Photo: Mack Male from Edmonton, AB, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Few places are as safe from hazards as Westwood: it beats 98% of Canadian towns
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Westwood’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 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. In Health Canada’s survey, just 1.4% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Westwood grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westwood’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Westwood: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Westwood faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Westwood grades A+ for hazard risk
For Westwood, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Few fires near Westwood: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Westwood’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
With 0.000% burned a year, Westwood is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Only 0.4% of the land within 25 km of Westwood is forest fuel, and 0.1% 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
Near-zero burning puts Westwood with 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, far below Wainwright 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.
Westwood shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Westwood
Flood studies whose area touches Westwood, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for Westwood on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Westwood.
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 Westwood 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 Westwood: $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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Westwood it is only $0.013, 0.4 times as much.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Edmonton, Westwood included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Westwood 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.
Westwood 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 model counts damage to Westwood’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Westwood: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Westwood’s area, at 1.4%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Westwood (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.
Under 5% puts Westwood with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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 Westwood as anywhere, test to be sure.
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 Westwood
Alerts for Westwood 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 Westwood 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 Westwood’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westwood | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Alberta Avenue 6,097 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Delton 2,657 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Lauderdale 2,954 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Parkdale 4,029 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Eastwood 4,681 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| McCauley 4,060 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Nowhere around Westwood burns more: Alberta Avenue, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Westwood faces
Practical steps for Westwood’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; Westwood’s 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 Westwood until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Westwood without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Westwood’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westwood
Does Westwood flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Westwood, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is Westwood at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Westwood since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
Is radon a problem in Westwood?
The area’s survey found 1.4% of 73 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Westwood.
How big is the earthquake risk in Westwood?
Expected earthquake damage in Westwood comes to $0.013 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
How is Westwood’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Westwood grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers 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).