Photo: Dr Wilson · CC BY 3.0Hazard risk in Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs is higher than in 86% of Canadian towns
Some 4.6% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs has burned since 1986; at 0.11% a year that is moderate, not high. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.29 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 8.8% of homes tested in Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs a grade of D; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs 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-Aimé-des-Lacs: D
Two inputs always count for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
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.
A moderate wildfire record for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs: 4.6% within 25 km burned, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Moderate: the land around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs burns at 0.11% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 8.0 km away.
There is forest near Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ homes (78% within 5 km) and more of it further out (85% 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 514
The land around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs burns at 0.11% a year, the 3rd highest rate of 514 towns in Quebec; Mistissini tops it 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-Aimé-des-Lacs is in the moderate band, which holds 5.4% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 2.1% 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs, 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-Aimé-des-Lacs has none.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs floods.
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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs $0.29 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs loses $0.29, 9.6 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ $0.29 tops the median in Quebec, $0.14, though 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.
Few of Canada’s 2,611 towns face more earthquake damage than Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs: 6% of them.
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).
The loss is to Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs: 8.8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Capitale-Nationale health region: radon tests
At 8.8% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ area, at 8.8%, is close to the median in Quebec (8.2%); 2.5% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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.
The survey sampled homes around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs
Alerts for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs 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. |
Evacuation orders for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs | Moderate | $0.29 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Clermont 3,117 · 6.9 km | Moderate | $0.37 | 8.8% | Yes |
| La Malbaie 8,293 · 13 km | Moderate | $0.35 | 8.8% | Yes |
| Saint-Hilarion 1,221 · 15 km | Low | $0.37 | 8.8% | None listed |
Nowhere around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs burns more: Clermont, the closest rival, is moderate to its moderate.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs faces, and what to ask before you buy.
- Clear needles and wood nearby.
- Keep a grab-and-go bag ready.
- In smoke, stay in; filter air.
- Test for three months in winter.
- Over 200 Bq/m³: fix it.
- Kits are cheap; pros test too.
- 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.
- How close is the forest edge?
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs without grading them.
- 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-Aimé-des-Lacs until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs
Is Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 4.6% of the land around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs since 1986 (last in 2000); at moderate, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How is Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs D, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs?
Around Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs, 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 Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ buildings lose $0.29 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs’ flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
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).