Photo: Edwin Lester Brittain · CC BY-SA 4.0Pontiac faces more hazards than 86% of Canadian towns
Burn scars are few around Pontiac, with 0% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.001% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.10 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Pontiac grades D for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Pontiac’s hazards
For Pontiac, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Pontiac faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Pontiac grades D for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Pontiac with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #428 of 507 in Quebec and #2,420 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 63 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Pontiac: 0.1% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Pontiac’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Around Pontiac fire takes 0.001% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Pontiac: 18% within 5 km and 18% 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
Pontiac 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, Pontiac 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.
Flooding around Pontiac is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by Municipalité de Pontiac
Flood studies whose area touches Pontiac, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Municipalité de Pontiac and others have studied flooding in areas that include Pontiac: 2 studies, the latest from 2016.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatineau-Argenteuil-Collindes-de-l'Outaouais | Municipalité de Pontiac | 2016 | final |
| Chenal-du-Grand-Calumet-Rocher-Fendu | MRC de Pontiac | 2006 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Pontiac has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 2 studies touching Pontiac are spread over time, from the 2000s to the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Pontiac.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Pontiac.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Pontiac $0.10 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Pontiac loses $0.10, 3.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Pontiac expects less, $0.10, and La Pocatière the most, $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: 26% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Pontiac.
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 Pontiac 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 runs high around Pontiac: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Outaouais health region
A higher share than most: 13% of tested homes around Pontiac, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Pontiac than in most towns in Quebec: 13% over the guideline (8.2% is typical), 4.8% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Pontiac sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% above.
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 Pontiac, 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 Pontiac
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Pontiac; 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 Pontiac, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Pontiac
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontiac | Low | $0.10 | 13% | Yes |
| Dunrobin 5,724 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Fitzroy 6,400 · 12 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | Yes |
| Chelsea 8,998 · 14 km | Low | $0.081 | 13% | Yes |
| Des Explorateurs 31,128 · 14 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | Yes |
| Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgans Grant 15,509 · 16 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
| Carp 5,621 · 16 km | Low | $0.15 | 6.2% | None listed |
The fire record around Dunrobin is a touch heavier than Pontiac’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 Pontiac faces
What to do about the hazards Pontiac 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. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Pontiac’s included.
- 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 Pontiac.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Pontiac.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Pontiac is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Pontiac
How big is the earthquake risk in Pontiac?
Expected earthquake damage in Pontiac comes to $0.10 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Pontiac at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Pontiac since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Pontiac?
Around Pontiac, 63 survey homes were tested and 13% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Pontiac’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Pontiac D, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Does Pontiac flood?
There is flood mapping for Pontiac on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
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).