Hazards in Saint-Rodrigue: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 8.8% of tested homes
Around Saint-Rodrigue, wildfire is practically absent from the record: 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.14 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Hazard risk gives Saint-Rodrigue a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Rodrigue’s hazards
For Saint-Rodrigue, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Rodrigue faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Rodrigue grades C− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Saint-Rodrigue, 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.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Rodrigue: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Rodrigue’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
Low: the land around Saint-Rodrigue burns at 0.000% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Saint-Rodrigue’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 14 km out.
The forest starts beyond town: 0.7% of the land within 5 km of Saint-Rodrigue’s homes is forest fuel, against 23% 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
Of the 513 towns in Quebec, 144 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Saint-Rodrigue among them; Mistissini leads at 0.31% 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Saint-Rodrigue is among the many where the yearly burn rate rounds to zero.
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-Rodrigue
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Rodrigue, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for Saint-Rodrigue on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Saint-Rodrigue.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Saint-Rodrigue.
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-Rodrigue: $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.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Saint-Rodrigue loses $0.14, 4.6 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Neither high nor low in Quebec: Saint-Rodrigue’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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 20% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Saint-Rodrigue.
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 Saint-Rodrigue 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). · Earthquake risk published for the city of Québec, not by town
Some radon around Saint-Rodrigue: 8.8% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Near the middle for radon: Saint-Rodrigue’s area 8.8%, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Saint-Rodrigue, 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.
A middling share of high tests puts Saint-Rodrigue with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, below 26% of them.
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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Saint-Rodrigue’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Capitale-Nationale health region)
Where to get warnings in Saint-Rodrigue
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Rodrigue; 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. |
For fires near Saint-Rodrigue, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Rodrigue’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Rodrigue | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Lairet 15,251 · 1.5 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Jésuites 15,792 · 1.6 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Charlesbourg 9,660 · 1.9 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Maizerets 14,571 · 2.7 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Vieux-Limoilou 14,347 · 2.9 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Vanier 13,494 · 3.0 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Saint-Rodrigue (low); Lairet comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Rodrigue faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Rodrigue 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Saint-Rodrigue’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Saint-Rodrigue, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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-Rodrigue until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Rodrigue without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Rodrigue
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Rodrigue?
About $0.14 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Saint-Rodrigue.
Is Saint-Rodrigue at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Saint-Rodrigue since 1986 (last in 2022); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Saint-Rodrigue flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-Rodrigue’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Saint-Rodrigue’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Rodrigue C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Rodrigue?
Around Saint-Rodrigue, 160 survey homes were tested and 8.8% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).