Photo: Mathieu Lab · CC BY 3.0Chute-Saint-Philippe’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 10% of area homes over the radon guideline
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Chute-Saint-Philippe, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.068 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Chute-Saint-Philippe grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Chute-Saint-Philippe’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Chute-Saint-Philippe: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Chute-Saint-Philippe faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Chute-Saint-Philippe grades C for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Chute-Saint-Philippe with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 78 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Chute-Saint-Philippe: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Chute-Saint-Philippe’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Chute-Saint-Philippe burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Fire has stayed at least 15 km from Chute-Saint-Philippe’s homes since 1986.
About as much forest grows next to Chute-Saint-Philippe’s homes (19% within 5 km) as across 25 km (24%).
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
Among the 514 towns in Quebec, Mistissini burns fastest (0.31% a year); Chute-Saint-Philippe is with the 145 near zero.
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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Chute-Saint-Philippe, burning 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 Chute-Saint-Philippe
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Chute-Saint-Philippe: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Chute-Saint-Philippe, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Chute-Saint-Philippe 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Chute-Saint-Philippe.
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.”
Shaking is Chute-Saint-Philippe’s costliest hazard: $0.068 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.068 per $1,000, Chute-Saint-Philippe carries roughly 2.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Chute-Saint-Philippe expects less, $0.068, and La Pocatière the most, $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.
Chute-Saint-Philippe sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 29% 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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Chute-Saint-Philippe’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
10% of homes tested around Chute-Saint-Philippe are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Chute-Saint-Philippe: 10% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Laurentides health region, Chute-Saint-Philippe included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Chute-Saint-Philippe (10%) than in the typical town in Quebec (8.2%); 1.3% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Chute-Saint-Philippe, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go higher.
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 survey sampled homes around Chute-Saint-Philippe; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Chute-Saint-Philippe
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Chute-Saint-Philippe; 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 Chute-Saint-Philippe, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Chute-Saint-Philippe’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chute-Saint-Philippe | Low | $0.068 | 10% | None listed |
| Lac-des-Écorces 3,005 · 19 km | Low | $0.086 | 10% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Chute-Saint-Philippe (low); Lac-des-Écorces comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Chute-Saint-Philippe faces
What to do about the hazards Chute-Saint-Philippe 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Chute-Saint-Philippe’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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 Chute-Saint-Philippe floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Chute-Saint-Philippe’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- 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 Chute-Saint-Philippe sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Chute-Saint-Philippe
How big is the earthquake risk in Chute-Saint-Philippe?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Chute-Saint-Philippe $0.068 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Chute-Saint-Philippe flood?
Nothing is listed for Chute-Saint-Philippe on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Chute-Saint-Philippe’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Chute-Saint-Philippe C, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Chute-Saint-Philippe at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Chute-Saint-Philippe has burned since 1986, the last in 2024, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Chute-Saint-Philippe?
In Health Canada’s survey, 10% of 78 homes tested in Chute-Saint-Philippe’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).