Photo: Joli Rumi · CC BY-SA 4.0Few places are as safe from hazards as University: it beats 91% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around University, with 0.2% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.006% 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. In Health Canada’s survey, 6.6% of homes tested in University’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. University grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about University’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for University: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What University faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
University grades A for hazard risk
Seismic risk and radon set University’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #9 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #299 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 76 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near University: 0% within 5 km, 0.2% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where University’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
In a typical year 0.006% of the land near University burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
The 5 km ring around University’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 24 km out.
With 0% forest fuel within 5 km and 0% within 25 km, the land around University 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
University sits mid-table in Saskatchewan: 40th of 104 towns, at 0.006% a year, well behind La Loche (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.
University is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
University is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Water Security Agency
Flood studies whose area touches University, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Water Security Agency holds the flood mapping that covers University (2024), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Saskatoon Flood Mapping Study | Water Security Agency | 2024 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Saskatchewan reaches 55% of towns, University among them, below the 58% across Canada.
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 University 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.
Little shaking expected in University: $0.006 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.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in University it is only $0.006, 0.2 times as much.
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Saskatoon, with University one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Saskatchewan is $0.006; University, at $0.006, is right beside it, and Weyburn tops the list 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.
Earthquakes cost less around University than in 88% of Canada’s 2,611 towns.
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 University’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).
Some radon around University: 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. · Measured across the Saskatoon RHA: radon tests
University’s area, at 6.6%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around University (6.6%) than in the typical town in Saskatchewan (9.1%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: University, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in University as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for University
Alerts for University 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. |
Evacuation orders for University come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How University’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
| University Heights Urban Centre 9,247 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Greystone Heights 6,402 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Brighton 7,238 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
| North Park 5,000 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
| Grosvenor Park 6,240 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
| Lawson Heights 8,158 · 3.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
The fire record around Greystone Heights is a touch heavier than University’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what University faces
Practical steps for University’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for University without grading them.
- 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 University’s.
- 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 University until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of University’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in University
Does University flood?
A flood study covers University on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in University?
Expected earthquake damage in University comes to $0.006 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is radon a problem in University?
The area’s survey found 6.6% of 76 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in University.
How is University’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives University A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is University at risk of wildfire?
Some, but University’s low band (0.2% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2023) 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).