Photo: Félix Mathieu-Bégin · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazard risk in Saint-Bernard is higher than in 88% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Saint-Bernard: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.10 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. More homes than usual carry radon here, 13% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Saint-Bernard a grade of D, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Bernard’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Bernard: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Bernard 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-Bernard: D
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Saint-Bernard with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #440 of 507 in Quebec and #2,433 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Saint-Bernard: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Bernard’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Saint-Bernard at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 10 km from Saint-Bernard’s homes since 1986.
There is forest near Saint-Bernard’s homes (6.1% within 5 km) and more of it further out (30% 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
Among the 513 towns in Quebec, Mistissini burns fastest (0.31% a year); Saint-Bernard is with the 144 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.
Saint-Bernard shares the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, its burn rate rounding to nothing; 7.5% burn faster.
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-Bernard
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Bernard: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Saint-Bernard, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Saint-Bernard is not among them.
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-Bernard’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Bernard $0.10 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.10 per $1,000, Saint-Bernard carries roughly 3.4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Quebec peaks in La Pocatière ($0.48); Saint-Bernard, at $0.10, is below the median of $0.14.
NRCan seismic risk model (2022): mean yearly building loss per $1,000 of value; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Saint-Bernard, 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).
The loss is to Saint-Bernard’s 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).
13% of homes tested around Saint-Bernard are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A higher share than most: 13% of tested homes around Saint-Bernard, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region, with Saint-Bernard one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-Bernard’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-Bernard, 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.
The survey sampled homes around Saint-Bernard; 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-Bernard
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Bernard; 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. |
For fires near Saint-Bernard, the national fire information system maps danger and active fires daily; local authorities give any evacuation order.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Bernard
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Bernard | Low | $0.10 | 13% | None listed |
| Scott 2,938 · 4.6 km | Low | $0.098 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Narcisse-de-Beaurivage 1,303 · 7.4 km | Low | $0.11 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Isidore 3,550 · 8.6 km | Low | $0.12 | 13% | None listed |
| Sainte-Marie 13,873 · 11 km | Low | $0.065 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon 7,551 · 11 km | Low | $0.14 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage 1,091 · 11 km | Low | $0.098 | 13% | None listed |
Among its neighbours Saint-Bernard has the most fire on record (low); Scott follows (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Bernard faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Bernard 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. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Saint-Bernard.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Saint-Bernard is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Saint-Bernard’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-Bernard’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Bernard
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Bernard?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Bernard’s buildings lose $0.10 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Is Saint-Bernard at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Bernard has burned since 1986, the last in 2018, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Bernard?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 175 homes tested in Saint-Bernard’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How is Saint-Bernard’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Bernard grades D for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Does Saint-Bernard flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Bernard 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).