Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0Radon is Cap-Pelé’s main hazard: 20% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Little of the land around Cap-Pelé has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.002% a year. Seismic risk in Cap-Pelé sits near the middle: $0.036 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Cap-Pelé a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Cap-Pelé’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Cap-Pelé: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Cap-Pelé faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Cap-Pelé: C−
For Cap-Pelé, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #33 of 60 in New Brunswick and #2,352 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Cap-Pelé: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Cap-Pelé’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.002% of the land a year, Cap-Pelé’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Cap-Pelé’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 23 km out.
There is forest near Cap-Pelé’s homes (43% within 5 km) and more of it further out (66% 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 New Brunswick · highest of 60
At 0.002% a year, Cap-Pelé ranks 30th of the 60 towns in New Brunswick; Tracadie leads at 0.28%.
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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Cap-Pelé among them, though its rate is above zero; 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.
Service New Brunswick - GeoNB has mapped flooding for Cap-Pelé (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Cap-Pelé, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Cap-Pelé, Service New Brunswick - GeoNB’s from 2020, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inland Flood Mapping in New Brunswick and Updated Sea-Level Rise and Flooding Estimates for New Brunswick Coastal Sections 2020 | Service New Brunswick - GeoNB | 2020 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Cap-Pelé is one of the 93% of towns in New Brunswick with a flood study on file; across Canada it is 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 Cap-Pelé’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Cap-Pelé: $0.036 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
1.2 times the typical $0.030: Cap-Pelé’s $0.036 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Cap-Pelé at $0.036 beside a median in New Brunswick of $0.036, with St. Stephen on top at $0.16.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Neither high nor low for Canada: 46% of the 2,611 towns expect more damage than Cap-Pelé.
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 Cap-Pelé’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 runs high around Cap-Pelé: 20% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Region 1 health region
A higher share than most: 20% of tested homes around Cap-Pelé, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Cap-Pelé, 20% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in New Brunswick (20%); 3.7% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Cap-Pelé, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Cap-Pelé as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Cap-Pelé
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Cap-Pelé; 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 Cap-Pelé, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Cap-Pelé’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cap-Pelé | Low | $0.036 | 20% | Yes |
| Beaubassin East / Beaubassin-est 8,138 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.034 | 20% | Yes |
Cap-Pelé’s low band tops its neighbours; Beaubassin East / Beaubassin-est is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Cap-Pelé faces
Practical steps for Cap-Pelé’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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 Cap-Pelé until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Cap-Pelé’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Cap-Pelé without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Cap-Pelé’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Cap-Pelé
Is radon a problem in Cap-Pelé?
The area’s survey found 20% of 107 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Cap-Pelé.
How big is the earthquake risk in Cap-Pelé?
About $0.036 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Cap-Pelé.
Does Cap-Pelé flood?
A flood study covers Cap-Pelé on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Cap-Pelé at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Cap-Pelé’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 1986) is short of the level that counts.
How is Cap-Pelé’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Cap-Pelé C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
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).