Photo: Shogged · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Opportunity No. 17 is higher than in 96% of Canadian towns
Fire is a regular visitor: 13% of the land within 25 km of Opportunity No. 17 has burned since 1986 (0.31% a year). Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 9.6% of homes tested in Opportunity No. 17’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Opportunity No. 17 a grade of D−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Opportunity No. 17’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Opportunity No. 17: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Opportunity No. 17 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Opportunity No. 17: D−
Two inputs always count for Opportunity No. 17, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #466 of 474 in Alberta and #2,547 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
12% of the land near Opportunity No. 17’s homes has burned since 1986, 13% within 25 km
Past fire around Opportunity No. 17’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
High: the land around Opportunity No. 17 burns at 0.31% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Opportunity No. 17’s homes (52% within 5 km) and more of it further out (65% 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
Wainwright burns fastest in Alberta at 1.43% a year; Opportunity No. 17, at 0.31%, ranks 9th of 478.
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.
Opportunity No. 17 is one of the few of Canada’s 2,610 towns in the high band (1.9%); 0.2% rank very high.
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.
No flood study is listed for Opportunity No. 17
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Opportunity No. 17: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Opportunity No. 17 on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Opportunity No. 17 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Opportunity No. 17’s 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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Opportunity No. 17 just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Opportunity No. 17’s $0.004 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Alberta: Opportunity No. 17’s $0.004 against a median of $0.013; Black Diamond has $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.
Opportunity No. 17 is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 98% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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 Opportunity No. 17’s 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).
Some radon around Opportunity No. 17: 9.6% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 9.6% over the guideline, the area around Opportunity No. 17 is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Aspen Regional Health Authority as a whole, not for Opportunity No. 17 alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Opportunity No. 17’s area, at 9.6%, is above the median in Alberta (7.5%), and 0.5% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Opportunity No. 17’s 5–10% 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.
The survey sampled homes around Opportunity No. 17; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Opportunity No. 17
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Opportunity No. 17; 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. |
For fires near Opportunity No. 17, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Opportunity No. 17 faces
What to do about the hazards Opportunity No. 17 faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Opportunity No. 17.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Opportunity No. 17’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Opportunity No. 17 is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Opportunity No. 17’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Opportunity No. 17
How big is the earthquake risk in Opportunity No. 17?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Opportunity No. 17 $0.004 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Opportunity No. 17 at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Opportunity No. 17’s high band rests on 13% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2025).
Is radon a problem in Opportunity No. 17?
Around Opportunity No. 17, 219 survey homes were tested and 9.6% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Opportunity No. 17’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Opportunity No. 17’s Hazard risk grade is D−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Opportunity No. 17 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Opportunity No. 17’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).