Photo: Spark802 · CC BY-SA 4.0High radon around Oakbank: 21% of homes tested in the area exceed 200 Bq/m³
Some 3.4% of the land within 25 km of Oakbank has burned since 1986; at 0.14% a year that is moderate, not high. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Oakbank a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Oakbank’s hazards
For Oakbank, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Oakbank faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Oakbank grades B for hazard risk
The grade weighs Oakbank’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #138 of 185 in Manitoba and #1,452 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Fire reaches the land around Oakbank: 0.1% within 5 km, 3.4% within 25 km
Past fire around Oakbank’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Oakbank is 0.14%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
The forest starts beyond town: 1.3% of the land within 5 km of Oakbank’s homes is forest fuel, against 9.4% 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 Manitoba · highest of 189
Flin Flon (Part) burns fastest in Manitoba at 1.68% a year; Oakbank, at 0.14%, ranks 12th of 189.
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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Oakbank, and 2.1% sit above it.
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.
Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure has mapped flooding for Oakbank (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Oakbank: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Oakbank, Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure ’s from 2025, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrodynamic Modelling Study for the Red River | Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure | 2025 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 18% of towns in Manitoba have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Oakbank is one of them.
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 Oakbank’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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Oakbank just $0.005 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Oakbank’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Manitoba is $0.006; Oakbank, at $0.005, is right beside it, and Virden tops the list at $0.007.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (96%) expects more shaking damage than Oakbank.
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 Oakbank.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Oakbank: 21% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the North Eastman health region
At 21% over the guideline, the area around Oakbank beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Oakbank, 21% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 1% over 600, against a median of 12% in Manitoba.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns (3.1%) share the 20–30% band with Oakbank, and 1.5% sit above it.
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 Oakbank 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 Oakbank
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Oakbank; 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 Oakbank come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Oakbank’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakbank | Moderate | $0.005 | 21% | Yes |
| Canterbury Park 8,744 · 11 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Kildare-Redonda 8,294 · 12 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Radisson 3,653 · 13 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Victoria West 3,687 · 14 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Meadows 3,822 · 14 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| East St. Paul 10,321 · 14 km | Low | $0.005 | 12% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Oakbank (moderate), with Canterbury Park next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Oakbank faces
What to do about the hazards Oakbank 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Oakbank’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Oakbank sits in.
- 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 Oakbank floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Oakbank, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Oakbank
How big is the earthquake risk in Oakbank?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Oakbank’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Oakbank?
Around Oakbank, 100 survey homes were tested and 21% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Oakbank at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 3.4% of the land around Oakbank since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Oakbank’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Oakbank B, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Oakbank flood?
Oakbank’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).