Photo: Bob Linsdell · CC BY 3.0Flood mapping exists for Winnipeg: 2 on record, latest by Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure
Wildfire isn’t Winnipeg’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). More homes than usual carry radon here, 12% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%.
What stands out about Winnipeg’s hazards
For Winnipeg, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Winnipeg faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
No Hazard risk grade for Winnipeg yet
Two inputs always count for Winnipeg, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 66 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Winnipeg: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Winnipeg’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Winnipeg burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The 5 km ring around Winnipeg’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 11 km out.
Around Winnipeg the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Winnipeg is zero, as for 61 of the 190 towns in Manitoba, while Flin Flon (Part) reaches 1.68%.
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 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Winnipeg, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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 Winnipeg is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Winnipeg: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Winnipeg, the newest Hydrologic Forecasting and Water Management Branch of Manitoba Transporation and Infrastructure ’s from 2025, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, 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 |
| Lower Assiniboine River | Manitoba Infrastructure | 2019 | 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%; Winnipeg 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 mapping around Winnipeg has come in steps: 2 studies from the 2010s to the 2020s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Winnipeg.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Winnipeg 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 Winnipeg just $0.006 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Winnipeg’s $0.006 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
Earthquake risk around Winnipeg ($0.006) matches the middle in Manitoba ($0.006), far from Virden’s $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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (88%) face more earthquake damage than Winnipeg.
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 Winnipeg.
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 Winnipeg: 12% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Winnipeg’s area, at 12%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Winnipeg, 12% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Manitoba (12%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Winnipeg, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go 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.
A low area share in Winnipeg doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Winnipeg health region
Where to get warnings in Winnipeg
Alerts for Winnipeg 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 Winnipeg 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)
Hazards in the places around Winnipeg
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg | Low | $0.006 | 12% | Yes |
| River-Osborne 5,090 · 0.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Broadway-Assiniboine 5,871 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Roslyn 4,411 · 0.7 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| South Portage 3,037 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| West Broadway 6,537 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| McMillan 3,568 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
The fire record around River-Osborne is a touch heavier than Winnipeg’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 Winnipeg faces
What to do about the hazards Winnipeg 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
- 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 Winnipeg until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Winnipeg’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Winnipeg, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Winnipeg without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Winnipeg
Is radon a problem in Winnipeg?
In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of 66 homes tested in Winnipeg’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Winnipeg’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Winnipeg isn’t graded yet: Canada’s single grading run will set its Risk from earthquakes, radon and, one way only, wildfire.
Does Winnipeg flood?
A flood study covers Winnipeg on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Winnipeg?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Winnipeg $0.006 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Winnipeg at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Winnipeg has burned since 1986, the last in 2012, 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).