Photo: Kaz Andrew from Edmonton,Alberta, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Hazard risk in Parkdale is lower than in 98% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Parkdale: 0% of the land 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 Parkdale a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Parkdale’s hazards
For Parkdale, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Parkdale faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Parkdale: A+
Earthquake risk and radon make Parkdale’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. 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 Parkdale: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Parkdale’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around Parkdale fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
With 0.1% forest fuel within 5 km and 0.4% within 25 km, the land around Parkdale 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
Little or nothing burns around Parkdale in a typical year; 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta share that, and Wainwright leads 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%), Parkdale 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Parkdale
Flood studies whose area touches Parkdale, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, Parkdale has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Parkdale has no flood study on file; only 46% of towns in Alberta do, against 58% across Canada.
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 Parkdale.
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 Parkdale: $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.
At $0.013 per $1,000, Parkdale carries 0.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Parkdale ($0.013) matches the middle in Alberta ($0.013), far from Black Diamond’s $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 Parkdale.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Parkdale is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
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 Edmonton
1.4% of homes tested around Parkdale are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Capital Health
A lower share than most: 1.4% of tested homes around Parkdale, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Parkdale (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.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Parkdale’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 low area share in Parkdale 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 Parkdale
Alerts for Parkdale 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. |
Evacuation orders for Parkdale come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Parkdale’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkdale | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Alberta Avenue 6,097 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Virginia Park 3,431 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Eastwood 4,681 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Delton 2,657 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| McCauley 4,060 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Boyle Street 5,862 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Parkdale’s low band tops its neighbours; Alberta Avenue is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Parkdale faces
Practical steps for Parkdale’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
- Wildfire counts one way. For Parkdale, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Parkdale’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Parkdale until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Parkdale without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Parkdale
How is Parkdale’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Parkdale grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Parkdale at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Parkdale since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
Is radon a problem in Parkdale?
1.4% of the 73 homes Health Canada tested around Parkdale topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Parkdale?
About $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Parkdale.
Does Parkdale flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Parkdale (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).