Photo: Koppertone · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Whitecourt: 1 on record, latest by Government of Alberta
Wildfire is rare near Whitecourt: 0.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.009% 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). Whitecourt’s survey area, 9.6% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Whitecourt grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Whitecourt’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Whitecourt: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Whitecourt faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Whitecourt grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Whitecourt, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #271 of 474 in Alberta and #1,079 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Whitecourt: 0.4% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.6% within 5 km
Past fire around Whitecourt’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Whitecourt is 0.009%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
There is forest near Whitecourt’s homes (49% within 5 km) and more of it further out (67% 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
The land around Whitecourt burns at 0.009% a year, the 60th highest rate of 478 towns in Alberta; Wainwright tops it 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.
Some fire is mapped around Whitecourt, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 7.5% rank 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.
A flood study covers Whitecourt, from Government of Alberta: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Whitecourt: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2020 study by Government of Alberta covers Whitecourt, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodlands County and Whitecourt Flood Hazard Study | Government of Alberta | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Whitecourt is one of the 46% of towns in Alberta with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 58%.
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 Whitecourt’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Little shaking expected in Whitecourt: $0.013 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Whitecourt’s $0.013 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.4 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Whitecourt’s $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is highest 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 Whitecourt 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).
The model counts damage to Whitecourt’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).
Radon about average around Whitecourt: 9.6% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Aspen Regional Health Authority: radon tests
Whitecourt’s area, at 9.6%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Whitecourt’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.
A middling share of high tests puts Whitecourt with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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 Whitecourt as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Whitecourt
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Whitecourt; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Whitecourt come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Whitecourt
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitecourt | Low | $0.013 | 9.6% | Yes |
| Woodlands County 4,778 · 9.4 km | Low | $0.011 | 9.6% | Yes |
The fire record around Woodlands County is a touch heavier than Whitecourt’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Whitecourt faces
What to do about the hazards Whitecourt 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; Whitecourt’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Whitecourt without grading them.
- 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 Whitecourt until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Whitecourt’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Whitecourt
How big is the earthquake risk in Whitecourt?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Whitecourt’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Whitecourt at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.4% of the land within 25 km of Whitecourt has burned since 1986, the last in 2024, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Whitecourt flood?
A flood study covers Whitecourt on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in Whitecourt?
In Health Canada’s survey, 9.6% of 219 homes tested in Whitecourt’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Whitecourt’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Whitecourt B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).