Photo: Garbanzo972 · CC BY-SA 3.0A quiet place for hazards: low wildfire, little earthquake risk, and 3.9% of tested homes over the radon guideline in Saint-Donat’s area
Wildfire barely registers for Saint-Donat, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.001% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Saint-Donat as in most places, at $0.053 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Saint-Donat a grade of B+; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Saint-Donat’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Donat: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Donat 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-Donat: B+
For Saint-Donat, Risk will be the average of earthquakes and radon, with wildfire added only if it makes the average worse.
Its place: #39 of 507 in Quebec and #1,094 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 77 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Saint-Donat: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Donat’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
With 0.001% burned a year, Saint-Donat is among the many low-band places (the typical Canadian town 0.000%).
Saint-Donat’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 9.9 km away.
Forest thickens with distance from Saint-Donat: 43% of the land within 5 km, 56% 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
In the upper half in Quebec but far from Mistissini (0.31%): Saint-Donat ranks 136th of 513, at 0.001% a year.
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-Donat is in the low band with 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns; 7.5% sit in moderate or 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Donat
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Donat: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
There is no study for Saint-Donat on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
No study touches Saint-Donat; 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.
The grade leaves flood out, since a study area says nothing about how many of Saint-Donat’s homes are at risk.
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.”
Expected shaking damage in Saint-Donat: $0.053 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Saint-Donat’s ground: $0.053 against a typical $0.030, 1.8 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-Donat’s $0.053 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.
In the upper part of Canada’s range: 30% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Saint-Donat.
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-Donat’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).
3.9% of homes tested around Saint-Donat are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Lanaudiere health region: radon tests
At 3.9% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Donat is 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-Donat (3.9%) 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-Donat 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.
The survey sampled homes around Saint-Donat; 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-Donat
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Donat; 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-Donat, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Saint-Donat
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Donat | Low | $0.053 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci 1,154 · 10 km | Low | $0.063 | 3.9% | None listed |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Saint-Donat (low); Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Donat faces
Practical steps for Saint-Donat’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
- 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-Donat sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Donat’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Donat’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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-Donat floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Donat
Is Saint-Donat at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-Donat’s low band (0% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2021) is short of the level that counts.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Donat?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Donat’s buildings lose $0.053 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Saint-Donat’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Donat B+, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Donat?
The area’s survey found 3.9% of 77 tested homes above Health Canada’s guideline, so a three-month test is worth doing in Saint-Donat.
Does Saint-Donat flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Saint-Donat, and an empty list isn’t a clean bill: the municipality holds any flood maps.
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).