Photo: Jeangagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0Saint-François faces more hazards than 93% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around Saint-François, with 0% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.21 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, 12% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Saint-François a grade of D, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-François’s hazards
For Saint-François, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-François faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Saint-François: D
Earthquake risk and radon make Saint-François’ grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #485 of 507 in Quebec and #2,507 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-François: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Saint-François’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.001% of the land around Saint-François each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
With 0.7% forest fuel within 5 km and 3.9% within 25 km, the land around Saint-François gives a fire little to burn.
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
Saint-François sits mid-table in Quebec: 136th of 513 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, Saint-François 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.
A flood study covers Saint-François, from Gouvernement du Québec: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-François: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec holds the flood mapping that covers Saint-François (2006), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moulins-Thérèse-De-Blainville-Deux-Montagnes-Laval | Gouvernement du Québec | 2006 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Saint-François has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Saint-François floods.
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 Saint-François: $0.21 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Roughly 6.9 times the typical $0.030: Saint-François’ $0.21 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Quebec peaks in La Pocatière ($0.48); Saint-François, at $0.21, sits above the median of $0.14.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns face more earthquake damage than Saint-François: 7.9% of them.
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 Saint-François 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). · Area behind the earthquake risk figures: the city of Laval
Test for radon in Saint-François: 12% of area homes were over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 12% over the guideline, the area around Saint-François beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Saint-François doesn’t get its own radon tests figures; the ones here come from the Laval health region.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Saint-François (12%) than in the typical town in Quebec (8.2%); 0.9% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-François, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Saint-François, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Saint-François
Alerts for Saint-François come from Environment and Climate Change Canada and, for emergencies, Alert Ready.
| 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Saint-François to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-François’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-François | Low | $0.21 | 12% | Yes |
| Rivière-des-Prairies 21,852 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | Yes |
| Marc-Aurèle-Fortin 36,220 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | None listed |
| Est (Montréal-Nord) 31,383 · 6.5 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | None listed |
| Pointe-aux-Trembles 49,869 · 7.3 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | None listed |
| Terrebonne 126,872 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.17 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Anjou 43,243 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.20 | 6.8% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Saint-François (low); Rivière-des-Prairies comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-François faces
Practical steps for Saint-François’ 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
- 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 Saint-François floods.
- 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 Saint-François.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Saint-François’ included.
- 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 Saint-François sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-François
Does Saint-François flood?
Saint-François’ area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
Is radon a problem in Saint-François?
The area’s survey found 12% of 107 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Saint-François.
Is Saint-François at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-François’ low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2025) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-François?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-François’ buildings lose $0.21 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Saint-François’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-François grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers 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).