Photo: Iceberg9999 · CC BY-SA 4.0Des Châtels is on Canada’s flood inventory: 2 listed, led by Ville de Québec
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Des Châtels, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.14 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Radon is about average around Des Châtels: 8.8% of tested homes in the survey area topped the guideline, against 6.6% for the typical town. Des Châtels grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Des Châtels’s hazards
For Des Châtels, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Des Châtels faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Des Châtels: C−
Two inputs always count for Des Châtels, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #294 of 507 in Quebec and #2,256 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 Des Châtels: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Des Châtels’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Des Châtels burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 12 km from Des Châtels’ homes since 1986.
The nearer ring around Des Châtels is less wooded (18% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (24%).
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
Des Châtels 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, Des Châtels 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.
2 flood studies cover Des Châtels, the newest from Ville de Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Des Châtels: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
2 studies on the inventory touch Des Châtels, the newest Ville de Québec’s from 2015, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ville-de-Québec | Ville de Québec | 2015 | final |
| CUQ | Gouvernement du Québec | 1991 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Des Châtels 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.
No single decade dominates: 2 studies for Des Châtels between the 1990s and the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Des Châtels.
Flood mapping is shown for Des Châtels to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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 Des Châtels: $0.14 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Des Châtels loses $0.14, 4.6 times as much.
Nobody publishes earthquake risk for Des Châtels alone, so this card uses the figure for the city of Québec.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Des Châtels’ $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 Des Châtels.
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 Des Châtels 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).
8.8% of homes tested around Des Châtels are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 8.8% over the guideline, the area around Des Châtels is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Des Châtels, 8.8% of tests topped the guideline, close to the typical town in Quebec (8.2%); 2.5% were over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Des Châtels’ 5–10% band, which holds 37%.
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.
A low area share in Des Châtels doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Capitale-Nationale health region
Where to get warnings in Des Châtels
Alerts for Des Châtels 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 Des Châtels to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Des Châtels’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Châtels | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Loretteville 15,653 · 1.7 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Wendake 2,234 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.13 | 8.8% | Yes |
| L'Ancienne-Lorette 17,876 · 4.1 km | Low | $0.16 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf 37,164 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Val-Bélair 30,003 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Saint-Émile 16,893 · 4.7 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Des Châtels (low); Loretteville comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Des Châtels faces
What to do about the hazards Des Châtels 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, Des Châtels’ included.
- 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 Des Châtels 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 Des Châtels sits in.
- 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 Des Châtels.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Des Châtels
Is Des Châtels at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Des Châtels since 1986 (last in 2020); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Des Châtels’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Des Châtels C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Des Châtels?
Around Des Châtels, 160 survey homes were tested and 8.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Des Châtels?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Des Châtels $0.14 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Des Châtels flood?
Des Châtels’ area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).