Photo: Kyla Duhamel from Saskatoon, Canada · CC BY 2.0Hazard risk in Paddockwood No. 520 is lower than in 93% of Canadian towns
Fire reaches the land around Paddockwood No. 520 now and then: 4.9% within 25 km since 1986 (0.14% a year), below the high 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). Radon around Paddockwood No. 520 is ordinary for Canada: 7.4% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Paddockwood No. 520 grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Paddockwood No. 520’s hazards
For Paddockwood No. 520, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Paddockwood No. 520 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Paddockwood No. 520 grades A for hazard risk
Earthquake risk and radon make Paddockwood No. 520’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
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 reaches the land around Paddockwood No. 520: 5.1% within 5 km, 4.9% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Paddockwood No. 520’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Moderate: the land around Paddockwood No. 520 burns at 0.14% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
There is forest near Paddockwood No. 520’s homes (8.8% within 5 km) and more of it further out (21% 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
In the top quarter in Saskatchewan: Paddockwood No. 520 ranks 6th of 105 at 0.14% a year, with La Loche first 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 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Paddockwood No. 520, and 2.1% sit above it.
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 Paddockwood No. 520
Flood studies whose area touches Paddockwood No. 520, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Paddockwood No. 520, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 55% of towns in Saskatchewan have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Paddockwood No. 520 is not among 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 Paddockwood No. 520 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.”
Little shaking expected in Paddockwood No. 520: $0.005 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 $0.005 per $1,000, Paddockwood No. 520 carries 0.2 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030): low.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Paddockwood No. 520 runs at $0.005 a year, near the $0.006 of the typical town in Saskatchewan; Weyburn has $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 (96%) expects more shaking damage than Paddockwood No. 520.
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 Paddockwood No. 520 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).
Some radon around Paddockwood No. 520: 7.4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Paddockwood No. 520’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 7.4% over the guideline, against 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Paddockwood No. 520 alone, so this card uses the figure for the Prince Albert Parkland RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Saskatchewan has 9.1% over 200 Bq/m³; Paddockwood No. 520’s area has 7.4%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share Paddockwood No. 520’s band of 5 to 10%; 26% sit 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Paddockwood No. 520, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Paddockwood No. 520
Alerts for Paddockwood No. 520 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 Paddockwood No. 520 to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Paddockwood No. 520’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddockwood No. 520 | Moderate | $0.005 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Lakeland No. 521 1,393 · 9.6 km | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
Lakeland No. 521 burns a little more than Paddockwood No. 520, in the same moderate band (moderate here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Paddockwood No. 520 faces
Practical steps for Paddockwood No. 520’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Paddockwood No. 520’s included.
- 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 Paddockwood No. 520.
- 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 Paddockwood No. 520 until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Paddockwood No. 520 without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Paddockwood No. 520
How big is the earthquake risk in Paddockwood No. 520?
Expected earthquake damage in Paddockwood No. 520 comes to $0.005 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Paddockwood No. 520 at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Paddockwood No. 520’s band is moderate, with 4.9% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Paddockwood No. 520?
7.4% of the 108 homes Health Canada tested around Paddockwood No. 520 topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Paddockwood No. 520’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Paddockwood No. 520 grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Paddockwood No. 520 flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Paddockwood No. 520 (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask the municipality.
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).