Photo: WinterE229 WinterforceMedia · CC0Few places are as safe from hazards as Sturgeon County: it beats almost every Canadian town
Burn scars are few around Sturgeon County, with 1.5% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.04% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.010 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. Sturgeon County grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Sturgeon County’s hazards
For Sturgeon County, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sturgeon County faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sturgeon County: A+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Sturgeon County with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #6 of 474 in Alberta and #16 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.
Few fires near Sturgeon County: 0.2% within 5 km, 1.5% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sturgeon County’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
With 0.04% burned a year, Sturgeon County is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Little near Sturgeon County’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.7% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 1.5% 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
Sturgeon County ranks 39th of the 478 towns in Alberta for burn rate, at 0.04% a year; Wainwright leads with 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.
Sturgeon County is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
Flooding around Sturgeon County is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Government of Alberta
Flood studies whose area touches Sturgeon County, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Sturgeon County the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Government of Alberta’s in 2024.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Saskatchewan River Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
| St. Albert Flood Study | Government of Alberta | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Alberta, 46% of towns against 58% nationally, but Sturgeon County has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Sturgeon County’s homes are at risk.
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 Sturgeon County: $0.010 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.
Sturgeon County’s $0.010 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.3 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Alberta peaks in Black Diamond ($0.048); Sturgeon County, at $0.010, is below 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.
Earthquakes cost less around Sturgeon County than in 86% 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 Sturgeon County.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs low around Sturgeon County: 1.4% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Capital Health: radon tests
A lower share than most: 1.4% of tested homes around Sturgeon County, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Sturgeon County (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.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Sturgeon County; 63% sit higher.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Sturgeon County can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sturgeon County
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sturgeon County; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Sturgeon County, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Sturgeon County’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgeon County | Low | $0.010 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Morinville 10,763 · 7.5 km | Low | $0.014 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Bon Accord 1,457 · 13 km | Moderate | $0.011 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Elsinore 5,796 · 14 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| St. Albert 74,621 · 14 km | Low | $0.011 | 1.4% | Yes |
| Canossa 3,246 · 14 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Rapperswill 3,639 · 14 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
The heaviest fire record nearby is Bon Accord’s, moderate to Sturgeon County’s low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sturgeon County faces
What to do about the hazards Sturgeon County 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Sturgeon County.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Sturgeon County, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Sturgeon County is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Sturgeon County’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sturgeon County
How big is the earthquake risk in Sturgeon County?
Expected earthquake damage in Sturgeon County comes to $0.010 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Sturgeon County flood?
There is flood mapping for Sturgeon County on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Sturgeon County?
In Health Canada’s survey, 1.4% of 73 homes tested in Sturgeon County’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Sturgeon County’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sturgeon County grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Sturgeon County at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 1.5% of the land within 25 km of Sturgeon County has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).