Photo: Simon Villeneuve · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Saint-Cuthbert: 1 on record, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire barely registers for Saint-Cuthbert, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.12 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 3.9% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Saint-Cuthbert grades B for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Cuthbert’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Cuthbert: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Cuthbert 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-Cuthbert: B
The grade weighs Saint-Cuthbert’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Only 77 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Cuthbert: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Saint-Cuthbert’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Saint-Cuthbert burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
The 5 km ring around Saint-Cuthbert’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 8.4 km out.
About as much forest grows next to Saint-Cuthbert’s homes (19% within 5 km) as across 25 km (16%).
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
Saint-Cuthbert burns at 0.001% a year, 136th of 514 towns in Quebec; the leader, Mistissini, reaches 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Saint-Cuthbert burns, but slower than in the 7.5% 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.
Saint-Cuthbert is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Cuthbert: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec studied flooding in an area that includes Saint-Cuthbert (1996); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varennes-Grondines | Gouvernement du Québec | 1996 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%; Saint-Cuthbert is one of them.
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-Cuthbert.
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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Cuthbert $0.12 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.12 per $1,000, Saint-Cuthbert carries roughly 4 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Shaking damage around Saint-Cuthbert runs at $0.12 a year, near the $0.14 of the typical town in Quebec; 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.
Saint-Cuthbert sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 23% are 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 loss is to Saint-Cuthbert’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).
Radon runs low around Saint-Cuthbert: 3.9% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
A lower share than most: 3.9% of tested homes around Saint-Cuthbert, the typical Canadian town 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Against the typical town in Quebec (8.2%), the area around Saint-Cuthbert has fewer high tests: 3.9%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Saint-Cuthbert, as for 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 63% see more.
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-Cuthbert 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). · Not measured by town: radon tests (the Lanaudiere health region)
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Cuthbert
Alerts for Saint-Cuthbert 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Saint-Cuthbert to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Cuthbert
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Cuthbert | Low | $0.12 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Norbert 1,143 · 6.8 km | Low | $0.11 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Saint-Barthélemy 2,115 · 9.0 km | Low | $0.10 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier 2,298 · 9.8 km | Low | $0.14 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Berthierville 4,591 · 11 km | Low | $0.14 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Élisabeth 1,473 · 11 km | Low | $0.14 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois 7,670 · 14 km | Low | $0.089 | 3.9% | None listed |
Saint-Félix-de-Valois burns a little more than Saint-Cuthbert, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Cuthbert faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Cuthbert 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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-Cuthbert.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Cuthbert’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-Cuthbert takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Cuthbert’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Cuthbert
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Cuthbert?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Cuthbert $0.12 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Saint-Cuthbert’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Cuthbert’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Saint-Cuthbert at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Cuthbert has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Cuthbert?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3.9% of 77 homes tested in Saint-Cuthbert’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Saint-Cuthbert flood?
The inventory lists a study touching Saint-Cuthbert; whether a given street floods is on that map, not in 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).