Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Saint-Boniface: 1 on record, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
Burn scars are few around Saint-Boniface, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km touched by fire since 1986 (0.003% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.090 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. In Health Canada’s survey, just 0% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Hazard risk gives Saint-Boniface a grade of A−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saint-Boniface’s hazards
For Saint-Boniface, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Boniface 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-Boniface: A−
For Saint-Boniface, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #18 of 507 in Quebec and #865 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The radon share rests on 58 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Saint-Boniface: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Boniface’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
A burn rate of 0.003% a year keeps Saint-Boniface in the low band (the typical Canadian town: 0.000%).
Saint-Boniface’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 5.3 km away.
Forest fuel covers 27% of the land close to Saint-Boniface and 32% 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 513
Mistissini burns fastest in Quebec at 0.31% a year; Saint-Boniface, at 0.003%, ranks 32nd of 513.
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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Saint-Boniface among them, though its rate is above zero; 7.5% 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.
Saint-Boniface is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Boniface: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec holds the flood mapping that covers Saint-Boniface (2005), linked below.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawinigan-St-Gérard-des-Laurentides | Gouvernement du Québec | 2005 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, but Saint-Boniface has one.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Saint-Boniface to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Shaking is Saint-Boniface’s costliest hazard: $0.090 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Roughly 3 times the typical $0.030: Saint-Boniface’s $0.090 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-Boniface’s $0.090 sits under the median in Quebec, $0.14, and well under La Pocatière’s $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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 27% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Saint-Boniface.
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).
For Saint-Boniface the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Little radon around Saint-Boniface: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Saint-Boniface’s survey area reads 0% over the guideline, under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Saint-Boniface (0%) than in the typical town in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Under 5% puts Saint-Boniface with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% have more high tests.
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-Boniface 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 Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region, not by town
Where to get warnings in Saint-Boniface
Alerts for Saint-Boniface 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-Boniface 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-Boniface’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-Boniface | Low | $0.090 | 0% | Yes |
| Charette 1,178 · 8.0 km | Low | $0.10 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès 4,675 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.11 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Élie-de-Caxton 2,062 · 9.2 km | Low | $0.076 | 0% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel 6,613 · 11 km | Low | $0.098 | 0% | None listed |
| Shawinigan 51,739 · 11 km | Low | $0.090 | 0% | Yes |
| Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc 1,598 · 12 km | Low | $0.053 | 0% | Yes |
The fire record around Shawinigan is a touch heavier than Saint-Boniface’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-Boniface faces
Practical steps for Saint-Boniface’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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Saint-Boniface’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- Wildfire counts one way. For Saint-Boniface, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- 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-Boniface.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-Boniface takes its 2007 health region’s share.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Boniface
Is Saint-Boniface at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-Boniface’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2024) is short of the level that counts.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Boniface?
The area’s survey found 0% of 58 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Saint-Boniface.
Does Saint-Boniface flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Saint-Boniface; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Boniface?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Boniface $0.090 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Saint-Boniface’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Boniface grades A− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).