Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Radon is Caplan’s main hazard: 25% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Caplan, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Caplan as in most places, at $0.030 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Caplan a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Caplan’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Caplan: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Caplan faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Caplan: C−
Two inputs always count for Caplan, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
Wildfire is rare near Caplan: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Caplan’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
A burn rate of 0.000% a year keeps Caplan in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
The closest burn since 1986 lies 16 km from Caplan’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest thickens with distance from Caplan: 65% of the land within 5 km, 80% 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 514
Near-zero burning puts Caplan with 145 of the 514 towns in Quebec, far below Mistissini at 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Caplan is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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 Caplan
Flood studies whose area touches Caplan, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Nationally, Caplan has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Caplan has no flood study on file; only 45% of towns in Quebec do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Caplan’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Caplan: $0.030 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.
Caplan’s $0.030 is the typical figure ($0.030): ordinary ground for Canada.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.030, Caplan is below the typical town in Quebec ($0.14); La Pocatière is highest at $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.
Middle of the pack: 48% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Caplan.
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 Caplan’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 Caplan: 25% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 25% over the guideline, the area around Caplan beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Caplan, 25% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 3.4% over 600, against a median of 8.2% in Quebec.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns (3.1%) share the 20–30% band with Caplan, and 1.5% sit above it.
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.
One home in Caplan can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Gaspesie - Iles-de-la-Madeleine health region
Weather and fire alerts for Caplan
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Caplan; 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 Caplan come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Caplan’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caplan | Low | $0.030 | 25% | None listed |
| Saint-Siméon 1,254 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.033 | 25% | None listed |
| New Richmond 3,947 · 15 km | Low | $0.033 | 25% | None listed |
| Bonaventure 2,719 · 16 km | Low | $0.039 | 25% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Caplan (low); Saint-Siméon comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Caplan faces
What to do about the hazards Caplan 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Caplan’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Caplan without grading them.
- 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 Caplan until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Caplan’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Caplan
How is Caplan’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Caplan’s Hazard risk grade is C−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Caplan?
Expected earthquake damage in Caplan comes to $0.030 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Caplan at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Caplan since 1986 (last in 2020); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Caplan flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Caplan’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Caplan?
Around Caplan, 174 survey homes were tested and 25% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).