Photo: Words in the Wind · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazards in River-Osborne: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 12% of tested homes
No wildfire is mapped within 25 km of River-Osborne’s homes since 1986 (0% of the land, 0.001% 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). River-Osborne grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about River-Osborne’s hazards
For River-Osborne, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What River-Osborne faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
River-Osborne grades B+ for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set River-Osborne’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
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 River-Osborne: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where River-Osborne’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of River-Osborne burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of River-Osborne’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 21 km away.
Around River-Osborne the forest is thin or far off: 0% of the land within 5 km and 0.1% 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 189
River-Osborne ranks 31st of the 189 towns in Manitoba for burn rate, at 0.001% a year; Flin Flon (Part) leads with 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.
Some fire is mapped around River-Osborne, 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for River-Osborne
Flood studies whose area touches River-Osborne, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for River-Osborne on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
River-Osborne has no flood study on file; only 18% of towns in Manitoba do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for River-Osborne.
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.”
Little shaking expected in River-Osborne: $0.006 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in River-Osborne it is only $0.006, 0.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: River-Osborne at $0.006 beside a median in Manitoba of $0.006, with Virden on top 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.
River-Osborne is in the lower part of Canada’s range for earthquake risk; 88% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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 River-Osborne.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Winnipeg
Test for radon in River-Osborne: 12% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Winnipeg health region
River-Osborne’s survey area reads 12% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around River-Osborne, 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.
River-Osborne is in the 10–20% band, with 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; only 4.6% are 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 River-Osborne 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 River-Osborne
Alerts for River-Osborne 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. |
Evacuation orders for River-Osborne come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around River-Osborne
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River-Osborne | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Broadway-Assiniboine 5,871 · 0.7 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Roslyn 4,411 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| Norwood West 2,909 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| South Portage 3,037 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| McMillan 3,568 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
| West Broadway 6,537 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 12% | None listed |
Broadway-Assiniboine (low) has the heaviest fire record of River-Osborne’s neighbours, and River-Osborne (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what River-Osborne faces
Practical steps for River-Osborne’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For River-Osborne, 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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around River-Osborne until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for River-Osborne’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for River-Osborne without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in River-Osborne
Is River-Osborne at risk of wildfire?
Some, but River-Osborne’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2012) is short of the level that counts.
How is River-Osborne’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
River-Osborne grades B+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in River-Osborne?
About $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for River-Osborne.
Does River-Osborne flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for River-Osborne, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in River-Osborne?
The area’s survey found 12% of 66 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in River-Osborne.
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).