Sturgeon Lake 101 faces fewer hazards than 96% of Canadian towns
The burn rate around Sturgeon Lake 101 is 0.24% a year (8.1% of the land within 25 km since 1986), a moderate band. Earthquakes matter little: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.004 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 7.4% of homes tested in Sturgeon Lake 101’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Sturgeon Lake 101 grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Sturgeon Lake 101’s hazards
For Sturgeon Lake 101, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sturgeon Lake 101 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sturgeon Lake 101: A+
Two inputs always count for Sturgeon Lake 101, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Fire reaches the land around Sturgeon Lake 101: 25% within 5 km, 8.1% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sturgeon Lake 101’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Sturgeon Lake 101 is 0.24%, above 0.000% for the typical Canadian town but under the high band.
Within 5 km of Sturgeon Lake 101, 5.1% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 11%.
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 105
In the top quarter in Saskatchewan: Sturgeon Lake 101 ranks 4th of 105 at 0.24% a year, with La Loche first 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.
Only 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns share the moderate band with Sturgeon Lake 101, and 2.1% sit 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Sturgeon Lake 101
Flood studies whose area touches Sturgeon Lake 101, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Sturgeon Lake 101 on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 55% of towns in Saskatchewan have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Sturgeon Lake 101 is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Sturgeon Lake 101 floods.
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 Sturgeon Lake 101: $0.004 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.
Sturgeon Lake 101’s $0.004 is a fraction of the typical town’s $0.030 (0.1 times as much): quiet ground by Canadian standards.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Saskatchewan: Sturgeon Lake 101’s $0.004 against a median of $0.006; 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.
At the bottom of Canada’s range, Sturgeon Lake 101 has 98% of the 2,611 towns above it.
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 Sturgeon Lake 101 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 Sturgeon Lake 101: 7.4% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Sturgeon Lake 101’s area 7.4%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Nobody publishes radon tests for Sturgeon Lake 101 alone, so this card uses the figure for the Prince Albert Parkland RHA.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Sturgeon Lake 101 is ordinary for towns in Saskatchewan: 7.4%, beside a median of 9.1%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Sturgeon Lake 101 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.
Neighbouring homes in Sturgeon Lake 101 can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sturgeon Lake 101
Alerts for Sturgeon Lake 101 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 Sturgeon Lake 101 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 Sturgeon Lake 101’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgeon Lake 101 | Moderate | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
| Shellbrook No. 493 1,671 · 16 km | High | $0.004 | 7.4% | None listed |
Next door, Shellbrook No. 493 sits in a high fire band; Sturgeon Lake 101 is moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sturgeon Lake 101 faces
What to do about the hazards Sturgeon Lake 101 faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- 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.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Sturgeon Lake 101, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Sturgeon Lake 101 sits in.
- 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 Sturgeon Lake 101 floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Sturgeon Lake 101’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sturgeon Lake 101
Does Sturgeon Lake 101 flood?
Nothing is listed for Sturgeon Lake 101 on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sturgeon Lake 101?
About $0.004 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Sturgeon Lake 101.
How is Sturgeon Lake 101’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sturgeon Lake 101 A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Sturgeon Lake 101 at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 8.1% of the land within 25 km of Sturgeon Lake 101 has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a moderate band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Sturgeon Lake 101?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.4% of 108 homes tested in Sturgeon Lake 101’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).