Photo: Kossin · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Charlemagne: 1 on record, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire isn’t Charlemagne’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.16 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 3.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Charlemagne a grade of B−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Charlemagne’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Charlemagne: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Charlemagne faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Charlemagne: B−
Seismic risk and radon set Charlemagne’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
Its place: #91 of 507 in Quebec and #1,670 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 77 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Charlemagne: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Charlemagne’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Charlemagne fire takes 0.001% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Fire has stayed at least 14 km from Charlemagne’s homes since 1986.
Only 3.3% of the land within 25 km of Charlemagne 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 Quebec · highest of 513
Charlemagne 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Charlemagne stays low, with 92%.
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.
A flood study covers Charlemagne, from Gouvernement du Québec: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Charlemagne: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The flood study touching Charlemagne is Gouvernement du Québec’s, dated 1981; its own map shows the zones street by street.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlemagne-Joliette | Gouvernement du Québec | 1981 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Charlemagne has one.
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 Charlemagne’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is Charlemagne’s costliest hazard: $0.16 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Charlemagne’s $0.16 is about 5.2 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Charlemagne’s $0.16 is close to the median 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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 15% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Charlemagne.
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 Charlemagne’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).
3.9% of homes tested around Charlemagne 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 Lanaudiere health region
Fewer homes than usual test high around Charlemagne: 3.9% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Charlemagne’s area, at 3.9%, is below the median in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts Charlemagne with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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 survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Charlemagne can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Charlemagne
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Charlemagne; 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. |
For fires near Charlemagne, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Charlemagne’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlemagne | Low | $0.16 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Repentigny 91,290 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.20 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Pointe-aux-Trembles 49,869 · 7.0 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | None listed |
| Varennes 21,490 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.20 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Rivière-des-Prairies 21,852 · 8.7 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Saint-François 15,338 · 9.6 km | Low | $0.21 | 12% | Yes |
| Mascouche 56,897 · 10 km | Low | $0.19 | 3.9% | Yes |
Nowhere around Charlemagne burns more: Repentigny, 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 Charlemagne faces
Practical steps for Charlemagne’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.
- 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Charlemagne’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Charlemagne until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Charlemagne’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 Charlemagne without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Charlemagne
Does Charlemagne flood?
A flood study covers Charlemagne on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Charlemagne at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Charlemagne’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Charlemagne?
3.9% of the 77 homes Health Canada tested around Charlemagne topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How is Charlemagne’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Charlemagne grades B− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Charlemagne?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Charlemagne’s buildings lose $0.16 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
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).