley
Alerts for Paisley 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 Paisley 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)
How Paisley’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paisley | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Rutherford 12,808 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Allard 8,148 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Chappelle 14,815 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Callaghan 4,180 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| MacEwan 6,102 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Mactaggart 3,603 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
Rutherford (low) has the heaviest fire record of Paisley’s neighbours, and Paisley (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Paisley faces
What to do about the hazards Paisley 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Paisley is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Paisley’s.
- 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 Paisley.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Paisley’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Paisley
Is radon a problem in Paisley?
Around Paisley, 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 Paisley’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Paisley grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Paisley at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Paisley since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Paisley?
About $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Paisley.
Does Paisley flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Paisley’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).