Photo: Ccyyrree · CC0Around Downtown, 25% of tested homes have radon above the guideline
Wildfire barely registers for Downtown, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Downtown grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Downtown’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Downtown: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Downtown faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Downtown: C+
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Downtown with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #74 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #2,005 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Downtown: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Downtown’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Downtown burns at 0.000% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Forest makes up 0.1% of the land within 5 km of Downtown and 0% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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
To three decimals the burn rate around Downtown is zero, as for 54 of the 104 towns in Saskatchewan, while La Loche reaches 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Downtown sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are 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.
2 flood studies cover Downtown, the newest from Water Security Agency
Flood studies whose area touches Downtown, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The newest of 2 studies covering Downtown is Water Security Agency’s, from 2025; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regina Flood Mapping Study | Water Security Agency | 2025 | final |
| Regina | Water Security Agency | 2020 | under review · not public |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, but Downtown has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Downtown to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.
Low seismic risk in Downtown: $0.014 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Downtown’s $0.014 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.5 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Downtown’s $0.014 tops the median in Saskatchewan, $0.006, though Weyburn reaches $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.
73% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Downtown.
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).
The model counts damage to Downtown’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Data for earthquake risk covers the city of Regina
25% of homes tested around Downtown are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A higher share than most: 25% of tested homes around Downtown, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Downtown shares its radon tests numbers with the rest of the Regina Qu'Appelle RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Downtown than in most towns in Saskatchewan: 25% over the guideline (9.1% is typical), 4.3% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One home in five or more tests over the guideline around Downtown; 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are in that band and 1.5% 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.
The survey sampled homes around Downtown; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Downtown
Alerts for Downtown 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Downtown are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Downtown
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Heritage 5,172 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Cathedral Village 7,311 · 1.2 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Dewdney Place 3,021 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Lakeview 7,770 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| North Central 9,124 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Al Ritchie 8,087 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
Downtown’s low band tops its neighbours; Heritage is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Downtown faces
What to do about the hazards Downtown 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Downtown’s.
- 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 Downtown floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Downtown’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Downtown sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Downtown
How big is the earthquake risk in Downtown?
About $0.014 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Downtown.
Does Downtown flood?
Downtown’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How is Downtown’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Downtown’s Hazard risk grade is C+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is radon a problem in Downtown?
In Health Canada’s survey, 25% of 94 homes tested in Downtown’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Downtown at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Downtown’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
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).