Photo: Raghavendra Kattinakere, ~rAGU · CC BY-SA 3.0Lakeland No. 521 faces fewer hazards than 97% of Canadian towns
Fire reaches the land around Lakeland No. 521 now and then: 9% within 25 km since 1986 (0.25% a year), below the high band. Seismic risk runs low: $0.004 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 7.4% of homes tested in Lakeland No. 521’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Lakeland No. 521 a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Lakeland No. 521’s hazards
For Lakeland No. 521, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Lakeland No. 521 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Lakeland No. 521: A+
Two inputs always count for Lakeland No. 521, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Some fire around Lakeland No. 521: 9% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.2% within 5 km
Past fire around Lakeland No. 521’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Lakeland No. 521 is 0.25%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Lakeland No. 521: 36% within 5 km, 36% 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 105
Lakeland No. 521 ranks 4th of the 105 towns in Saskatchewan for burn rate, at 0.25% a year; La Loche leads with 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.
Moderate puts Lakeland No. 521 above most of Canada’s 2,610 towns, yet 2.1% rank high or very high and 5.4% share its band.
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.
No flood study is listed for Lakeland No. 521
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Lakeland No. 521: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Lakeland No. 521; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Lakeland No. 521 has no flood study on file; only 55% of towns in Saskatchewan 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Lakeland No. 521’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Lakeland No. 521 just $0.004 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
0.1 times the typical $0.030: Lakeland No. 521’s $0.004 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.004, Lakeland No. 521 is below the typical town in Saskatchewan ($0.006); Weyburn is highest at $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 (98%) expects more shaking damage than Lakeland No. 521.
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 Lakeland No. 521.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Lakeland No. 521: 7.4% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Prince Albert Parkland RHA: radon tests
Lakeland No. 521’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 7.4% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Lakeland No. 521’s area, at 7.4%, is close to the median in Saskatchewan (9.1%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Lakeland No. 521 is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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, Lakeland No. 521’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Lakeland No. 521
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Lakeland No. 521; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Lakeland No. 521 come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Lakeland No. 521’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland No. 521 | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Paddockwood No. 520 1,155 · 9.6 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 7.4% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Lakeland No. 521 (moderate), with Paddockwood No. 520 next at moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Lakeland No. 521 faces
What to do about the hazards Lakeland No. 521 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Lakeland No. 521.
- 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 Lakeland No. 521.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Lakeland No. 521’s included.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Lakeland No. 521 is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Lakeland No. 521
Does Lakeland No. 521 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Lakeland No. 521’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Lakeland No. 521?
Around Lakeland No. 521, 108 survey homes were tested and 7.4% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Lakeland No. 521’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Lakeland No. 521’s Hazard risk grade is A+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Lakeland No. 521 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 9% of the land around Lakeland No. 521 since 1986 (last in 2025); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Lakeland No. 521?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Lakeland No. 521 $0.004 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
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).