Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0Pointe-des-Cascades is on Canada’s flood inventory: 1 listed, led by Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire is rare near Pointe-des-Cascades: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.001% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.14 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon is about average around Pointe-des-Cascades: 8.2% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Pointe-des-Cascades a grade of C, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Pointe-des-Cascades’s hazards
For Pointe-des-Cascades, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Pointe-des-Cascades faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Pointe-des-Cascades: C
For Pointe-des-Cascades, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
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.
Little of the land around Pointe-des-Cascades has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Pointe-des-Cascades’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low by Canadian standards: 0.001% of the land a year around Pointe-des-Cascades, 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 14 km from Pointe-des-Cascades’ homes, none within 5 km.
Only 2.8% of the land within 25 km of Pointe-des-Cascades is forest fuel, and 1.5% close in.
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 514
In the upper half in Quebec but far from Mistissini (0.31%): Pointe-des-Cascades ranks 136th of 514, 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, Pointe-des-Cascades 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.
Pointe-des-Cascades is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Pointe-des-Cascades: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Pointe-des-Cascades, Gouvernement du Québec’s from 1977, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| St-Louis-Varennes | Gouvernement du Québec | 1977 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Pointe-des-Cascades has one.
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 Pointe-des-Cascades’ 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is Pointe-des-Cascades’ costliest hazard: $0.14 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Pointe-des-Cascades’ $0.14 is about 4.8 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Pointe-des-Cascades’ $0.14 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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 20% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Pointe-des-Cascades.
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 Pointe-des-Cascades 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).
Radon about average around Pointe-des-Cascades: 8.2% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Pointe-des-Cascades’ area, at 8.2%, is close to the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Monteregie health region, with Pointe-des-Cascades one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Pointe-des-Cascades, 8.2% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Pointe-des-Cascades, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are 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.
Neighbouring homes in Pointe-des-Cascades 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 Pointe-des-Cascades
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Pointe-des-Cascades; 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 Pointe-des-Cascades, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Pointe-des-Cascades’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pointe-des-Cascades | Low | $0.14 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Pincourt 15,220 · 4.9 km | Low | $0.17 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Terrasse-Vaudreuil 1,883 · 6.7 km | Low | $0.19 | 8.2% | Yes |
| L'Île-Perrot 11,921 · 6.7 km | Low | $0.16 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Les Cèdres 7,145 · 7.1 km | Low | $0.15 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot 11,716 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Beauharnois 15,285 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.18 | 8.2% | Yes |
The fire record around Beauharnois is a touch heavier than Pointe-des-Cascades’, 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 Pointe-des-Cascades faces
Practical steps for Pointe-des-Cascades’ 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Pointe-des-Cascades without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Pointe-des-Cascades’ census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Pointe-des-Cascades until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Pointe-des-Cascades, 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 Pointe-des-Cascades
Does Pointe-des-Cascades flood?
A flood study covers Pointe-des-Cascades on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Pointe-des-Cascades at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Pointe-des-Cascades’ band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2025), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Pointe-des-Cascades’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Pointe-des-Cascades C, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
How big is the earthquake risk in Pointe-des-Cascades?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Pointe-des-Cascades $0.14 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is radon a problem in Pointe-des-Cascades?
8.2% of the 110 homes Health Canada tested around Pointe-des-Cascades topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
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).