Photo: Société du patrimoine des Beaucerons - Fonds PR86 - Collection Chantale Gilbert pl. 1, no 1 · Public domainWildfire low, radon 13%: how Saint-Elzéar stands on hazards
Wildfire barely registers for Saint-Elzéar, at 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986 (0.000% a year). Shaking is about as much of a worry in Saint-Elzéar as in most places, at $0.051 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). Hazard risk gives Saint-Elzéar a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Elzéar’s hazards
For Saint-Elzéar, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Elzéar faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Elzéar grades C− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Saint-Elzéar’s seismic risk and radon equally, and wildfire is one-sided: a high band counts against a town, a low one earns nothing.
Its place: #353 of 507 in Quebec and #2,321 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Elzéar: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Saint-Elzéar’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Saint-Elzéar is 0.000%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The closest burn since 1986 lies 19 km from Saint-Elzéar’s homes, none within 5 km.
The nearer ring around Saint-Elzéar is less wooded (21% forest fuel) than the land out to 25 km (33%).
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
Fire has taken almost none of the land around Saint-Elzéar, as for 144 of the 513 towns in Quebec; Mistissini tops the list at 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.
The low band holds 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, and Saint-Elzéar 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-Elzéar
Flood studies whose area touches Saint-Elzéar, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
NRCan’s inventory is silent on Saint-Elzéar, so any flood map would be the municipality’s own.
Towns with a flood study on file
Saint-Elzéar has no flood study on file; only 45% of towns in Quebec do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Saint-Elzéar.
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-Elzéar: $0.051 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.
Earthquake losses in Saint-Elzéar, $0.051 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.7 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Saint-Elzéar expects less, $0.051, and La Pocatière the most, $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-Elzéar.
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).
Only shaking damage to buildings in Saint-Elzéar is counted; landslides, liquefaction, tsunami and fire after a quake aren’t.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
13% of homes tested around Saint-Elzéar are over the radon guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region
More homes than usual test high around Saint-Elzéar: 13% against 6.6% for the typical Canadian town.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs higher around Saint-Elzéar than in most towns in Quebec: 13% over the guideline (8.2% is typical), 0.6% over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Saint-Elzéar among them; 4.6% 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-Elzéar, 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-Elzéar
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Elzéar; 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-Elzéar, 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-Elzéar
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Elzéar | Low | $0.051 | 13% | None listed |
| Sainte-Marie 13,873 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.065 | 13% | None listed |
| Scott 2,938 · 11 km | Low | $0.098 | 13% | None listed |
| Vallée-Jonction 2,042 · 11 km | Low | $0.049 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage 1,091 · 12 km | Low | $0.098 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Bernard 2,680 · 12 km | Low | $0.10 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Frédéric 1,172 · 13 km | Low | $0.043 | 13% | None listed |
Sainte-Marie (low) has the heaviest fire record of Saint-Elzéar’s neighbours, and Saint-Elzéar (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Elzéar faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Elzéar 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.
- 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
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Elzéar without grading them.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Saint-Elzéar’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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-Elzéar until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Saint-Elzéar, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Elzéar
Is radon a problem in Saint-Elzéar?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 175 homes tested in Saint-Elzéar’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Saint-Elzéar at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Elzéar has burned since 1986, the last in 2018, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Elzéar?
Expected earthquake damage in Saint-Elzéar comes to $0.051 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Does Saint-Elzéar flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Elzéar on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Saint-Elzéar’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Elzéar’s Hazard risk grade is C−, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).