Photo: Johntwrl · CC BY-SA 3.0Sherbrooke faces fewer hazards than 98% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Sherbrooke’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is less of a worry than in most places, at $0.013 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 1.4% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Sherbrooke grades A+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Sherbrooke’s hazards
For Sherbrooke, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sherbrooke faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sherbrooke: A+
Earthquake risk and radon make Sherbrooke’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #11 of 474 in Alberta and #22 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 73 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 Sherbrooke: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Sherbrooke’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.000% of the land around Sherbrooke each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Only 0.4% of the land within 25 km of Sherbrooke is forest fuel, and 0.2% close in.
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 Alberta · highest of 478
To three decimals the burn rate around Sherbrooke is zero, as for 386 of the 478 towns in Alberta, while Wainwright reaches 1.43%.
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.
Sherbrooke shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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 Sherbrooke
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sherbrooke: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Sherbrooke, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Alberta reaches 46% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Sherbrooke.
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 Sherbrooke 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.”
Low seismic risk in Sherbrooke: $0.013 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Shaking costs the typical town $0.030 a year; in Sherbrooke it is only $0.013, 0.4 times as much.
Sherbrooke doesn’t get its own earthquake risk figures; the ones here come from the city of Edmonton.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Sherbrooke’s $0.013 is close to the median in Alberta, $0.013; Black Diamond is highest at $0.048.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
75% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Sherbrooke.
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 Sherbrooke 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).
1.4% of homes tested around Sherbrooke are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Capital Health
At 1.4% over the guideline, the area around Sherbrooke is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Sherbrooke’s area, at 1.4%, is below the median in Alberta (7.5%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few tests over the guideline: Sherbrooke shares the bottom band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below the other 63%.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Sherbrooke’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sherbrooke
Alerts for Sherbrooke 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Sherbrooke are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Sherbrooke’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Inglewood 7,167 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Calder 4,221 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Woodcroft 2,770 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Athlone 3,242 · 2.1 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Kensington 3,697 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | None listed |
| Westmount 4,961 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.013 | 1.4% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Sherbrooke (low); Inglewood comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sherbrooke faces
Practical steps for Sherbrooke’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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 Sherbrooke without grading them.
- 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 Sherbrooke.
- 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 Sherbrooke until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sherbrooke’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sherbrooke
Does Sherbrooke flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Sherbrooke, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is radon a problem in Sherbrooke?
The area’s survey found 1.4% of 73 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Sherbrooke.
How is Sherbrooke’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sherbrooke grades A+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sherbrooke?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sherbrooke’s buildings lose $0.013 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Sherbrooke at risk of wildfire?
Very little by the national record: Sherbrooke’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, so wildfire doesn’t change its 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).