Photo: Normand Lemieux · CC BY-SA 4.0Saint-Claude’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 7.3% of area homes over the radon guideline
For Saint-Claude, wildfire history is close to nil: 0% of nearby land since 1986, 0.000% a year. For earthquakes Saint-Claude is middling, $0.056 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Saint-Claude grades B− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Claude’s hazards
For Saint-Claude, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Claude faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Claude grades B− for hazard risk
For Saint-Claude, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 55 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Saint-Claude: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Claude’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
The yearly burn rate around Saint-Claude is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
Nothing inside 5 km of Saint-Claude’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 5.4 km off.
Forest crowds in on Saint-Claude: 39% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, more than the 33% 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 514
Among the 514 towns in Quebec, Mistissini burns fastest (0.31% a year); Saint-Claude 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Saint-Claude sits at its very bottom; only 7.5% are above it.
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-Claude
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Claude: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Saint-Claude, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, and Saint-Claude has none.
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-Claude’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-Claude $0.056 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Saint-Claude’s ground: $0.056 against a typical $0.030, 1.9 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.056, Saint-Claude is below the typical town in Quebec ($0.14); La Pocatière is highest at $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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 30% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Saint-Claude.
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-Claude 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).
7.3% of homes tested around Saint-Claude are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Around Saint-Claude, 7.3% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Estrie health region, with Saint-Claude one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Saint-Claude is ordinary for towns in Quebec: 7.3%, beside a median of 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon tops the guideline in a modest share of homes around Saint-Claude, a band holding 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% rank above.
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.
Radon varies from house to house in Saint-Claude, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Saint-Claude
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Claude; 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-Claude, 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-Claude
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Claude | Low | $0.056 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Val-Joli 1,787 · 3.1 km | Low | $0.053 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Windsor 5,368 · 7.2 km | Low | $0.044 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Saint-Georges-de-Windsor 1,034 · 12 km | Low | $0.051 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton 2,650 · 12 km | Low | $0.047 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Stoke 3,272 · 16 km | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Cleveland 1,624 · 18 km | Low | $0.041 | 7.3% | Yes |
The fire record around Stoke is a touch heavier than Saint-Claude’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-Claude faces
Practical steps for Saint-Claude’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
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Saint-Claude’s included.
- 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-Claude sits in.
- 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-Claude floods.
- 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-Claude.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Claude
How is Saint-Claude’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Claude B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Saint-Claude at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Saint-Claude’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2015), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Claude?
7.3% of the 55 homes Health Canada tested around Saint-Claude topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Claude?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Claude’s buildings lose $0.056 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Saint-Claude flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Saint-Claude (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).