Photo: DomLemLali · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers Farnham: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from Gouvernement du Québec
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Farnham, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.13 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). About as many homes carry radon around Farnham as elsewhere, 8.2% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Farnham a grade of C, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Farnham’s hazards
For Farnham, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Farnham faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Farnham: C
The grade weighs Farnham’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #157 of 507 in Quebec and #2,106 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 Farnham has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Farnham’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Farnham is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Farnham’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 8.1 km away.
Homes in Farnham sit on open or built-up ground (2.6% forest fuel within 5 km); the wider 25 km holds 5%.
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
Little or nothing burns around Farnham in a typical year; 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec share that, and Mistissini leads 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; Farnham 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.
Farnham is on the flood map inventory: 2 studies, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Farnham: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec and others have studied flooding in areas that include Farnham: 2 studies, the latest from 2005.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farnham | Gouvernement du Québec | 2005 | final |
| St-Césaire-Farnham | Gouvernement du Québec | 1991 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Farnham has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Farnham are spread over time, from the 1990s to the 2000s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Farnham.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Farnham’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.
High seismic risk in Farnham: $0.13 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Farnham loses $0.13, 4.3 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Quebec is $0.14; Farnham, at $0.13, is right beside it, and La Pocatière tops the list 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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Farnham.
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).
For Farnham the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
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 Farnham: 8.2% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
The survey area of Farnham reads 8.2%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Monteregie health region, with Farnham one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Farnham, 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 Farnham 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, Farnham’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Farnham
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Farnham; 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 Farnham, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Farnham’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnham | Low | $0.13 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Sainte-Sabine 1,123 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.13 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville 1,540 · 8.5 km | Low | $0.15 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Ange-Gardien 3,100 · 9.1 km | Low | $0.12 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Alexandre 2,685 · 13 km | Low | $0.16 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Brigham 2,386 · 14 km | Low | $0.099 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Césaire 6,150 · 15 km | Low | $0.13 | 8.2% | Yes |
The fire record around Sainte-Brigide-d'Iberville is a touch heavier than Farnham’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Farnham faces
What to do about the hazards Farnham 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Farnham.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Farnham’s included.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Farnham is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- 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 Farnham.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Farnham
Is Farnham at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Farnham since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Farnham?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Farnham’s buildings lose $0.13 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Farnham flood?
There is flood mapping for Farnham on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How is Farnham’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Farnham C, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Farnham?
Around Farnham, 110 survey homes were tested and 8.2% 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).