Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Wildfire low, radon 8.8%: how Saint-Jean-Baptiste stands on hazards
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Saint-Jean-Baptiste, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% 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). Saint-Jean-Baptiste grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Jean-Baptiste: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Jean-Baptiste faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Saint-Jean-Baptiste: C−
The grade weighs Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Saint-Jean-Baptiste has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Forty years of fire maps put Saint-Jean-Baptiste at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s homes came within 18 km, never inside 5 km.
Homes in Saint-Jean-Baptiste sit on open or built-up ground (0.2% forest fuel within 5 km); the wider 25 km holds 19%.
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
Little or nothing burns around Saint-Jean-Baptiste in a typical year; 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec share that, and Mistissini leads at 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.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Jean-Baptiste, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
The inventory has nothing for Saint-Jean-Baptiste, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, and Saint-Jean-Baptiste has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Saint-Jean-Baptiste 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.”
High seismic risk in Saint-Jean-Baptiste: $0.14 per $1,000 of buildings a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
At $0.14 per $1,000, Saint-Jean-Baptiste carries roughly 4.6 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Behind earthquake risk sits data gathered across the city of Québec, with Saint-Jean-Baptiste one part of it.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Quebec: Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s $0.14 sits by the median of $0.14, while La Pocatière reaches $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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste’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 about average around Saint-Jean-Baptiste: 8.8% over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Capitale-Nationale health region: radon tests
Near the middle for radon: Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s area 8.8%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Ordinary for towns in Quebec at 8.8% over 200 Bq/m³ (8.2% is the median), the area around Saint-Jean-Baptiste had 2.5% 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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s 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.
Basements, soil and how a house is sealed decide its radon, so in Saint-Jean-Baptiste only a test can say.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Alerts for Saint-Jean-Baptiste 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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jean-Baptiste | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire 5,764 · 0.9 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Roch 8,381 · 1.0 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Montcalm 13,572 · 1.1 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Sauveur 16,104 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Vieux-Limoilou 14,347 · 2.3 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Sacrement 10,650 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s low band tops its neighbours; Vieux-Québec—Cap-Blanc—Colline parlementaire is next (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Jean-Baptiste faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Jean-Baptiste 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- 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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s figure is its subdivision’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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Is radon a problem in Saint-Jean-Baptiste?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.8% of 160 homes tested in Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Saint-Jean-Baptiste at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Jean-Baptiste has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Saint-Jean-Baptiste flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Jean-Baptiste on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s Hazard risk grade is C−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Jean-Baptiste?
About $0.14 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
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).