Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Cephas · CC BY-SA 4.0One named trail is close: the Sentier de l'escarpement. OpenStreetMap shows 3 unnamed beaches within 5 km. Biggest among them: Île d'Orléans (ouest du pont) Water Fowl Gathering Area, 325 ha, 9.9 km off.
Each figure against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (not city hubs or reserves), with the town marked and the typical one’s line. No letter: the outdoors is described for Canadian towns, not graded.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (16,400 to 17,391 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Against towns its size, Saint-Émile is weakest for protected land nearby: 27 of 39 have more.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canmore AB | 90% | 57% | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| 2 | Sooke BC | 23% | 21% | 23 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | Sunnyside BC | 19% | 1.9% | 127 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Tracadie NB | 13% | 9% | 54 | 0 | 27 |
| 5 | Greektown BC | 12% | 0% | 13 | 2 | 73 |
| 6 | Saint-Henri QC | 10% | 0% | 23 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | Grandview BC | 10% | 3.9% | 170 | 7 | 1 |
| 8 | Côte-Saint-Paul QC | 8.4% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Surrey Centre BC | 8.2% | 1.3% | 190 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | Elder Mills ON | 7.3% | 8% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Sturgeon Falls ON | 7.2% | 6.1% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | East Burnaby BC | 5.5% | 2.6% | 54 | 3 | 17 |
| 13 | Saint-Michel QC | 5.2% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 7 |
| 14 | Davie Village BC | 5.2% | 0% | 11 | 3 | 71 |
| 15 | Stayner ON | 5% | 3.6% | 46 | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | Cap-Rouge QC | 4.7% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Préfontaine QC | 4.5% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Saint-Basile-le-Grand QC | 4.3% | 0% | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Petite-Côte QC | 4% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Malvern West ON | 3.5% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Étienne Desmarteaux QC | 3.1% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Humbermede ON | 3% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Kennedy Park ON | 2.4% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 8 |
| 24 | Saint-Édouard QC | 2.3% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Danforth East York ON | 2.2% | 0% | 13 | 4 | 21 |
| 26 | Leaside-Bennington ON | 2.2% | 1% | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| 27 | Scarborough Village ON | 2.2% | 7% | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 | Saint-Émile QC | 2% | 0% | 25 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 | Willowdale West ON | 1.6% | 0% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Laurentian West ON | 1.5% | 5.8% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | St.Andrew-Windfields ON | 1.4% | 2.3% | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Smithville ON | 1.3% | 0% | 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Yorkdale-Glen Park ON | 1.3% | 0% | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | Leduc County AB | 1.2% | 0.7% | 85 | 2 | 4 |
| 35 | La Visitation QC | 1.1% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Cowansville QC | 0.6% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Summerside AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Saint-Charles-Borromée QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Strathmore AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Coventry Hills AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The neighbourhood’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
Parc de l'Escarpement is the largest, at 106 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
Parc de l'Escarpement plus Parc naturel de la Rivière-du-Berger account for 87% of the green.
Source: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, commons and woods with a name, in the town or within 400 m, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Sizes are the mapped outline’s.
Residents of each 2021 dissemination area, at a point inside it, within 400 m (about a 5-minute walk) of a park or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap.
For comparison, the typical Canadian town has 83%. Around 5,200 residents are further than 400 m from a park.
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
On public land: 7 of the 25. The others are private conservation land. At 325 ha, Île d'Orléans (ouest du pont) Water Fowl Gathering Area is the largest. 18 areas belong to private owners or land trusts and aren’t named here.
Source: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
National parks (Parks Canada) and provincial or territorial parks by direction and distance from the town’s edge: every one within 10 km, and the nearest of each within 100 km.
Canada’s national parks are all more than 100 km from Saint-Émile, so the parks here are provincial. Québec’s “national” parks are the province’s own, managed by Sépaq.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
OpenStreetMap footpaths, paths, bridleways and steps, and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it; woods as mapped (landuse=forest, natural=wood).
For woods, it beats 73% of Canadian towns. It has more footpath per km² than 58% of Canadian towns.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Quebec Jean Lesage (Airport) (9.2 km), and daylight at the town’s latitude. Good months: 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15–30 °C, little rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | -7 | -5 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 19 | 11 | 4 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 87 | 66 | 78 | 94 | 92 | 115 | 119 | 109 | 111 | 116 | 91 | 96 |
Summer highs reach 25 °C in July; in January they stay near -7 °C. Expect 119 mm in July, warm and wet, and 66 mm in February. Some 299 cm of snow falls each winter. The climate in Saint-Émile →
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
This page can’t show water quality: no open, Canada-wide record of beach testing exists. Check local advisories first.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Look up to Mont Irma-Levasseur: 333 m. Count 64 playgrounds, the biggest group.
Plus 8 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 62 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Émile | 2% | 25 | 1 | 3 |
| Wendake 2.2 km | 1.1% | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| Loretteville 3.4 km | 1.1% | 21 | 1 | 2 |
| Orsainville 3.8 km | 2.5% | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf 4.0 km | 3.2% | 26 | 1 | 4 |
| Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides 4.1 km | 1.1% | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| Lac-Saint-Charles 4.4 km | 1% | 21 | 1 | 4 |
None of the places nearby has twice as much protected land around it as Saint-Émile.
It is Île d'Orléans (ouest du pont) Water Fowl Gathering Area, a wildlife area covering 325 ha.
No national park lies within 100 km of Saint-Émile.
There are beaches within 5 km, none of them named.
The Sentier de l'escarpement, mapped within 2 km.
Yes: 2% of the land within 10 km is protected.
Jacques-Cartier National Park (Québec), 23 km from the edge of town.
May and August: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Protected areas: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2026: every area within 10 km and the nearest national and provincial parks, measured outline to outline.
Walking routes and beaches: OpenStreetMap, November 2026: named hiking, foot and walking route relations within 2 km and beaches within 5 km.
Towns: Statistics Canada 2021 Census boundaries and populations; the comparison is the Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, not city hubs or reserves.
When to go: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, from the nearest station that publishes them.
Green space, paths, woods, things to do: OpenStreetMap (Geofabrik’s Canada extract), November 2026: parks, gardens, playing fields, woods, footpaths, the coastline and things to do in and around each town.
Residents: Statistics Canada 2021 Census dissemination areas (population, boundaries), each at a point inside it.
Walking routes and beaches © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Not on this page: trailheads and trail grades, and beach water quality. No open Canadian dataset gives these for every town yet.
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).