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Radon Mitigation and Testing in Okotoks
In the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey of Radon, about 3 in 10 Okotoks homes reached Health Canada's radon guideline or more. The report lists Okotoks with High River and Strathmore as the Alberta towns where a quarter to half of houses read that high. Our crews test and fix radon in homes all over Okotoks and on the Foothills County acreages around it. Questions about a test or a result? Call us.
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Our Radon Mitigation Work in Okotoks
Just a Few of Our Results From the Area
We've put radon systems into Okotoks homes from Cimarron and Crystal Green to the older blocks near downtown and the newest houses on the edge of town, and into acreage homes from Priddis to Aldersyde. When homes around Okotoks retest with a lab detector after the install, about 2 in 3 read under 30 Bq/m³, and nearly all read under 100.
Each system is designed for the house it goes in. Canada's national standard for radon mitigation (CAN/CGSB-149.12-2024, section 1) says a system that is properly designed and installed by certified professionals can lower radon by about 90% or more. How well a system works comes down to who designs and installs it. We've lowered the radon in every home and commercial building we've ever worked on. Every system we install comes with guaranteed results.
Tricky homes are the ones our technicians enjoy most. Even after more than 3,000 homes, we still run into something new now and then, and when we do, the whole team works on it together, so every job has the experience of all our crews across Alberta and BC behind it.
The Five Homes Below
Before Mitigation
139 to 358Bq/m³
After
<15 to 19Bq/m³
358→16Bq/m³
Acreage home, Foothills County
2000s · in-floor heat · sump pit
Washed gravel under the slab. Once we sealed the sump, one system could draw from under the whole basement.
203→<18Bq/m³
Two-storey, south Okotoks
1990s · developed basement · no sump
Three lab tests the owners ran over the years read between 146 and 203. Gravel under the floor, one suction point.
212→15Bq/m³
Two-storey, east Okotoks
2010s · developed basement · two furnaces
A small crawlspace under the stairs was part of the basement, so we brought it into the design.
139→<15Bq/m³
Two-storey, east Okotoks
2000s · developed basement
Under the guideline to begin with, but the owners wanted it as low as the house could go.
150 to 325→19Bq/m³
Finished basement, Priddis
2000s · finished basement · sump pit
The owners' readings swung with the seasons, from about 150 up to 325 in winter. A six-month lab test after the install averaged 19.
Every pair of numbers is a real Bq/m³ reading from that home: lab tests after the install, and before it, a lab test or the owners' own readings. Where the owners' readings swung with the seasons, the card shows the range. One home started under the guideline, and the owners chose to go lower. The shares are worked out from our job records and the lab results of Okotoks-area homes that retested with us. To keep owners private, house details are rounded off, and every photo was taken on one of our Okotoks-area jobs, not always the exact home on that card.
Have a result over 200 Bq/m³, or not sure what yours means? Call us and we'll talk it through.
Radon Levels in Okotoks
What Local Tests Have Found
Across the Calgary region, roughly one home in six tested at 200 Bq/m³ or more, Health Canada's guideline. In Okotoks the share was close to double: about 3 in 10.
Both numbers are from the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey of Radon. The regional one pools more than 17,000 tests from census division 6, which takes in Okotoks, Foothills County and Calgary. Okotoks gets its own line, built on a few hundred homes. About 7 in 10 of them reached 100 or more, the level the World Health Organization uses as its reference, and the highest Okotoks reading in the survey was 4,852 Bq/m³, more than 20 times Health Canada's guideline.
A 2017 University of Calgary study points the same way. Its detectors sat for 90 days or more in 194 homes in Okotoks and High River between 2013 and 2016, and about one in four read 200 or higher. West of town, a Take Action on Radon project in Black Diamond found 44% of the homes it tested in the winter of 2020 came back over 200. Still, a town's figure is not your house. Two houses side by side can read far apart, and only a long-term test in yours will show where it sits. See how other parts of Alberta compare.
Homes Over Health Canada's Guideline
Okotoks, Cross-Canada Survey
3 in 10
Calgary Region, Cross-Canada Survey
1 in 6
Highest Okotoks Home Tested
4,852Bq/m³
The exact figures. Census division 6, the Calgary region: 17,203 tests, 17.1% at 200 Bq/m³ or more, geometric mean 102.8, top reading 7,199 (2024 Cross-Canada Survey of Radon, p.70). Okotoks: 300 to 399 homes, 30.4% at 200 or more, 68.8% at 100 or more (31.2% were under 100), geometric mean 128.3, unweighted (the survey had too little housing detail to weight this one; the Canadian 85 on the chart below is a weighted geometric mean, and the division's figures are unweighted, like Okotoks's), top reading 4,852 (p.44; the town is named on p.10). Okotoks and High River combined: 194 homes, 27% at 200 or more, 67% at 100 or more, average 194 (the figure prints 194 for both the homes and the average), top reading 1,022 (Stanley and others, CMAJ Open, 2017, Figure 2). Black Diamond (now part of Diamond Valley): 71 homes, 44% over 200, 45% between 100 and 200, 11% under 100 (Take Action on Radon, Black Diamond Community Report, May 2021).
What Your Radon Level Means
From Fresh Air to Canada's Guideline
Radon is measured in becquerels per cubic metre (Bq/m³). Here is where a long-term result sits next to the levels that matter in Canada, drawn to scale up to 300.
radoncare.ca
5 to 30
85
100
128
148 US
200
300
How Homes Here Tested
Share of homes tested in each range of radon levels (Bq/m³)
Okotoks, 2024 survey
31.2%
38.3%
30.4%
Under 100
100 to 199
200+
Black Diamond (now Diamond Valley), 2020
11%
45%
44%
100 to 199
200+
Okotoks and High River, 2013 to 2016 study
33%
40%
27%
Under 100
100 to 199
200+
About 5 to 30Bq/m³
Fresh outdoor air. Radon from the ground gets diluted in open air, and the level changes from day to day and from region to region.
85Bq/m³
The average Canadian home.
100Bq/m³
The reference level the World Health Organization suggests for countries.
128Bq/m³
The typical home tested in Okotoks (2024 survey, a geometric mean, unweighted: the survey had too little housing detail to weight it).
148Bq/m³
The level where the US Environmental Protection Agency says to fix a home. A US number, shown for reference: Canada uses Health Canada's guideline.
200Bq/m³ (5.4 pCi/L)
Health Canada's guideline. Above it, Health Canada recommends lowering your level within a year, and sooner the higher it is.
300Bq/m³
The upper limit the World Health Organization and European rules set for a country's reference level.
200 is not the goal. Health Canada says no level of radon is risk free, and 200 is not a recommended stopping point if your home can reasonably go lower.
Above 300: How High Radon Can Go
Not drawn to scale
800Bq/m³
Canada's guideline from 1988 to 2007, before it was lowered to 200.
4,852Bq/m³
The highest home tested in Okotoks in the 2024 survey.
32,321Bq/m³
The highest Canadian home tested in the 2024 survey.
All levels are long-term averages, which is how Health Canada compares a home with its guideline. Sources: Health Canada (200) and its 2012 survey report (800 until 2007), the BC Centre for Disease Control (fresh air, which it puts at about 5 to 15; outdoor levels change from day to day and region to region, so we show a wider band), the World Health Organization and the US EPA (148, for reference), EU Directive 2013/59/Euratom (100 and 300, for reference), and the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey of Radon (85, 128, 4,852 and 32,321, and how homes here tested). How homes here tested, also: Take Action on Radon, Black Diamond report and University of Calgary study (CMAJ Open, 2017).
Radon Testing in Okotoks
The Best Way to Test
The test to make decisions on is a long one, and our long-term test kit is the kind of test Health Canada recommends. Set it in your basement, or the lowest floor your family uses, leave it there three months or longer while the furnace is running, and mail it back in the prepaid envelope for the lab to read. The Town of Okotoks gives residents the same advice: no less than 91 days, in the heating season. Once your result is in, give us a call and we'll go over it with you.
Long-Term Radon Test Kit
Lab analysis and a prepaid return envelope included. Free shipping in Alberta and BC.
$54.99
Order a Test KitPrefer to watch your levels on a screen? We also sell digital monitors, like the Airthings Corentium Home. It passed C-NRPP's testing of home radon monitors.
Borrow a Radon Detector in Okotoks
Okotoks Public Library keeps four radon kits of its own, and as a member of the Marigold Library System it can also order in one of the 18 kits Marigold shares. Both lend for three weeks, October to April. Ask whether one is on the shelf before you plan around it: through fall and winter the hold lists get long.
- Okotoks Public Library, 23 Riverside Drive: place a hold by searching "Okotoks Radon Detector" in TRACpac
- Marigold radon kits: search "Marigold Radon Detector" in TRACpac. The libraries in High River, Diamond Valley (Sheep River Library) and Millarville are Marigold members too
These are short screens, and the library says to follow one with a long-term test. Free detectors from your library are a good first look. Be careful with a free test from a company that also sells radon systems: a test of only a few days, or a detector in the wrong spot, can show a problem a proper test would not. More on what a short test can and cannot tell you.
Know a library or community centre that could use a radon detector? RadonCare may be able to donate one for your community to borrow. Contact us to ask.
The Town's Free Radon Monitors
The Town of Okotoks has lent electronic radon monitors to residents free for years, one week at a time, booked online. They are popular: in early 2026 the Town said bookings were running two to three months out, and suggested its DIY Home Energy Audit Kit instead, which has a radon monitor inside (for residents with a Town utility account, also lent for a week).
Got a reading from the Town's monitor? A week is a snapshot. Radon rises and falls with the weather and with how the house is run, and the Town says its monitors should not replace long-term testing. A high week is worth acting on: start a long-term test, or call us and we'll help you read the number. A low week in spring or summer is worth repeating once the heat is on.
Child Care
Alberta has no radon testing rule for child care: a 2017 law that would have required it was repealed at the end of 2023 without coming into force (Alberta King's Printer). More on child care and schools.
Why Radon Runs High Around Okotoks
Radon starts as uranium in the soil and rock, and the authors of the 2024 survey put it plainly: Canada's geology holds some of the world's most abundant reserves of uranium-bearing minerals (p.15). Okotoks test results reflect it. When University of Calgary researchers tested homes across the region for a 2017 study, the Okotoks and High River homes had the second-highest average of any area tested, behind only Cochrane.
On the acreages around town there is one more thing to know. A 2024 national study led by University of Calgary researchers found rural homes across Canada had up to about 30% more radon on average than city homes, and linked most of that gap to living near a drilled water well, not to using its water. Okotoks homes are on Town water from the Sheep River, so drilled wells are an acreage matter here, out in Foothills County, not a town one.
Health Canada says radon is the number one cause of lung cancer in people who don't smoke. Radon has no symptoms, so a test is the only way to know. For questions about radon and your health, talk to your doctor or call Health Link at 811. More on radon and your health.
“Canadian towns and cities where at least one quarter to half of residences contain radon at or above 200 Bq/m³ include … High River (AB), Okotoks (AB), Strathmore (AB) …”
Okotoks Homes and What They Mean for Radon
A Town Built Mostly After 2000
Okotoks grew fast. Roughly two homes in three date from 2001 or later, and one in four was built in a five-year burst, 2006 to 2010. Only about 1 in 9 is older than 1981, where across Alberta it is more than 1 in 3 (Statistics Canada, 2021 census). Newer does not mean lower: in the 2024 survey, Alberta houses read higher on average the more recently they went up (p.51-52).
The Builder's Pipe Is Often Already There
In the newer Okotoks homes we fix, the builder's capped radon pipe is often already sticking up through the slab. When it sits in a good spot and tests well, we build the system on it. When it doesn't, we put the suction point where the house needs it: one we found sat under a beam, right beside the furnace air intakes.
Sump Pits: Town Versus Acreage
Most Okotoks basements we work in have no sump pit. Only about 1 in 8 of the town homes in our job records had one. Out on the acreages it flips: about 2 in 3 did, and one country house had four. An open pit is an easy way in for radon, and Alberta's building code requires sump pit covers to be airtight. The lid also has to stay easy to take off, because the pump needs a check every year. Learn more about sealing a sump pit for radon.
Floors With In-Floor Heat
Several homes we've worked on around Okotoks heat through the basement slab, including the acreage home at the top of our results. Before we core through a heated floor, we scan it with a thermal camera so the drill stays clear of the tubing.
Townhomes and Low-Rise Condos
About 3 in 4 Okotoks homes are single-detached houses. Most of the rest are low-rise apartments, row houses or semi-detached (Statistics Canada, 2021 census). If you share walls with a neighbour, test your unit at its lowest level (more on condos, townhomes and renters). Radon can be very different from one side of a duplex to the other, so a neighbour's result doesn't tell you yours. Both sides should test.
The Older Houses in Town
Older Okotoks houses can call for a different design. The oldest home we have fixed in town, built in the 1940s, needed two suction points to reach the whole floor, where most newer Okotoks houses need one (our job records).
Where the Radon Fan Is Installed
Canada's radon mitigation standard allows a radon fan outdoors only where winters are mild: 3,999 heating degree days or fewer (CAN/CGSB-149.12-2024, section 5.8.1.1). The building code's climate table has no row for Okotoks, but Calgary to the north sits at 5,000 and High River to the south at 4,900 (National Building Code of Canada 2020, Appendix C, Table C-2). In the US, radon fans are often mounted outside, but the standard doesn't allow that anywhere as cold as Okotoks, so here the fan is installed in a heated space, usually a basement, a utility room or a heated garage. We use fans designed for radon mitigation, so they're sealed properly and won't leak.
Hanging Furnaces
In many Calgary-area homes built before about 2020, the furnace was hung from the floor joists before the basement concrete went in, and the concrete didn't always fill in underneath. That leaves a gap to the soil below the furnace, where the furnace's blower motor can mine radon into the home and push it through the ducts, sometimes making the main floor read higher than the basement. We check under the furnace on every install, and if there's a gap, we fill it with poured concrete.
What We Find Under Okotoks Floors
Gravel, most of the time. About 3 in 4 of the Okotoks job reports that record it show plain gravel under the slab, with the odd home on sand or crushed rock. Out in the county the mix is wider, from washed gravel to road crush and dirt. None of our Okotoks systems on record has called for a high-suction model: a standard radon fan has done the job in every one, venting out a side wall. Why it matters: how a radon system works.
Radon and the Building Code in Okotoks
What New Homes Need, and Since When
If your Okotoks house was built since late 2015, look for a capped radon pipe set in the basement slab. Alberta has asked builders for that rough-in since then, and about 1 in 12 Okotoks homes were built from 2016 to the 2021 census (Statistics Canada). Nothing pulls air through that pipe on its own, and a test is still the only way to know your level.
Radon Rough-In Required
New Homes in Alberta, Since
2015
Fan Required by Code
Still No
Code Dates for Okotoks
- November 1, 2015: Alberta's first radon rough-in, a capped pipe through the basement floor, for homes the builder applied to build after this date. The 2014 code came into force May 1, 2015, and builders could use either code until November 1 (Government of Alberta).
- January 2016: The Town of Okotoks's checklist for new houses already asks builders to draw the radon rough-in on their plans (Town of Okotoks).
- December 1, 2019: For homes the builder applied to build from this date, the pipe also has to be labelled (Government of Alberta).
- May 1, 2024: The current code, for homes the builder applied to build from this date. Still no fan required (Government of Alberta).
A footing under the floor can split the gravel beneath it into separate areas, so a pipe in one may barely reach the other. That is why the Town asks for an inlet in each, and why we check the whole floor with a pressure test before we design a system.
What It Means for Your Home
A rough-in is a head start, not a radon system: there is no fan, so a newer home still needs a test, and we test the pipe before using it. More on radon in the Alberta Building Code.
How the Town Checks the Pipe
Inside town limits, the Town of Okotoks inspects new houses itself, and its current inspection schedule has a radon rough-in inspection at the same visit as the basement posts and pads, while the plumbing is still visible. The pipe has to be labelled near its cap, with its inlet centred in the basement, or one in each part of the basement that a strip footing separates.
Acreage homes in Foothills County are inspected by the County, not the Town. Either way, only a test tells you what your house needs.
Radon in Alberta: The Bigger Picture
What your number means, how a system works, the price, grants and the rules for buying or selling a home are the same across Alberta, so they're on one page: What your level means · Radon and your health · How mitigation works · What changes the price · Grants and help paying · Alberta code history · Buying or selling · More radon questions
Okotoks Radon Questions
Is Radon a Problem in Okotoks?
Yes, more than in most of Canada. About 3 in 10 of the Okotoks homes in the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey of Radon read 200 Bq/m³ or more, Health Canada's guideline, which puts Okotoks on the survey's short list of Canadian towns where a quarter to half of houses are that high. The average Okotoks result was about 128 Bq/m³; for the average Canadian home it is 85. Two houses side by side can still read far apart, so test yours.
The Town's Monitor Read High After a Week. What Now?
Take it seriously, but don't decide on a week. Start a long-term test, or call and talk it over with one of our radon experts: where the monitor sat and the weather that week can both move a short reading. If a long-term test comes back over 200, we'll design a system for your house.
Where Can I Borrow a Radon Detector in Okotoks?
At Okotoks Public Library, which lends four kits of its own and can order in one of Marigold Library System's 18 through the TRACpac catalogue, for three weeks in the October to April season. Okotoks residents can also book one of the Town's monitors for a week. See Radon Testing in Okotoks. Either is a first look; a long-term test is the one to decide on.
My Newer Okotoks Home Passed the Town's Radon Inspection. Do I Still Need to Test?
Yes. The inspection checks that the builder installed the code's capped pipe, labelled and in the right spot. It doesn't measure your radon. Test the house, and if it comes back high, we check the builder's pipe before building a system on it.
Do You Work Outside Okotoks?
Yes. Our crews work in High River, in Diamond Valley (Black Diamond and Turner Valley), in Priddis, Millarville, De Winton, Heritage Pointe and Aldersyde, and on the Foothills County acreages between them. Heading north toward the city? Our Calgary page covers it. Somewhere that isn't on the map below? Call and ask.
How Much Does Radon Mitigation Cost in Okotoks?
A radon system costs a fraction of the price of air conditioning. The price depends on your home. In town it's usually gravel under the slab and no sump, so the work is straightforward; out on the acreages there's often a sump to seal, and a heated slab gets a thermal scan before we drill. With a few details we can usually quote it on the same call. See what changes the price.
Why Doesn't RadonCare Offer Free Radon Tests?
Because we want the test done right. A proper test runs for at least three months in the lowest lived-in level of your home, and we only recommend a system when a test shows your home needs one. For a free first look, borrow a detector from the library or book one of the Town's monitors, then follow up with a long-term test.
Is There a Grant for Radon Mitigation in Okotoks?
At the time of writing (October 2026), there is no Alberta, regional or town grant for radon mitigation. Anything we missed? Let us know. Two charities can help: the Canadian Lung Association's Lungs Matter program, if you have been diagnosed with lung cancer, or your household has a low to moderate income, and Alberta Lung, in radon season, if you have been affected by lung cancer. See grants and help paying.
Areas We Serve Around Okotoks
Nearby Areas We Serve
Outside This Map? We Work Across Alberta and the BC Interior.
Our crews also work in Airdrie, Cochrane, Red Deer and Edmonton, and across the BC Interior. Not sure about your town? Call 1‑844‑723‑6622.
We work in every Okotoks neighbourhood: Central Heights, Cimarron, Cimarron Estates, Cimarron Grove, Cimarron Meadows, Cimarron Park, Cimarron Springs, Cimarron Vista, Cornerstone, Crystal Green, Crystal Shores, Crystalridge, D'Arcy, Downey Ridge, Drake Landing, Heritage Okotoks, Hunters Glen, Mountainview, North Gateway, Okotoks Air Ranch, Ridgemont, Rosemont, Sandstone, Sheep River Cove, Sheep River Ridge, Suntree, Tillotson, Tower Hill, Wedderburn, Westmount, Westmount Estates, Westridge and Woodhaven. Around town, we work in High River, Diamond Valley (Black Diamond and Turner Valley), Priddis, Millarville, De Winton, Heritage Pointe and Aldersyde, and on the acreages of Foothills County around them.
Radon in the Local News
Western Wheel, October 23, 2024Okotoks among highest radon exposure in Canada: new studyHow the 2024 Cross-Canada Survey read for Okotoks and High River.
Western Wheel, May 10, 2024Town of Okotoks responds to radon concernsAfter a newer Okotoks home tested high, the Town explained its free monitors, and residents debated fans in new homes.
Get a Free Quote or Ask a Question
Fill out the form and a radon expert will get in touch to answer your questions. Prefer to talk? Call 1‑844‑723‑6622.
About RadonCare
We've lowered the radon in every building we've ever worked on: more than 3,000 homes across Alberta and British Columbia, plus schools, apartment buildings and government buildings. We started out in heating and ventilation, so our team of C-NRPP certified professionals designs every system from how air actually moves through your house, and we aim for the lowest level your home can reasonably reach, not just under the guideline. From your first test to a system built for your home, the results are guaranteed. RadonCare is a five-time Consumer Choice Award winner, and we're involved in Canada's radon industry, with seats on the CARST board of directors and the C-NRPP advisory board.
Updated October 2026