Photo: Veillg1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Gatineau is on Canada’s flood inventory: 8 listed, led by Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
Burn scars are few around Gatineau, with 0% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.001% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.12 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is higher than usual: 13% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town.
What stands out about Gatineau’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Gatineau: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Gatineau faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Gatineau isn’t graded for hazard risk yet
Two inputs always count for Gatineau, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 63 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 Gatineau: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Gatineau’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Gatineau burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
About as much forest grows next to Gatineau’s homes (9.4% within 5 km) as across 25 km (13%).
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
Gatineau sits mid-table in Quebec: 136th of 514 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Gatineau reads low, with 92% of them; only 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.
8 flood studies cover Gatineau, the newest from Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Gatineau: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and others have studied flooding in areas that include Gatineau: 8 studies, the latest from 2019.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billberry Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2019 | final |
| Becketts Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2018 | final |
| Rideau River, Hogs Back to Rideau Falls | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2016 | final |
| Gatineau-Argenteuil-Collindes-de-l'Outaouais | Municipalité de Pontiac | 2016 | final |
| Cardinal Creek | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
| Ottawa River | Rideau Valley Conservation Authority | 2014 | final |
| Ville-de-Gatineau | Ville de Gatineau | 2014 | final |
| Farmers-Hull | Gouvernement du Québec | 1978 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Gatineau apart in Quebec, where 45% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Mapping around Gatineau goes back to the 1970s and peaks in the 2010s, with 7 of its 8 studies.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Gatineau.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Gatineau’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 Gatineau: $0.12 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; Gatineau loses $0.12, 4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Typical for its province: Gatineau at $0.12 beside a median in Quebec of $0.14, with La Pocatière on top 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.
23% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Gatineau, which places it in the upper third.
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 Gatineau’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 Gatineau: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 13% over the guideline, the area around Gatineau beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Outaouais health region, with Gatineau one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Gatineau’s area, at 13%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 4.8% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
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 Gatineau, 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 share describes the area, not a house: in Gatineau as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Gatineau
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Gatineau; 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 Gatineau, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Gatineau
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatineau | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Rivière-Gatineau 14,875 · 0.6 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| La Cité 30,930 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| New Edinburgh 5,728 · 3.2 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Centre-Ville 12,981 · 3.8 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Lowertown East 6,996 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Mont-Bleu 21,636 · 3.9 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Rivière-Gatineau (low), still no more than Gatineau (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Gatineau faces
What to do about the hazards Gatineau 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Gatineau’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Gatineau.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Gatineau is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Gatineau’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Gatineau
Does Gatineau flood?
There is flood mapping for Gatineau on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Gatineau?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Gatineau’s buildings lose $0.12 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Gatineau’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
The grade is still to come for Gatineau, and it will weigh seismic risk and radon, with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Gatineau at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Gatineau since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Gatineau?
Around Gatineau, 63 survey homes were tested and 13% 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).