Westbrook Estates faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Westbrook Estates: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 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). Radon is lower than usual: 1.4% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Westbrook Estates grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westbrook Estates’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Westbrook Estates: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Westbrook Estates faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Westbrook Estates: A+
Two inputs always count for Westbrook Estates, 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Westbrook Estates: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Westbrook Estates’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Westbrook Estates burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 22 km from Westbrook Estates’ homes, none within 5 km.
Only 0.5% of the land within 25 km of Westbrook Estates is forest fuel, and 1.4% close in.
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 Westbrook Estates, 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Westbrook Estates is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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 Westbrook Estates (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Westbrook Estates: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Westbrook Estates 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
Its flood study sets Westbrook Estates apart in Alberta, where 46% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Westbrook Estates’ homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Westbrook Estates: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.4 times the typical $0.030: Westbrook Estates’ $0.013 is low for Canada.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Edmonton, with Westbrook Estates one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
About level with the typical town in Alberta: Westbrook Estates’ $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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 75% of its 2,611 towns sit above Westbrook Estates.
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 Westbrook Estates’ 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).
1.4% of homes tested around Westbrook Estates are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Westbrook Estates’ area, at 1.4%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high. Figures for radon tests are published for the Capital Health as a whole, not for Westbrook Estates alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Westbrook Estates (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.
Westbrook Estates 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Westbrook Estates 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Westbrook Estates
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Westbrook Estates; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Westbrook Estates come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Westbrook Estates’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westbrook Estates | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Royal Gardens 3,392 · 0.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Bulyea Heights 3,264 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Greenfield 3,710 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Brookside 3,173 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Sweet Grass 2,616 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Malmo Plains 4,150 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Westbrook Estates’ low band tops its neighbours; Royal Gardens is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Westbrook Estates faces
What to do about the hazards Westbrook Estates 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Westbrook Estates without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Westbrook Estates’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Westbrook Estates’ figure is its subdivision’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 Westbrook Estates until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westbrook Estates
How big is the earthquake risk in Westbrook Estates?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Westbrook Estates $0.013 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Westbrook Estates?
Around Westbrook Estates, 73 survey homes were tested and 1.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Westbrook Estates at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Westbrook Estates since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Westbrook Estates’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Westbrook Estates A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Westbrook Estates flood?
A flood study covers Westbrook Estates on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
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).