Photo: Richard Coté · CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Benjamin’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 13% of area homes over the radon guideline
Fire has left almost no mark near Saint-Benjamin: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Saint-Benjamin is middling, $0.055 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Saint-Benjamin grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Benjamin’s hazards
For Saint-Benjamin, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Benjamin 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-Benjamin: C−
For Saint-Benjamin, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Benjamin: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Saint-Benjamin’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.000% burned a year, Saint-Benjamin is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
The closest burn since 1986 lies 13 km from Saint-Benjamin’s homes, none within 5 km.
More forest grows near Saint-Benjamin’s homes (74% within 5 km) than across 25 km (66%).
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
Near-zero burning puts Saint-Benjamin with 145 of the 514 towns in Quebec, far below Mistissini 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.
92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are in the low band and 7.5% above it; Saint-Benjamin 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.
No flood study is listed for Saint-Benjamin
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Benjamin: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Saint-Benjamin, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Saint-Benjamin; 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 is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Saint-Benjamin’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.”
Ordinary seismic risk in Saint-Benjamin: $0.055 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
With $0.055 of shaking damage a year per $1,000, Saint-Benjamin is about even with the typical $0.030 (1.8 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Quebec: Saint-Benjamin’s $0.055 against a median of $0.14; 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.
30% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Saint-Benjamin, which places it in the upper third.
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-Benjamin 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).
Radon runs high around Saint-Benjamin: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
More homes than usual test high around Saint-Benjamin: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-Benjamin’s area, at 13%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 0.6% 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.
4.6% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-Benjamin, 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-Benjamin 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). · Radon tests published for the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region, not by town
Where to get warnings in Saint-Benjamin
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Benjamin; 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-Benjamin, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Benjamin’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-Benjamin | Low | $0.055 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Prosper 4,042 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.054 | 13% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-des-Pins 1,935 · 11 km | Low | $0.044 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne 1,460 · 11 km | Low | $0.062 | 13% | None listed |
| Beauceville 6,228 · 14 km | Low | $0.048 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Georges 33,881 · 15 km | Low | $0.048 | 13% | None listed |
| Lac-Etchemin 4,089 · 18 km | Low | $0.052 | 13% | Yes |
Nowhere around Saint-Benjamin burns more: Saint-Prosper, 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-Benjamin faces
Practical steps for Saint-Benjamin’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.
- 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. 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-Benjamin.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Saint-Benjamin’s included.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. The flood inventory points to maps; it is incomplete and not the official source, so ask the municipality about any street in Saint-Benjamin.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-Benjamin takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Benjamin
Is radon a problem in Saint-Benjamin?
13% of the 175 homes Health Canada tested around Saint-Benjamin topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Benjamin?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Benjamin $0.055 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Saint-Benjamin at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Saint-Benjamin’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2022), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How is Saint-Benjamin’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Benjamin’s Hazard risk grade is C−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Saint-Benjamin flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Saint-Benjamin (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask 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).