Photo: Canadian2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Around Davidson, 20% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
Fire has left almost no mark near Davidson: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.007 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Davidson a grade of B−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Davidson’s hazards
For Davidson, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Davidson faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Davidson grades B− for hazard risk
For Davidson, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Few fires near Davidson: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Davidson’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.000% burned a year, Davidson is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Only 0% of the land within 25 km of Davidson is forest fuel, and 0% close in.
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 105
Near-zero burning puts Davidson with 55 of the 105 towns in Saskatchewan, far below La Loche 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.
Davidson shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Davidson
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Davidson: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Davidson on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, and Davidson has none.
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 Davidson.
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.”
Low seismic risk in Davidson: $0.007 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Davidson it is only $0.007, 0.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Davidson ($0.007) matches the middle in Saskatchewan ($0.006), far from Weyburn’s $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.
Most of Canada’s 2,611 towns (88%) face more earthquake damage than Davidson.
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 Davidson 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).
Test for radon in Davidson: 20% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Davidson’s survey area reads 20% over the guideline, well past the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Heartland RHA, with Davidson one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Davidson, 20% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 2.7% over 600, against a median of 9.1% in Saskatchewan.
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 Davidson, 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Davidson’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Davidson
Alerts for Davidson 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 Davidson 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)
Get ready for what Davidson faces
Practical steps for Davidson’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Davidson’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 Davidson sits in.
- 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 Davidson.
- 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 Davidson floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Davidson
Is Davidson at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Davidson’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does Davidson flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Davidson, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
How is Davidson’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Davidson 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 Davidson?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Davidson’s buildings lose $0.007 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Davidson?
The area’s survey found 20% of 111 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Davidson.
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).