Photo: Gene.arboit · CC BY-SA 3.0Flood mapping exists for Saint-Jean-de-Matha: 1 on record, latest by Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Jean-de-Matha: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.001% a year. Shaking is a bigger worry than in most places, at $0.068 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). In Health Canada’s survey, just 3.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Saint-Jean-de-Matha grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Jean-de-Matha: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Jean-de-Matha faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Jean-de-Matha grades B+ for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Saint-Jean-de-Matha with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #43 of 507 in Quebec and #1,375 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
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.
Few fires near Saint-Jean-de-Matha: 0.1% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Saint-Jean-de-Matha burns at 0.001% a year, low against 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
About as much forest grows next to Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s homes (31% within 5 km) as across 25 km (35%).
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-Jean-de-Matha 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.
Low, like 92% of the country’s 2,610 towns: the land around Saint-Jean-de-Matha 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.
A flood study covers Saint-Jean-de-Matha, from Gouvernement du Québec: 1 on the inventory
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Jean-de-Matha: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec studied flooding in an area that includes Saint-Jean-de-Matha (2006); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| St-Damien-St-Jean-de-Matha-St-Émélie-de-l'Énergie | Gouvernement du Québec | 2006 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Saint-Jean-de-Matha among them, below the 58% across Canada.
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-Jean-de-Matha 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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
High seismic risk in Saint-Jean-de-Matha: $0.068 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.068 per $1,000, Saint-Jean-de-Matha carries roughly 2.3 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s $0.068 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.
29% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Saint-Jean-de-Matha, which places it in the upper third.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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-Jean-de-Matha: 3.9% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Shared with the rest of the Lanaudiere health region: radon tests
Radon runs below the typical Canadian town (6.6%) in Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s area, at 3.9%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Saint-Jean-de-Matha (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.
Radon rarely tops the guideline around Saint-Jean-de-Matha, 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-Jean-de-Matha 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Jean-de-Matha
Alerts for Saint-Jean-de-Matha 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-Jean-de-Matha 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-Jean-de-Matha
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha | Low | $0.068 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Béatrix 2,388 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.065 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie 1,856 · 9.7 km | Low | $0.048 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Damien 2,569 · 11 km | Low | $0.051 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Félix-de-Valois 7,670 · 12 km | Low | $0.089 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Sainte-Mélanie 3,417 · 13 km | Low | $0.085 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare 1,941 · 14 km | Low | $0.064 | 3.9% | None listed |
The fire record around Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie is a touch heavier than Saint-Jean-de-Matha’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-Jean-de-Matha faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Jean-de-Matha 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. About 14,000 homes were tested across Canada in 2009–2011, and the share over the guideline for Saint-Jean-de-Matha is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. NRCan’s inventory says where flood mapping exists, not where water goes; the map’s owner is the authority for Saint-Jean-de-Matha.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Jean-de-Matha
How is Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Is Saint-Jean-de-Matha at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Jean-de-Matha has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s buildings lose $0.068 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Saint-Jean-de-Matha flood?
There is flood mapping for Saint-Jean-de-Matha on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Jean-de-Matha?
In Health Canada’s survey, 3.9% of 77 homes tested in Saint-Jean-de-Matha’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).