Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Acton Vale: 2 on record, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
Burn scars are few around Acton Vale, with 0% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.093 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is about average around Acton Vale: 8.2% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Acton Vale grades C+ for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Acton Vale’s hazards
For Acton Vale, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Acton Vale faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Acton Vale grades C+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Acton Vale with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #123 of 507 in Quebec and #2,041 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Acton Vale has burned: 0.1% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Acton Vale’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Acton Vale burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Acton Vale’s homes (5.9% within 5 km) as across 25 km (9.7%).
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 Quebec · highest of 513
To three decimals the burn rate around Acton Vale is zero, as for 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec, while Mistissini reaches 0.31%.
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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Acton Vale is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
Flooding around Acton Vale is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Acton Vale: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Acton Vale, the newest Gouvernement du Québec’s from 2008, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acton-Vale | Gouvernement du Québec | 2008 | final |
| Acton-Vale | Gouvernement du Québec | 2006 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Acton Vale apart in Quebec, where 45% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
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 Acton Vale 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
High seismic risk in Acton Vale: $0.093 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.093 per $1,000, Acton Vale carries roughly 3.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Quebec: Acton Vale’s $0.093 against a median of $0.14; La Pocatière has $0.48.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Acton Vale sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 26% are higher.
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 Acton Vale 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 Acton Vale: 8.2% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Monteregie health region
Around Acton Vale, 8.2% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Acton Vale, 8.2% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
A middling share of high tests puts Acton Vale with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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, Acton Vale’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Acton Vale
Alerts for Acton Vale 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 Acton Vale 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)
Hazards in the places around Acton Vale
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton Vale | Low | $0.093 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Théodore-d'Acton 1,650 · 6.7 km | Low | $0.099 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Roxton Falls 1,399 · 8.5 km | Low | $0.058 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Upton 2,149 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.11 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Roxton 1,180 · 11 km | Low | $0.077 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Wickham 2,745 · 14 km | Low | $0.10 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Valérien-de-Milton 1,794 · 14 km | Low | $0.098 | 8.2% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Saint-Théodore-d'Acton (low), still no more than Acton Vale (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Acton Vale faces
What to do about the hazards Acton Vale 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Acton Vale.
- 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 Acton Vale.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Acton Vale takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Acton Vale’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Acton Vale
How big is the earthquake risk in Acton Vale?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Acton Vale’s buildings lose $0.093 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is radon a problem in Acton Vale?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.2% of 110 homes tested in Acton Vale’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Acton Vale flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Acton Vale; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is Acton Vale at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Acton Vale has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How is Acton Vale’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Acton Vale grades C+ for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers 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).