Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 4.0Flood mapping exists for Saint-Philippe: 3 on record, latest by municipalité de Saint-Philippe
Since 1986 almost nothing has burned near Saint-Philippe: 0% of the land within 25 km, or 0.001% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.18 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Radon around Saint-Philippe is ordinary for Canada: 8.2% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Saint-Philippe grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Saint-Philippe’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Philippe: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Philippe faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Philippe grades C− for hazard risk
The grade weighs Saint-Philippe’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: #329 of 507 in Quebec and #2,291 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: Earthquake losses are a model’s expectation over many years, not a forecast for any one. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Little of the land around Saint-Philippe has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Past fire around Saint-Philippe’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Fire claims 0.001% of the land around Saint-Philippe each year, a low band, with the typical Canadian town at 0.000%.
Since 1986 the nearest fire to Saint-Philippe’s homes came within 6.0 km, never inside 5 km.
Little near Saint-Philippe’s homes can carry a forest fire; only 0.3% of the land within 5 km is forest fuel, and 0.8% 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
In the upper half in Quebec but far from Mistissini (0.31%): Saint-Philippe 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Saint-Philippe 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.
3 flood studies cover Saint-Philippe, the newest from municipalité de Saint-Philippe
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Philippe: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
3 studies on the inventory touch Saint-Philippe, the newest municipalité de Saint-Philippe’s from 2012, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| St-Philippe | municipalité de Saint-Philippe | 2012 | final |
| St-Philippe | Gouvernement du Québec | 2006 | final |
| Roussillon-Tortue | MRC Roussillon | 2000 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Saint-Philippe 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.
Studies touching Saint-Philippe run from the 2000s to the 2010s, with the most in the 2000s: 2 of 3.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Saint-Philippe.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Saint-Philippe 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.
Earthquakes cost buildings in Saint-Philippe $0.18 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.18 per $1,000, Saint-Philippe carries roughly 5.9 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Saint-Philippe’s $0.18 tops the median in Quebec, $0.14, though La Pocatière reaches $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: 14% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Saint-Philippe.
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-Philippe’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).
8.2% of homes tested around Saint-Philippe are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
At 8.2% over the guideline, the area around Saint-Philippe is about level with the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%. Behind radon tests sits data gathered across the Monteregie health region, with Saint-Philippe one part of it.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-Philippe’s area, at 8.2%, is close to the median in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Saint-Philippe’s 5–10% 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 share describes the area, not a house: in Saint-Philippe as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Philippe
Alerts for Saint-Philippe 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-Philippe to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Philippe’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-Philippe | Low | $0.18 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Candiac 24,920 · 4.2 km | Low | $0.20 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Mathieu 2,642 · 5.8 km | Low | $0.18 | 8.2% | Yes |
| La Prairie 27,159 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.21 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Delson 8,802 · 6.4 km | Low | $0.21 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Sainte-Catherine 17,782 · 8.1 km | Low | $0.22 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Constant 32,124 · 8.7 km | Low | $0.22 | 8.2% | Yes |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Saint-Philippe (low), with Candiac next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Philippe faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Philippe 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap the water heater down.
- Keep 72 hours of supplies.
- Has it had a radon test?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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-Philippe.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Philippe’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Philippe’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-Philippe is its health region’s, the survey’s design unit.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Philippe
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Philippe?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Philippe $0.18 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Saint-Philippe’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Saint-Philippe C−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Philippe?
In Health Canada’s survey, 8.2% of 110 homes tested in Saint-Philippe’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Does Saint-Philippe flood?
There is flood mapping for Saint-Philippe on the national inventory, each study linked to its owner’s map, none of them graded.
Is Saint-Philippe at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Philippe has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
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).