Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainRouyn-Noranda faces few natural hazards: little fire nearby, low seismic risk, radon over the guideline in 4.3% of tested homes
Fire seldom reaches Rouyn-Noranda: since 1986, 1.4% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.04% a year). For earthquakes Rouyn-Noranda is middling, $0.024 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Rouyn-Noranda grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Rouyn-Noranda’s hazards
For Rouyn-Noranda, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Rouyn-Noranda faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Rouyn-Noranda: A−
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Rouyn-Noranda with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #10 of 507 in Quebec and #666 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 69 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 Rouyn-Noranda: 0.2% within 5 km, 1.4% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Rouyn-Noranda’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Rouyn-Noranda is 0.04%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The nearer ring around Rouyn-Noranda is less wooded (47% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (68%).
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
At 0.04% a year, Rouyn-Noranda is near the top in Quebec: 11th of 513, 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Rouyn-Noranda burns, but slower than in the 7.5% above it.
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 Rouyn-Noranda
Flood studies whose area touches Rouyn-Noranda, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Rouyn-Noranda, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Rouyn-Noranda; in Quebec, 45% of towns have one, below Canada’s 58%.
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 Rouyn-Noranda 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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Rouyn-Noranda: $0.024 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.
Earthquake losses in Rouyn-Noranda, $0.024 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (0.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.024, Rouyn-Noranda is below the typical town 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.
Around half of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Rouyn-Noranda (54%).
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 Rouyn-Noranda 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).
Little radon around Rouyn-Noranda: 4.3% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
At 4.3% over the guideline, the area around Rouyn-Noranda is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Figures for radon tests are published for the Abitibi-Temiscamingue health region as a whole, not for Rouyn-Noranda alone.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Rouyn-Noranda’s area, at 4.3%, is below the median in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Rouyn-Noranda; 63% sit higher.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Rouyn-Noranda can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Rouyn-Noranda
Alerts for Rouyn-Noranda 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Rouyn-Noranda are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Get ready for what Rouyn-Noranda faces
What to do about the hazards Rouyn-Noranda 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.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. For Rouyn-Noranda, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Rouyn-Noranda’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’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 Rouyn-Noranda until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Rouyn-Noranda without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Rouyn-Noranda
Is Rouyn-Noranda at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 1.4% of the land around Rouyn-Noranda since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Rouyn-Noranda?
Around Rouyn-Noranda, 69 survey homes were tested and 4.3% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How big is the earthquake risk in Rouyn-Noranda?
Expected earthquake damage in Rouyn-Noranda comes to $0.024 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Rouyn-Noranda flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Rouyn-Noranda’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How is Rouyn-Noranda’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Rouyn-Noranda grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).