Photo: Glenlarson · Public domainWîhkwêntôwin faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of Wîhkwêntôwin’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 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 Wîhkwêntôwin a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Wîhkwêntôwin’s hazards
For Wîhkwêntôwin, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Wîhkwêntôwin faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Wîhkwêntôwin: A+
For Wîhkwêntôwin, 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: 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Wîhkwêntôwin: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Wîhkwêntôwin’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Wîhkwêntôwin’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Little near Wîhkwêntôwin’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.3% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.4% 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
Of the 478 towns in Alberta, 386 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Wîhkwêntôwin among them; Wainwright leads at 1.43% a year.
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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Wîhkwêntôwin is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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.
Wîhkwêntôwin is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Wîhkwêntôwin: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Wîhkwêntôwin the inventory points to Government of Alberta’s 2024 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Wîhkwêntôwin among them, below the 58% across Canada.
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 Wîhkwêntôwin 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Wîhkwêntôwin just $0.013 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.013 per $1,000, Wîhkwêntôwin carries 0.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Edmonton, Wîhkwêntôwin included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Wîhkwêntôwin 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Wîhkwêntôwin than in 75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Wîhkwêntôwin.
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 Wîhkwêntôwin: 1.4% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 1.4% over the guideline, the area around Wîhkwêntôwin is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Alberta (7.5%), the area around Wîhkwêntôwin has fewer high tests: 1.4%.
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 Wîhkwêntôwin’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 Wîhkwêntôwin 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). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Capital Health
Where to get warnings in Wîhkwêntôwin
Alerts for Wîhkwêntôwin 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Wîhkwêntôwin to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Wîhkwêntôwin’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wîhkwêntôwin | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Queen Mary Park 7,958 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Downtown 12,880 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Westmount 4,961 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Central McDougall 4,802 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Garneau 8,492 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Glenora 6,197 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Wîhkwêntôwin (low), with Queen Mary Park next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Wîhkwêntôwin faces
Practical steps for Wîhkwêntôwin’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Wîhkwêntôwin takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Wîhkwêntôwin.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Wîhkwêntôwin, 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 Wîhkwêntôwin’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Wîhkwêntôwin
Is Wîhkwêntôwin at risk of wildfire?
Hardly at all on record: 0% of the land within 25 km of Wîhkwêntôwin since 1986, a low band, though small grass fires aren’t mapped.
How big is the earthquake risk in Wîhkwêntôwin?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Wîhkwêntôwin’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Wîhkwêntôwin’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Wîhkwêntôwin A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Wîhkwêntôwin?
1.4% of the 73 homes Health Canada tested around Wîhkwêntôwin topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Wîhkwêntôwin flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Wîhkwêntôwin; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in 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).