Photo: carte postale par Bernard J. Bogue, oblitérée en 1948 · Public domainSaint-Sauveur’s hazards at a glance: a low wildfire record and 10% of area homes over the radon guideline
Wildfire is rare near Saint-Sauveur: 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.002% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.094 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Saint-Sauveur a grade of C, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Saint-Sauveur’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Saint-Sauveur: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Saint-Sauveur faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Saint-Sauveur grades C for hazard risk
The grade weighs Saint-Sauveur’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: #280 of 507 in Quebec and #2,233 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 78 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-Sauveur: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Saint-Sauveur’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Saint-Sauveur burns at 0.002% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Nothing inside 5 km of Saint-Sauveur’s homes has burned since 1986, and the nearest scar is 7.2 km off.
More forest grows near Saint-Sauveur’s homes (36% within 5 km) than across 25 km (28%).
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 top quarter in Quebec: Saint-Sauveur ranks 35th of 513 at 0.002% 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.
Some fire is mapped around Saint-Sauveur, but not enough to leave the low band, where 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns are; 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.
The flood map inventory lists nothing for Saint-Sauveur
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Saint-Sauveur: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Nationally, Saint-Sauveur has no listed flood study; the municipality is the place to ask.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Saint-Sauveur.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood mapping is shown for Saint-Sauveur to be opened and checked, never turned into a grade.
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-Sauveur $0.094 per $1,000 a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
At $0.094 per $1,000, Saint-Sauveur carries roughly 3.1 times the typical Canadian town’s earthquake risk ($0.030).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Saint-Sauveur expects less, $0.094, 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.
26% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Saint-Sauveur, 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).
The model counts damage to Saint-Sauveur’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 high around Saint-Sauveur: 10% of tested homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Source area for radon tests: the Laurentides health region
Saint-Sauveur’s area, at 10%, is above the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, so testing is worth more here than most places.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Saint-Sauveur’s area, at 10%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 1.3% of its tests passed 600 Bq/m³.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
More high tests than most: Saint-Sauveur sits in a band that only 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns share, with 4.6% 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.
One home in Saint-Sauveur 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).
Weather and fire alerts for Saint-Sauveur
Alerts for Saint-Sauveur 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. |
Evacuation orders for Saint-Sauveur come from the municipality or the province, while CWFIS maps fire danger every day.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Saint-Sauveur’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-Sauveur | Low | $0.094 | 10% | None listed |
| Piedmont 3,667 · 3.6 km | Low | $0.072 | 10% | None listed |
| Morin-Heights 5,086 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.069 | 10% | None listed |
| Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs 4,080 · 6.3 km | Low | $0.10 | 10% | None listed |
| Sainte-Adèle 15,216 · 7.8 km | Low | $0.072 | 10% | Yes |
| Mille-Isles 1,886 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.10 | 10% | None listed |
| Prévost 14,275 · 10 km | Low | $0.088 | 10% | Yes |
The neighbour with the most fire is Morin-Heights (low), still no more than Saint-Sauveur (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Saint-Sauveur faces
What to do about the hazards Saint-Sauveur 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. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Saint-Sauveur’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Saint-Sauveur’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Radon is a survey. The radon share comes from about 14,000 long-term home tests in 2009–2011, pooled for now by the 2007 health region Saint-Sauveur sits in.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. A study’s area can be a whole watershed or province, so being on the inventory says a map exists, not that a home in Saint-Sauveur floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Saint-Sauveur
How is Saint-Sauveur’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Saint-Sauveur grades C for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is radon a problem in Saint-Sauveur?
In Health Canada’s survey, 10% of 78 homes tested in Saint-Sauveur’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
Is Saint-Sauveur at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0.1% of the land within 25 km of Saint-Sauveur has burned since 1986, the last in 2025, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
How big is the earthquake risk in Saint-Sauveur?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Saint-Sauveur $0.094 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
Does Saint-Sauveur flood?
Nothing is listed for Saint-Sauveur on the national inventory (0); local maps may still exist with the municipality.
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).