Photo: Padowntown · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Prince Albert is lower than in 97% of Canadian towns
Some 8.8% of the land within 25 km of Prince Albert has burned since 1986; at 0.24% a year that is moderate, not high. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Prince Albert’s survey area, 7.4% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Prince Albert a grade of A+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Prince Albert’s hazards
For Prince Albert, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Prince Albert faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Prince Albert: A+
For Prince Albert, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #1 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #236 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Fire reaches the land around Prince Albert: 2.6% within 5 km, 8.8% within 25 km
Past fire around Prince Albert’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Moderate: the land around Prince Albert burns at 0.24% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest crowds in on Prince Albert: 17% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 9.7% 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
Prince Albert ranks 4th of the 104 towns in Saskatchewan for burn rate, at 0.24% 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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Prince Albert, 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.
A flood study covers Prince Albert, from City of Prince Albert: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Prince Albert: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
A 2019 study by City of Prince Albert covers Prince Albert, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Albert | City of Prince Albert | 2019 | final · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Prince Albert apart in Saskatchewan, where 55% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Prince Albert’s homes are at risk.
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 Prince Albert: $0.004 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Prince Albert it is only $0.004, 0.1 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Prince Albert’s $0.004 sits under the median in Saskatchewan, $0.006, and well under 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.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (98%) expects more shaking damage than Prince Albert.
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).
For Prince Albert the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Prince Albert: 7.4% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Prince Albert’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
Prince Albert’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.
37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share Prince Albert’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.
Whatever Prince Albert’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Prince Albert Parkland RHA
Where to get warnings in Prince Albert
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Prince Albert; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Prince Albert, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Prince Albert’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Albert | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | Yes |
| Prince Albert No. 461 3,589 · 2.5 km | Moderate | $0.005 | 7.4% | Yes |
| Buckland No. 491 3,550 · 7.5 km | High | $0.005 | 7.4% | Yes |
Buckland No. 491 has the most fire around it, a high band against Prince Albert’s moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Prince Albert faces
Practical steps for Prince Albert’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Prince Albert, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Prince Albert’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Prince Albert.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Prince Albert takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Prince Albert
How big is the earthquake risk in Prince Albert?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Prince Albert’s buildings lose $0.004 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Prince Albert’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Prince Albert A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Prince Albert?
The area’s survey found 7.4% of 108 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Prince Albert.
Does Prince Albert flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Prince Albert; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Prince Albert at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Prince Albert’s moderate band (8.8% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
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).