Photo: Roncanada · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers Louiseville: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire barely registers for Louiseville, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.13 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon is lower than usual: 0% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Louiseville grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Louiseville’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Louiseville: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Louiseville faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Louiseville: B+
Two inputs always count for Louiseville, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #37 of 507 in Quebec and #1,078 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 58 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Louiseville has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Louiseville’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
A burn rate of 0.001% a year keeps Louiseville in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Fire has stayed at least 16 km from Louiseville’s homes since 1986.
The forest starts beyond town: 2.4% of the land within 5 km of Louiseville’s homes is forest fuel, against 17% 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
In the upper half in Quebec but far from Mistissini (0.31%): Louiseville ranks 136th of 513, at 0.001% a year.
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, Louiseville 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.
Gouvernement du Québec has mapped flooding for Louiseville (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Louiseville, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
A 1996 study by Gouvernement du Québec covers Louiseville, and its map, not the inventory, shows the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varennes-Grondines | Gouvernement du Québec | 1996 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Louiseville among them, below the 58% across Canada.
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 Louiseville.
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 Louiseville’s costliest hazard: $0.13 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.
At $0.13 per $1,000, Louiseville carries roughly 4.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Louiseville runs at $0.13 a year, near the $0.14 of the typical town in Quebec; La Pocatière has $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: 22% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Louiseville.
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 Louiseville’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 runs low around Louiseville: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · The radon tests numbers here cover the Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Louiseville’s area has fewer, 0%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Louiseville than in most towns in Quebec: 0% 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 Louiseville; 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Louiseville only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Louiseville
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Louiseville; 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 Louiseville, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Louiseville’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louiseville | Low | $0.13 | 0% | Yes |
| Maskinongé 2,457 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.13 | 0% | Yes |
| Yamachiche 2,801 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.14 | 0% | Yes |
| Sainte-Ursule 1,363 · 11 km | Low | $0.11 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Barnabé 1,234 · 16 km | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Barthélemy 2,115 · 17 km | Low | $0.10 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Paulin 1,659 · 19 km | Low | $0.086 | 0% | Yes |
The fire record around Yamachiche is a touch heavier than Louiseville’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 Louiseville faces
What to do about the hazards Louiseville 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Louiseville’s figure is its subdivision’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 Louiseville 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 Louiseville sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Louiseville’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Louiseville
Does Louiseville flood?
Louiseville’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Louiseville?
About $0.13 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Louiseville.
How is Louiseville’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Louiseville B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Louiseville?
In Health Canada’s survey, 0% of 58 homes tested in Louiseville’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Louiseville at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Louiseville has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).