Photo: Gaetan Veillette · CC BY-SA 4.0La Cité faces more hazards than 88% of Canadian towns
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near La Cité: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.001% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.12 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives La Cité a grade of D, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about La Cité’s hazards
For La Cité, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What La Cité faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in La Cité: D
For La Cité, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #445 of 507 in Quebec and #2,440 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 63 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near La Cité: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where La Cité’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
La Cité burns at 0.001% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 16 km from La Cité’s homes, none within 5 km.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around La Cité: 9.6% within 5 km, 11% 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 513
La Cité burns at 0.001% a year, 136th of 513 towns in Quebec; the leader, Mistissini, reaches 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; La Cité 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.
Flooding around La Cité is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Municipalité de Pontiac
Flood studies whose area touches La Cité, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
For La Cité the inventory points to 2 studies, most recently Municipalité de Pontiac’s in 2016.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatineau-Argenteuil-Collindes-de-l'Outaouais | Municipalité de Pontiac | 2016 | final |
| Ville-de-Gatineau | Ville de Gatineau | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
La Cité is one of the 45% of towns in Quebec with a flood study on file, fewer than Canada’s 58%.
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 La Cité.
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 La Cité’s costliest hazard: $0.12 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.
Roughly 4 times the typical $0.030: La Cité’s $0.12 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around La Cité ($0.12) matches the middle in Quebec ($0.14), far from La Pocatière’s $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 La Cité, 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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in La Cité is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean). · Earthquake risk: one figure for all of the city of Gatineau
Test for radon in La Cité: 13% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 13% over the guideline, the area around La Cité beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
La Cité’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.
More high tests than most: La Cité sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% above.
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.
Neighbouring homes in La Cité can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Outaouais health region
Where to get warnings in La Cité
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for La Cité; 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 La Cité 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 La Cité’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Cité | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Rivière-Gatineau 14,875 · 2.6 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Les Rapides 15,090 · 3.4 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Du Moulin 30,364 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Manor Park 9,491 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| New Edinburgh 5,728 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Des Vallées 3,575 · 5.8 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than La Cité (low); Rivière-Gatineau comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what La Cité faces
Practical steps for La Cité’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
- Wildfire counts one way. For La Cité, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 La Cité sits in.
- 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 La Cité floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for La Cité’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in La Cité
How is La Cité’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
La Cité grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in La Cité?
The area’s survey found 13% of 63 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in La Cité.
How big is the earthquake risk in La Cité?
Expected earthquake damage in La Cité comes to $0.12 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does La Cité flood?
La Cité’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is La Cité at risk of wildfire?
Some, but La Cité’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
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).