Photo: The original uploader was Stéphane Voyer at French Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 1.0Havre-Saint-Pierre faces few natural hazards: little fire nearby, low seismic risk, radon over the guideline in 4.7% of tested homes
The national fire record shows next to nothing around Havre-Saint-Pierre, 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Seismic risk in Havre-Saint-Pierre sits near the middle: $0.040 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Havre-Saint-Pierre a grade of B+, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Havre-Saint-Pierre’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Havre-Saint-Pierre: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Havre-Saint-Pierre faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Havre-Saint-Pierre grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Havre-Saint-Pierre with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #32 of 507 in Quebec and #1,066 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Havre-Saint-Pierre: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Havre-Saint-Pierre’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Havre-Saint-Pierre burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Havre-Saint-Pierre’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 17 km off.
There is forest near Havre-Saint-Pierre’s homes (29% within 5 km) and more of it further out (46% 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
To three decimals the burn rate around Havre-Saint-Pierre is zero, as for 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec, while 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Havre-Saint-Pierre is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Havre-Saint-Pierre
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Havre-Saint-Pierre: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
No flood study on the national inventory covers Havre-Saint-Pierre; ask the municipality, which is the authority for its flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Havre-Saint-Pierre; in Quebec, 45% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Havre-Saint-Pierre’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Havre-Saint-Pierre $0.040 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
1.3 times the typical $0.030: Havre-Saint-Pierre’s $0.040 is ordinary.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Havre-Saint-Pierre’s $0.040 sits under the median in Quebec, $0.14, and well under 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.
Havre-Saint-Pierre’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 43% of the 2,611 towns 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 Havre-Saint-Pierre’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).
Radon about average around Havre-Saint-Pierre: 4.7% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Cote-Nord health region
Havre-Saint-Pierre’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 4.7% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Havre-Saint-Pierre than in most towns in Quebec: 4.7% against 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Havre-Saint-Pierre; 63% sit 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Havre-Saint-Pierre 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 Havre-Saint-Pierre
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Havre-Saint-Pierre; 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 Havre-Saint-Pierre come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Havre-Saint-Pierre faces
What to do about the hazards Havre-Saint-Pierre 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
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Havre-Saint-Pierre’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- 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 Havre-Saint-Pierre’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 Havre-Saint-Pierre floods.
- 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 Havre-Saint-Pierre sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Havre-Saint-Pierre
How is Havre-Saint-Pierre’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Havre-Saint-Pierre B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Havre-Saint-Pierre at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Havre-Saint-Pierre since 1986 (last in 2000); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Havre-Saint-Pierre flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Havre-Saint-Pierre’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
Is radon a problem in Havre-Saint-Pierre?
Around Havre-Saint-Pierre, 107 survey homes were tested and 4.7% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Havre-Saint-Pierre?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Havre-Saint-Pierre’s buildings lose $0.040 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).