Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0On hazards, Hay River comes out behind almost every Canadian town
At 2.24% of the land burned each year (77% within 25 km since 1986), Hay River is in the very high wildfire band. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). About as many homes carry radon around Hay River as elsewhere, 5.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hay River grades D− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Hay River’s hazards
For Hay River, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Hay River faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Hay River: D−
Two inputs always count for Hay River, 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Fire country: 77% of the land within 25 km of Hay River has burned since 1986, 44% within 5 km
Past fire around Hay River’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 2.24% of the land a year, Hay River’s burn rate is very high, far beyond the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
The ring nearest Hay River is the most wooded: 61% forest fuel within 5 km against 32% 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 the Northwest Territories · highest of 3
First of 3 in the Northwest Territories: Hay River at 2.24% a year, ahead of Inuvik (0.32%).
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.
Few places in Canada burn like the land around Hay River: the very high band holds 0.2% of the 2,610 towns.
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.
Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change has mapped flooding for Hay River (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Hay River: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Hay River is Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change’s, dated 2025; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hay River (Kátł’odeh) Flood Mapping | Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change | 2025 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Hay River has a flood study on file, as 58% of Canada’s towns do.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Hay River’s homes are at risk.
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 Hay River 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: Hay River’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Canada’s median, $0.030, is the yardstick for Hay River ($0.005): there are too few towns in the Northwest Territories for one of their own.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Hay River is among Canada’s quietest towns for earthquakes: 96% of the 2,611 expect more damage.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Hay River is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
5.4% of homes tested around Hay River are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Northwest Territories health region
The survey area of Hay River reads 5.4%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
No median in the Northwest Territories to compare with, the territory having too few towns; around Hay River, 0.5% of tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Hay River’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Hay River’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Hay River
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Hay River; 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. |
For fires near Hay River, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Hay River faces
What to do about the hazards Hay River 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 Hay River’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Hay River until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Hay River without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Hay River, 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 Hay River
Does Hay River flood?
A flood study covers Hay River 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 Hay River?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Hay River’s buildings lose $0.005 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Hay River’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hay River grades D− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Hay River?
Around Hay River, 185 survey homes were tested and 5.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Hay River at risk of wildfire?
More than most Canadian towns; Hay River’s very high band rests on 77% of nearby land burned since 1986 (most recently 2023).
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).