Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Beaconsfield: 2 on record, latest by Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Beaconsfield: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.001% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.17 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Beaconsfield’s survey area, 6.8% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Beaconsfield a grade of C, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Beaconsfield’s hazards
For Beaconsfield, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Beaconsfield faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Beaconsfield: C
Two inputs always count for Beaconsfield, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #132 of 507 in Quebec and #2,068 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 74 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Beaconsfield: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Beaconsfield’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), Beaconsfield’s 0.001% is in the low band.
Beaconsfield’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 8.3 km away.
Land that isn’t forest covers nearly all the ground around Beaconsfield: forest fuel is 0.6% within 5 km and 2% 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 Quebec · highest of 513
Beaconsfield sits mid-table in Quebec: 136th of 513 towns, at 0.001% a year, well behind Mistissini (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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Beaconsfield 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.
Beaconsfield is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Beaconsfield: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
For Beaconsfield the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal’s in 2008.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montréal-Argenteuil-Deux-Montagnes-Vaudreuil-Soulanges | Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal | 2008 | final |
| St-Louis-Varennes | Gouvernement du Québec | 1977 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Beaconsfield is one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Beaconsfield are spread over time, from the 1970s to the 2000s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Beaconsfield.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Beaconsfield’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.
Shaking is Beaconsfield’s costliest hazard: $0.17 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Beaconsfield loses $0.17, 5.7 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Beaconsfield ($0.17) matches the middle in Quebec ($0.14), far from La Pocatière’s $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 14% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Beaconsfield.
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 Beaconsfield 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).
Radon about average around Beaconsfield: 6.8% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Montreal health region: radon tests
Beaconsfield’s area, at 6.8%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Quebec has 8.2% over 200 Bq/m³; Beaconsfield’s area has 6.8%, much the same.
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 Beaconsfield’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.
A low area share in Beaconsfield doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Beaconsfield
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Beaconsfield; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Beaconsfield come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Beaconsfield
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaconsfield | Low | $0.17 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Kirkland 19,696 · 2.0 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Pierrefonds-Ouest 30,978 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Baie-D'Urfé 3,706 · 4.1 km | Low | $0.16 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Pointe-Claire 37,437 · 4.9 km | Low | $0.19 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue 5,393 · 6.8 km | Low | $0.17 | 6.8% | Yes |
| L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève 18,885 · 6.9 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | Yes |
Nowhere around Beaconsfield burns more: Kirkland, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Beaconsfield faces
What to do about the hazards Beaconsfield 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
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 Beaconsfield 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 Beaconsfield.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Beaconsfield’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 Beaconsfield floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Beaconsfield
Is radon a problem in Beaconsfield?
Around Beaconsfield, 74 survey homes were tested and 6.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Beaconsfield flood?
Beaconsfield’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is Beaconsfield at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Beaconsfield since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Beaconsfield?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Beaconsfield $0.17 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Beaconsfield’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Beaconsfield’s Hazard risk grade is C, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).