Photo: SamuelFreli · CC BY-SA 3.0Wildfire low, radon 13%: how Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce stands on hazards
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.000% a year. NRCan expects $0.056 of shaking damage a year per $1,000 of buildings in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, near the typical $0.030. Hazard risk gives Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce a grade of C−, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s hazards
For Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce grades C− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’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: #371 of 507 in Quebec and #2,344 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce fire takes 0.000% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 6.9 km away.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce: 54% within 5 km, 50% 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
Mistissini has the highest burn rate in Quebec, 0.31% a year; around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, as around 144 of the 513 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 7.5% rank 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.
No flood study is listed for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
An empty entry for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Flood maps are thinner in Quebec, 45% of towns against 58% nationally, and Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce has none.
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-Joseph-de-Beauce’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.”
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce $0.056 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s ground: $0.056 against a typical $0.030, 1.9 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-Joseph-de-Beauce expects less, $0.056, 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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 30% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce.
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-Joseph-de-Beauce 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).
Radon runs high around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce: 13% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 13% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce beats the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, 13% of tests were over 200 Bq/m³ and 0.6% over 600, against a median of 8.2% in Quebec.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
One test in ten or more tops the guideline around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, as in 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 4.6% go higher.
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.
Neighbouring homes in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce can differ a lot; only a long-term test tells you about yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Chaudiere-Appalaches health region
Where to get warnings in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce; 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-Joseph-de-Beauce, 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-Joseph-de-Beauce
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce | Low | $0.056 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Frédéric 1,172 · 8.3 km | Low | $0.043 | 13% | None listed |
| Vallée-Jonction 2,042 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.049 | 13% | None listed |
| Saints-Anges 1,364 · 9.6 km | Low | $0.058 | 13% | None listed |
| Tring-Jonction 1,626 · 12 km | Low | $0.060 | 13% | None listed |
| Beauceville 6,228 · 12 km | Low | $0.048 | 13% | None listed |
| Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourne 1,460 · 16 km | Low | $0.062 | 13% | None listed |
Nowhere around Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce burns more: Saint-Frédéric, the closest rival, is low to its low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce 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
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
- 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-Joseph-de-Beauce.
- Radon is a survey. Health Canada’s survey tested some 14,000 homes over three months; until postal-area boundaries are loaded, Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce takes its 2007 health region’s share.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, 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-Joseph-de-Beauce
Is radon a problem in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce?
In Health Canada’s survey, 13% of 175 homes tested in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce $0.056 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Is Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce has burned since 1986, the last in 2022, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Does Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
How is Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce’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).