Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers Improvement District No. 9 Banff: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Government of Alberta
Wildfire is rare near Improvement District No. 9 Banff: 1.5% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.04% a year. Earthquake risk in Improvement District No. 9 Banff is ordinary: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.022 a year per $1,000 of value, close to the typical town’s $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.1% of homes tested in Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Improvement District No. 9 Banff a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Improvement District No. 9 Banff: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Improvement District No. 9 Banff faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Improvement District No. 9 Banff grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Improvement District No. 9 Banff with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Improvement District No. 9 Banff: 0% within 5 km, 1.5% within 25 km
Past fire around Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.04% of the land near Improvement District No. 9 Banff burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Nothing inside 5 km of Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 5.2 km off.
Forest fuel is denser close to Improvement District No. 9 Banff (61% within 5 km) than further out (43% 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 479
At 0.04% a year, Improvement District No. 9 Banff is near the top in Alberta: 40th of 479, behind Wainwright (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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Improvement District No. 9 Banff stays low, with 92%.
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.
Flooding around Improvement District No. 9 Banff is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Government of Alberta
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Improvement District No. 9 Banff: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Improvement District No. 9 Banff is Government of Alberta’s, from 2024; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Bow River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| Banff Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2013 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, Improvement District No. 9 Banff 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.
The 2 studies touching Improvement District No. 9 Banff are spread over time, from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Improvement District No. 9 Banff.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Improvement District No. 9 Banff floods.
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 Improvement District No. 9 Banff $0.022 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s ground: $0.022 against a typical $0.030, 0.7 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Improvement District No. 9 Banff, at $0.022, sits above the median of $0.013.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Middle of the pack: 61% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Improvement District No. 9 Banff.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Improvement District No. 9 Banff: 8.1% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 8.1% over the guideline, the area around Improvement District No. 9 Banff is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Alberta has 7.5% over 200 Bq/m³; Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s area has 8.1%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Improvement District No. 9 Banff is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Improvement District No. 9 Banff only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Calgary Health Region
Weather and fire alerts for Improvement District No. 9 Banff
Alerts for Improvement District No. 9 Banff 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 Improvement District No. 9 Banff to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Improvement District No. 9 Banff faces
What to do about the hazards Improvement District No. 9 Banff 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Improvement District No. 9 Banff floods.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Improvement District No. 9 Banff sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Improvement District No. 9 Banff
How is Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
9 Banff B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Improvement District No. 9 Banff flood?
Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Improvement District No. 9 Banff?
Around Improvement District No. 9 Banff, 86 survey homes were tested and 8.1% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Improvement District No. 9 Banff at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 1.5% of the land around Improvement District No. 9 Banff since 1986 (last in 2024); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Improvement District No. 9 Banff?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Improvement District No. 9 Banff’s buildings lose $0.022 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).