Photo: SriMesh · CC BY-SA 3.0Pacific Heights faces fewer hazards than 91% of Canadian towns
Little of the land around Pacific Heights has burned: 0.3% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.008% a year. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Pacific Heights is ordinary for Canada: 6.6% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Pacific Heights a grade of A; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Pacific Heights’s hazards
For Pacific Heights, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Pacific Heights faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Pacific Heights grades A for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Pacific Heights with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #9 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #299 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 76 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Pacific Heights has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.3% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Pacific Heights’ residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Pacific Heights’ 0.008% is in the low band.
The 5 km ring around Pacific Heights’ homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 23 km out.
Around Pacific Heights the forest is thin or far off: 0.1% of the land within 5 km and 0% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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
At 0.008% a year, Pacific Heights ranks 36th of the 104 towns in Saskatchewan; La Loche leads 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Pacific Heights stays low, with 92%.
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.
No flood study is listed for Pacific Heights
Flood studies whose area touches Pacific Heights, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, Pacific Heights has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns against 58% nationally, and Pacific Heights has none.
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 Pacific Heights’ 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.”
Low seismic risk in Pacific Heights: $0.006 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.
Pacific Heights’ $0.006 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
For earthquake risk, the only official count covers all of the city of Saskatoon, Pacific Heights included.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Pacific Heights’ $0.006 is close to the median in Saskatchewan, $0.006; Weyburn is highest at $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: 88% of its 2,611 towns sit above Pacific Heights.
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 Pacific Heights 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 Pacific Heights: 6.6% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Pacific Heights’ area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 6.6% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Pacific Heights than in most towns in Saskatchewan: 6.6% against 9.1%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Pacific Heights is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 Pacific Heights, 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). · Radon tests: the Saskatoon RHA
Where to get warnings in Pacific Heights
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Pacific Heights; 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 Pacific Heights, 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 Pacific Heights’ neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Heights | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Confederation Park 5,771 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Blairmore Suburban Centre 7,411 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Dundonald 2,855 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Fairhaven 6,536 · 1.4 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Massey Place 6,561 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Parkridge 4,518 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
Fairhaven burns a little more than Pacific Heights, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Pacific Heights faces
What to do about the hazards Pacific Heights 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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, Pacific Heights’ included.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Pacific Heights takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- 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 Pacific Heights.
- 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 Pacific Heights.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pacific Heights
How is Pacific Heights’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Pacific Heights grades A for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Pacific Heights?
In Health Canada’s survey, 6.6% of 76 homes tested in Pacific Heights’ area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Pacific Heights flood?
Nothing is listed for Pacific Heights on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pacific Heights?
About $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Pacific Heights.
Is Pacific Heights at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.3% of the land within 25 km of Pacific Heights has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).