Photo: Gath · CC BY-SA 3.0A quiet place for hazards: low wildfire, little earthquake risk, and 0% of tested homes over the radon guideline in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s area
Fire seldom reaches Saint-Élie-de-Caxton: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.003% a year). Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.076 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Saint-Élie-de-Caxton grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Élie-de-Caxton 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-Élie-de-Caxton: A−
Earthquake risk and radon make Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 58 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-Élie-de-Caxton: 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton burns at 0.003% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 6.9 km away.
Near or far, forest fuel covers a similar share around Saint-Élie-de-Caxton: 32% within 5 km and 34% 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
At 0.003% a year, Saint-Élie-de-Caxton is near the top in Quebec: 32nd of 514, behind Mistissini (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-Élie-de-Caxton 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
There is no study for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton on the national flood inventory, which is far from complete.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Saint-Élie-de-Caxton.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Saint-Élie-de-Caxton floods.
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.”
Shaking is Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s costliest hazard: $0.076 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Roughly 2.5 times the typical $0.030: Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s $0.076 marks real seismic exposure.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk in Quebec peaks in La Pocatière ($0.48); Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, at $0.076, 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.
Saint-Élie-de-Caxton sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 28% 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-Élie-de-Caxton’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).
Little radon around Saint-Élie-de-Caxton: 0% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
Where the typical Canadian town has 6.6% of homes over the guideline, Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s area has fewer, 0%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Saint-Élie-de-Caxton than in most towns in Quebec: 0% against 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s band, which holds 37%.
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-Élie-de-Caxton; it can’t tell you your basement’s level.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton
Alerts for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton 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-Élie-de-Caxton to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Élie-de-Caxton | Low | $0.076 | 0% | None listed |
| Charette 1,178 · 4.5 km | Low | $0.10 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Paulin 1,659 · 8.7 km | Low | $0.086 | 0% | Yes |
| Saint-Boniface 5,405 · 9.2 km | Low | $0.090 | 0% | Yes |
| Saint-Barnabé 1,234 · 14 km | Low | $0.12 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Étienne-des-Grès 4,675 · 14 km | Low | $0.11 | 0% | None listed |
| Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc 1,598 · 14 km | Low | $0.053 | 0% | Yes |
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc burns a little more than Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, 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-Élie-de-Caxton faces
Practical steps for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’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. Shaking damage is modelled from the ground, the buildings and the odds of each quake, and published for whole subdivisions such as Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s homes burned each year from 1986 to 2025, past fire rather than a forecast, and it can only lower Risk.
- Radon is a survey. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Saint-Élie-de-Caxton until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton without grading them.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton
Is radon a problem in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton?
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-Élie-de-Caxton.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Élie-de-Caxton?
About $0.076 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton.
How is Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Élie-de-Caxton A−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Saint-Élie-de-Caxton at risk of wildfire?
Some, but Saint-Élie-de-Caxton’s low band (0.1% of nearby land burned since 1986, latest 2021) is short of the level that counts.
Does Saint-Élie-de-Caxton flood?
The inventory has 0 studies for Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, 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).