Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Radon is North Central’s main hazard: 25% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Fire has left almost no mark near North Central: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.014 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). North Central grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about North Central’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for North Central: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What North Central faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in North Central: C+
The grade weighs North Central’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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 North Central: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where North Central’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around North Central fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around North Central gives a fire little to burn.
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
Of the 104 towns in Saskatchewan, 54 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, North Central among them; La Loche leads at 1.94% a year.
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 Central 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 Central is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Water Security Agency
Flood studies whose area touches North Central, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Water Security Agency and others have studied flooding in areas that include North Central: 2 studies, the latest from 2025.
| 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
Its flood study sets North Central 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 North Central’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.
Low seismic risk in North Central: $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.
North Central’s $0.014 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.5 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Figures for earthquake risk are published for the city of Regina as a whole, not for North Central alone.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
North Central’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.
Toward the quiet end of Canada’s range: 73% of its 2,611 towns sit above North Central.
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 Central’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).
25% of homes tested around North Central 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 North Central, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around North Central, 25% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 4.3% over 600, against a median of 9.1% in Saskatchewan.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
North Central is in the 20–30% band, which holds only 3.1% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 1.5% are 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.
One home in North Central can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: the Regina Qu'Appelle RHA
Weather and fire alerts for North Central
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for North Central; 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 North Central, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around North Central
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Central | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Cathedral Village 7,311 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| McNab 2,510 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Coronation Park 7,307 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Downtown 4,282 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Regent Park 2,876 · 2.2 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
| Rosemont/Mount Royal 10,497 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.014 | 25% | Yes |
North Central’s low band tops its neighbours; Cathedral Village is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what North Central faces
What to do about the hazards North Central 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around North Central’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 North Central until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; North Central’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for North Central without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in North Central
How is North Central’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
North Central grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is North Central at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: North Central’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Does North Central flood?
A flood study covers North Central on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is radon a problem in North Central?
In Health Canada’s survey, 25% of 94 homes tested in North Central’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in North Central?
Expected earthquake damage in North Central comes to $0.014 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
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).