Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0A flood study covers North Battleford: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Water Security Agency
Fire has left almost no mark near North Battleford: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.003 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 11% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives North Battleford a grade of A−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about North Battleford’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Battleford: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Battleford faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
North Battleford grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for North Battleford, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #52 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #580 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near North Battleford: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where North Battleford’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of North Battleford burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around North Battleford: forest fuel is 0.1% 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
Among the 104 towns in Saskatchewan, La Loche burns fastest (1.94% a year); North Battleford is with the 54 near zero.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), North Battleford is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 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.
North Battleford is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Water Security Agency
Flood studies whose area touches North Battleford, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The flood study touching North Battleford is Water Security Agency’s, dated 1990; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| 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%; North 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for North Battleford.
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 North Battleford just $0.003 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
North Battleford’s $0.003 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.1 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Saskatchewan peaks in Weyburn ($0.033); North Battleford, at $0.003, is below the median of $0.006.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, North Battleford has 99% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 North 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).
11% of homes tested around North Battleford are over the radon 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 North Battleford: 11% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. North Battleford shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Prairie North RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
North Battleford’s area, at 11%, 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than North Battleford, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 North Battleford as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for North Battleford
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for North Battleford; 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 North Battleford, 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)
How North Battleford’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Battleford | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
| Battleford 4,657 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
| Battle River No. 438 1,080 · 14 km | Low | $0.003 | 11% | Yes |
The fire record around Battle River No. 438 is a touch heavier than North Battleford’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Battleford faces
What to do about the hazards North Battleford faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in North Battleford.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around North Battleford’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; North Battleford’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, North Battleford takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Battleford
How big is the earthquake risk in North Battleford?
About $0.003 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for North Battleford.
Does North Battleford flood?
The inventory lists a study touching North Battleford; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How is North Battleford’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North Battleford’s Hazard risk grade is A−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in North Battleford?
In Health Canada’s survey, 11% of 103 homes tested in North Battleford’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is North Battleford at risk of wildfire?
The burned-area record shows next to nothing around North Battleford (0% within 25 km since 1986), so its band is low.
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).