Photo: Martin Cathrae from Charlottetown, PE, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Hazard risk in Vanscoy No. 345 is lower than in 96% of Canadian towns
Wildfire is rare near Vanscoy No. 345: 0.3% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.008% a year. Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 6.6% of homes tested in Vanscoy No. 345’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Vanscoy No. 345 grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Vanscoy No. 345’s hazards
For Vanscoy No. 345, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Vanscoy No. 345 faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Vanscoy No. 345 grades A+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Vanscoy No. 345 with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #2 of 104 in Saskatchewan and #243 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. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Vanscoy No. 345: 0% within 5 km, 0.3% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Vanscoy No. 345’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.008% of the land a year around Vanscoy No. 345, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Fire has stayed at least 8.1 km from Vanscoy No. 345’s homes since 1986.
Little near Vanscoy No. 345’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, 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%): Vanscoy No. 345 ranks 36th of 104, at 0.008% 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Vanscoy No. 345 burns, but slower than in the 7.5% 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 Vanscoy No. 345
Flood studies whose area touches Vanscoy No. 345, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Vanscoy No. 345, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Vanscoy No. 345; 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.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Vanscoy No. 345’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Vanscoy No. 345 just $0.005 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
0.2 times the typical $0.030: Vanscoy No. 345’s $0.005 is low for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Vanscoy No. 345 runs at $0.005 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.
Nearly every one of Canada’s 2,611 towns (96%) expects more shaking damage than Vanscoy No. 345.
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).
For Vanscoy No. 345 the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Vanscoy No. 345: 6.6% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Around Vanscoy No. 345, 6.6% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Vanscoy No. 345’s area, at 6.6%, is below the median in Saskatchewan (9.1%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Vanscoy No. 345’s 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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 Vanscoy No. 345 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). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Saskatoon RHA)
Where to get warnings in Vanscoy No. 345
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Vanscoy No. 345; 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 Vanscoy No. 345, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Vanscoy No. 345 faces
What to do about the hazards Vanscoy No. 345 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
- 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 Vanscoy No. 345 sits in.
- 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 Vanscoy No. 345.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Vanscoy No. 345’s included.
- 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 Vanscoy No. 345 floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Vanscoy No. 345
Is radon a problem in Vanscoy No. 345?
Around Vanscoy No. 345, 76 survey homes were tested and 6.6% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Vanscoy No. 345 flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Vanscoy No. 345’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Vanscoy No. 345’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Vanscoy No. 345 A+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Vanscoy No. 345?
About $0.005 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Vanscoy No. 345.
Is Vanscoy No. 345 at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.3% of the land around Vanscoy No. 345 since 1986 (last in 2023); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
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).