Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Apollinaire faces more hazards than 92% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Saint-Apollinaire’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned 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). In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Saint-Apollinaire a grade of D, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Apollinaire’s hazards
For Saint-Apollinaire, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Apollinaire 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-Apollinaire: D
Earthquake risk and radon make Saint-Apollinaire’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #481 of 507 in Quebec and #2,492 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.
Little of the land around Saint-Apollinaire has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Apollinaire’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The land within 25 km of Saint-Apollinaire burns at 0.000% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Saint-Apollinaire’s homes came within 16 km, never inside 5 km.
Forest crowds in on Saint-Apollinaire: 38% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 31% 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
To three decimals the burn rate around Saint-Apollinaire is zero, as for 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec, while Mistissini reaches 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.
Most of the country’s 2,610 towns are low-band (92%, against 7.5% above); around Saint-Apollinaire, burning 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-Apollinaire
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Apollinaire: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Saint-Apollinaire on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Saint-Apollinaire.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Saint-Apollinaire’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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.”
Shaking is Saint-Apollinaire’s costliest hazard: $0.14 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Roughly 4.8 times the typical $0.030: Saint-Apollinaire’s $0.14 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Saint-Apollinaire runs at $0.14 a year, near the $0.14 of the typical town in Quebec; La Pocatière has $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.
Saint-Apollinaire sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 20% are higher.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Saint-Apollinaire is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
13% of homes tested around Saint-Apollinaire are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 13% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Apollinaire beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Saint-Apollinaire (13%) than in the typical town in Quebec (8.2%); 0.6% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-Apollinaire, in the 10–20% band with 22%.
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 Saint-Apollinaire 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). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region
Where to get warnings in Saint-Apollinaire
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Apollinaire; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Saint-Apollinaire, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Apollinaire’s 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-Apollinaire | Low | $0.14 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Agapit 4,817 · 7.1 km | Low | $0.13 | 13% | Yes |
| Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly 1,747 · 7.6 km | Low | $0.14 | 13% | None listed |
| Neuville 4,579 · 12 km | Low | $0.14 | 8.8% | None listed |
| Saint-Flavien 1,682 · 13 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | None listed |
| Laurier-Station 2,838 · 13 km | Low | $0.14 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures 20,864 · 15 km | Low | $0.12 | 8.8% | None listed |
The fire record around Neuville is a touch heavier than Saint-Apollinaire’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Apollinaire faces
Practical steps for Saint-Apollinaire’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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
- 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-Apollinaire until then.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Saint-Apollinaire’s included.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Saint-Apollinaire.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Apollinaire without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Apollinaire
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Apollinaire?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Apollinaire $0.14 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Saint-Apollinaire’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Apollinaire grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Saint-Apollinaire flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Saint-Apollinaire, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
Is Saint-Apollinaire at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-Apollinaire’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2018) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Apollinaire?
The area’s survey found 13% of 175 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Saint-Apollinaire.
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).