Photo: Jd.101 · CC BY-SA 3.035% of homes tested in Oakland-Wawanesa’s area are above the radon guideline
Wildfire is a moderate presence around Oakland-Wawanesa: 2.5% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, 0.07% a year, short of the band that counts against Risk. 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 Oakland-Wawanesa a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Oakland-Wawanesa’s hazards
For Oakland-Wawanesa, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Oakland-Wawanesa faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Oakland-Wawanesa grades B− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Oakland-Wawanesa’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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.
A moderate wildfire record for Oakland-Wawanesa: 2.5% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Oakland-Wawanesa’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Moderate: the land around Oakland-Wawanesa burns at 0.07% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Oakland-Wawanesa’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 11 km out.
Forest fuel is scarce around Oakland-Wawanesa: 0% of the land within 5 km, 0% 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 190
Flin Flon (Part) burns fastest in Manitoba at 1.68% a year; Oakland-Wawanesa, at 0.07%, ranks 18th of 190.
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 Oakland-Wawanesa, 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.
Oakland-Wawanesa is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Manitoba Infrastructure
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Oakland-Wawanesa: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Oakland-Wawanesa the inventory points to Manitoba Infrastructure’s 2018 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Souris River | Manitoba Infrastructure | 2018 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Oakland-Wawanesa apart in Manitoba, where 18% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Oakland-Wawanesa 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 Oakland-Wawanesa just $0.005 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Oakland-Wawanesa’s $0.005 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Oakland-Wawanesa’s $0.005 is close to the median in Manitoba, $0.006; Virden is highest 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 Oakland-Wawanesa.
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).
For Oakland-Wawanesa the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Oakland-Wawanesa: 35% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Assiniboine health region
More homes than usual test high around Oakland-Wawanesa: 35% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Oakland-Wawanesa than in most towns in Manitoba: 35% over the guideline (12% is typical), 1.8% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
No band is higher: Oakland-Wawanesa is among the 1.5% of Canada’s towns with 30% or more of tests over 200 Bq/m³.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Oakland-Wawanesa, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Oakland-Wawanesa
Alerts for Oakland-Wawanesa 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Oakland-Wawanesa are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Oakland-Wawanesa faces
What to do about the hazards Oakland-Wawanesa 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Oakland-Wawanesa.
- 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 Oakland-Wawanesa floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Oakland-Wawanesa’s included.
- 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 Oakland-Wawanesa sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Oakland-Wawanesa
Does Oakland-Wawanesa flood?
Oakland-Wawanesa’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Oakland-Wawanesa?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Oakland-Wawanesa’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Oakland-Wawanesa’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Oakland-Wawanesa grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Oakland-Wawanesa at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 2.5% of the land within 25 km of Oakland-Wawanesa has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Oakland-Wawanesa?
In Health Canada’s survey, 35% of 110 homes tested in Oakland-Wawanesa’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).