Photo: Gordalmighty · CC BY-SA 3.0On hazards, Saint-Aubert comes out behind 94% of Canadian towns
Wildfire isn’t Saint-Aubert’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 $0.30 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). Saint-Aubert grades D for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Aubert’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Aubert: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Aubert 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-Aubert: D
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Saint-Aubert with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
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.
Few fires near Saint-Aubert: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Aubert’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Saint-Aubert’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel covers 29% of the land close to Saint-Aubert and 62% across 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
Among the 514 towns in Quebec, Mistissini burns fastest (0.31% a year); Saint-Aubert is with the 145 near zero.
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.
Only 7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are above the low band, which holds 92%; Saint-Aubert, at a rounded zero, is far from them.
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-Aubert
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Aubert: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Saint-Aubert has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Saint-Aubert; 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 studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Saint-Aubert.
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-Aubert $0.30 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.30 per $1,000, Saint-Aubert carries roughly 9.9 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year; Saint-Aubert expects $0.30, and La Pocatière $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-Aubert is in the top tenth of Canada’s 2,611 towns for earthquake risk; 6% rank 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).
The model counts damage to Saint-Aubert’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon runs high around Saint-Aubert: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Saint-Aubert’s area, at 13%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region, with Saint-Aubert one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
More homes top the guideline around Saint-Aubert (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-Aubert, 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.
A survey sample isn’t a map: any home in Saint-Aubert can be high, and a three-month test is the only way to know.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Aubert
Alerts for Saint-Aubert 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-Aubert 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)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Aubert
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Aubert | Low | $0.30 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Jean-Port-Joli 3,330 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.39 | 13% | Yes |
| L'Islet 3,874 · 15 km | Low | $0.28 | 13% | None listed |
Nowhere around Saint-Aubert burns more: Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Aubert faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Aubert 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. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Saint-Aubert floods.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Aubert’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Aubert’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Saint-Aubert sits in.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Aubert
How is Saint-Aubert’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Aubert grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Aubert?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 175 homes tested in Saint-Aubert’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Saint-Aubert at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Saint-Aubert: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Aubert?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Aubert’s buildings lose $0.30 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Saint-Aubert flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Aubert on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).