Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0A flood study covers Battleford: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Water Security Agency
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Battleford, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.003 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 11% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Battleford grades A− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Battleford’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Battleford: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Battleford faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Battleford grades A− for hazard risk
For Battleford, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #52 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #580 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Battleford has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Battleford’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Battleford at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Battleford: forest fuel is 0% within 5 km and 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 Saskatchewan · highest of 104
Little or nothing burns around Battleford in a typical year; 54 of the 104 towns in Saskatchewan share that, and La Loche leads at 1.94%.
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%; Battleford, 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.
A flood study covers Battleford, from Water Security Agency: 1 on the inventory
Flood studies whose area touches Battleford, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For Battleford the inventory points to Water Security Agency’s 1990 study, whose map is the one to check.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battleford | Water Security Agency | 1990 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 55% of towns in Saskatchewan have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Battleford is one of them.
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 Battleford 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.
Little shaking expected in Battleford: $0.003 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.
At $0.003 per $1,000, Battleford carries 0.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Saskatchewan expects $0.006 a year in shaking damage; Battleford expects less, $0.003, and Weyburn the most, $0.033.
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 (99%) expects more shaking damage than Battleford.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Battleford’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 Battleford: 11% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Battleford: 11% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Prairie North RHA, with Battleford one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Saskatchewan has 9.1% over 200 Bq/m³; Battleford’s area has 11%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Battleford among them; 4.6% rank above.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Battleford as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Battleford
Alerts for Battleford 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Battleford to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Battleford’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battleford | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
| North Battleford 14,882 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
| Battle River No. 438 1,080 · 8.6 km | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
Battle River No. 438 burns a little more than Battleford, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Battleford faces
Practical steps for Battleford’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Battleford’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Battleford floods.
- 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 Battleford sits in.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Battleford’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Battleford
Does Battleford flood?
Battleford’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Battleford at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Battleford: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How is Battleford’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Battleford A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Battleford?
Expected earthquake damage in Battleford comes to $0.003 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in Battleford?
11% of the 103 homes Health Canada tested around Battleford topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).