Photo: SriMesh · CC BY-SA 3.0Westview faces fewer hazards than 91% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is rare near Westview: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.002% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.006 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon around Westview is ordinary for Canada: 6.6% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Westview grades A for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Westview’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Westview: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Westview faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Westview grades A for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Westview, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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. Only 76 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Westview: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Westview’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Westview is 0.002%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Westview’s homes came within 24 km, never inside 5 km.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Westview: forest fuel is 0.1% within 5 km and 0% 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
In the upper half in Saskatchewan but far from La Loche (1.94%): Westview ranks 46th of 104, at 0.002% 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.
Some fire is mapped around Westview, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Westview
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Westview: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Westview, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Westview; in Saskatchewan, 55% of towns have one, below Canada’s 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 Westview’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Westview just $0.006 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Westview’s $0.006 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.2 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Westview doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Saskatoon.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Westview runs at $0.006 a year, near the $0.006 of the typical town in Saskatchewan; Weyburn has $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 Westview 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 loss is to Westview’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
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 Westview: 6.6% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Saskatoon RHA: radon tests
Westview’s 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
Against the typical town in Saskatchewan (9.1%), the area around Westview has fewer high tests: 6.6%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Westview 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Westview can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Westview
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Westview; 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 Westview, 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 Westview’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westview | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Hampton Village 9,119 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Massey Place 6,561 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Mount Royal 5,292 · 1.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Dundonald 2,855 · 1.8 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Mayfair 2,927 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | None listed |
| Caswell Hill 2,573 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.006 | 6.6% | Yes |
The fire record around Massey Place is a touch heavier than Westview’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 Westview faces
What to do about the hazards Westview 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. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Westview’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Westview’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 Westview until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Westview without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Westview
How is Westview’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Westview A, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Westview?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Westview $0.006 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Westview at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Westview has burned since 1986, the last in 2023, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Westview?
In Health Canada’s survey, 6.6% of 76 homes tested in Westview’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Westview flood?
Nothing is listed for Westview on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).