Photo: Wilfredor · CC0Lévis faces more hazards than 92% of Canadian towns
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Lévis, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.15 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is higher than usual: 13% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Lévis grades D for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Lévis’s hazards
For Lévis, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Lévis faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Lévis grades D for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Lévis with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #482 of 507 in Quebec and #2,496 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.
Few fires near Lévis: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Lévis’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.000% of the land near Lévis burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Lévis’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 6.1 km away.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Lévis: 19% within 5 km and 22% 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
Near-zero burning puts Lévis 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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Lévis, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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.
5 flood studies cover Lévis, the newest from Ville de Lévis
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Lévis: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 5 studies covering Lévis is Ville de Lévis’s, from 2016; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lévis | Ville de Lévis | 2016 | final |
| Ville de Lévis | Ville de Lévis | 2008 | final |
| Lévis-St-Henri | Gouvernement du Québec | 2005 | final |
| St-Gilles | Gouvernement du Québec | 2005 | final |
| St-Étienne-de-Lauzon | Gouvernement du Québec | 1990 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Lévis 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.
The busiest decade for flood studies around Lévis was the 2000s (3 of 5); they run from the 1990s to the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Lévis.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Lévis.
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 Lévis’ costliest hazard: $0.15 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Lévis loses $0.15, 4.9 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Lévis’ $0.15 is close to the median in Quebec, $0.14; La Pocatière is highest 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.
20% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Lévis, 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 Lévis 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).
13% of homes tested around Lévis are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region
More homes than usual test high around Lévis: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Lévis’ area, at 13%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 0.6% 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Lévis, 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.
Neighbouring homes in Lévis 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).
Where to get warnings in Lévis
Alerts for Lévis 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 Lévis to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Lévis’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lévis | Low | $0.15 | 13% | Yes |
| Sillery 13,950 · 3.5 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Louis 15,792 · 5.0 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Sacrement 10,650 · 5.2 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Montcalm 13,572 · 5.7 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Cité-Universitaire 22,546 · 5.8 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Saint-Jean-Baptiste 8,882 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Lévis (low); Sillery comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Lévis faces
What to do about the hazards Lévis 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. For Lévis, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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 Lévis floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Lévis’ census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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 Lévis sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Lévis
Does Lévis flood?
Lévis’ 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 Lévis?
Around Lévis, 175 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Lévis’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Lévis D, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Lévis at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Lévis since 1986 (last in 2022); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Lévis?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Lévis’ buildings lose $0.15 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).