Photo: Roncanada · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for L'Ancienne-Lorette: 1 on record, latest by Ville de Québec
Wildfire isn’t L'Ancienne-Lorette’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.16 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. About as many homes carry radon around L'Ancienne-Lorette as elsewhere, 8.8% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. L'Ancienne-Lorette grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about L'Ancienne-Lorette’s hazards
For L'Ancienne-Lorette, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What L'Ancienne-Lorette faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
L'Ancienne-Lorette grades C− for hazard risk
The grade weighs L'Ancienne-Lorette’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: #375 of 507 in Quebec and #2,351 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.
Few fires near L'Ancienne-Lorette: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around L'Ancienne-Lorette’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Next to the typical Canadian town (0.000% a year), L'Ancienne-Lorette’s 0.000% is in the low band.
The 5 km ring around L'Ancienne-Lorette’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 16 km out.
25% of the land within 25 km of L'Ancienne-Lorette is forest fuel, yet only 4.4% within 5 km of its homes.
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
Near-zero burning puts L'Ancienne-Lorette with 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec, far below Mistissini 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; L'Ancienne-Lorette 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.
A flood study covers L'Ancienne-Lorette, from Ville de Québec: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for L'Ancienne-Lorette: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches L'Ancienne-Lorette, Ville de Québec’s from 2014, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villes de Québec et de L'Ancienne-Lorette | Ville de Québec | 2014 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; L'Ancienne-Lorette is one of them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of L'Ancienne-Lorette’s homes are at risk.
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 L'Ancienne-Lorette: $0.16 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; L'Ancienne-Lorette loses $0.16, 5.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Quebec: L'Ancienne-Lorette’s $0.16 sits by the median of $0.14, while La Pocatière reaches $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 14% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than L'Ancienne-Lorette.
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 L'Ancienne-Lorette 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).
Radon about average around L'Ancienne-Lorette: 8.8% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
L'Ancienne-Lorette’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 8.8% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around L'Ancienne-Lorette, 8.8% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in Quebec (8.2%); 2.5% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
L'Ancienne-Lorette is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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 L'Ancienne-Lorette 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). · Radon tests: the Capitale-Nationale health region
Where to get warnings in L'Ancienne-Lorette
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for L'Ancienne-Lorette; 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 L'Ancienne-Lorette, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How L'Ancienne-Lorette’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Ancienne-Lorette | Low | $0.16 | 8.8% | Yes |
| L'Aéroport 13,630 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Duberger—Les Saules 27,419 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Des Châtels 14,836 · 4.1 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Plateau 14,176 · 4.4 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy 14,541 · 5.1 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf 37,164 · 5.3 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
The fire record around L'Aéroport is a touch heavier than L'Ancienne-Lorette’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 L'Ancienne-Lorette faces
What to do about the hazards L'Ancienne-Lorette 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
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, L'Ancienne-Lorette takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for L'Ancienne-Lorette’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in L'Ancienne-Lorette.
- Wildfire counts one way. For L'Ancienne-Lorette, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in L'Ancienne-Lorette
How is L'Ancienne-Lorette’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
L'Ancienne-Lorette grades C− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in L'Ancienne-Lorette?
In NRCan’s seismic model, L'Ancienne-Lorette’s buildings lose $0.16 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does L'Ancienne-Lorette flood?
The inventory lists a study touching L'Ancienne-Lorette; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
Is radon a problem in L'Ancienne-Lorette?
Around L'Ancienne-Lorette, 160 survey homes were tested and 8.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is L'Ancienne-Lorette at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around L'Ancienne-Lorette since 1986 (last in 2020); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
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).