Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc: 0.4% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.01% a year. Seismic risk in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc sits near the middle: $0.053 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Fewer homes than usual carry radon here, 0% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc grades A− for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc grades A− for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The radon share rests on 58 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.
Little of the land around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0.4% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc fire takes 0.01% of the land in a typical year, the typical Canadian town 0.000%, which is low.
42% of the land within 5 km of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc is forest fuel, close to the 44% 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
In the top quarter in Quebec: Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc ranks 20th of 514 at 0.01% a year, with Mistissini first 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc stays low, with 92%.
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.
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc is on the flood map inventory: 1 study, by Gouvernement du Québec
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
One study on the inventory touches Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, Gouvernement du Québec’s from 2005, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawinigan-St-Gérard-des-Laurentides | Gouvernement du Québec | 2005 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc is one of the 45% of towns in Quebec with a flood study on file, fewer than 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-Mathieu-du-Parc’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.”
Natural Resources Canada, Canada Flood Map Inventory; links go to each study’s owner.
Expected shaking damage in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc: $0.053 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.053 per $1,000, Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s earthquake risk is about the typical Canadian town’s ($0.030; 1.8 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-Mathieu-du-Parc expects less, $0.053, 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.
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc sits above most of Canada’s 2,611 towns on earthquake risk; 30% 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 model counts damage to Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s buildings and their occupants from shaking only: not liquefaction, landslides, tsunami or fires after a quake.
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-Mathieu-du-Parc: 0% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 0% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc is under the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc 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.
The quietest radon band, under 5%, holds 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc; 63% sit 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.
One home in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Data for radon tests covers the Mauricie et Centre-du-Quebec health region
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc; 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. |
Smoke and fire warnings for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc come through Environment Canada and Alert Ready; the fire map is CWFIS’s.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s neighbours compare on hazards
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc | Low | $0.053 | 0% | Yes |
| Saint-Boniface 5,405 · 12 km | Low | $0.090 | 0% | Yes |
| Shawinigan 51,739 · 13 km | Low | $0.090 | 0% | Yes |
| Saint-Élie-de-Caxton 2,062 · 14 km | Low | $0.076 | 0% | None listed |
| Charette 1,178 · 17 km | Low | $0.10 | 0% | None listed |
Shawinigan (low) has the heaviest fire record of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s neighbours, and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc (low) matches or beats it.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc 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
- 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-Mathieu-du-Parc’s.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc without grading them.
- Wildfire counts one way. The wildfire figure is the share of land within 25 km of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’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-Mathieu-du-Parc until then.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc
Is radon a problem in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc?
Around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc, 58 survey homes were tested and 0% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc flood?
A flood study covers Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
Is Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.4% of the land around Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s buildings lose $0.053 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc’s Hazard risk grade is A−, 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).