Photo: YanikB · CC BY-SA 4.0Hazards in Sainte-Béatrix are mild: low wildfire and earthquake risk, and 3.9% of area homes above the radon guideline
The burned-area map is nearly blank around Sainte-Béatrix, 0% within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.065 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Sainte-Béatrix grades B+ for hazard risk, with wildfire counted against it.
What stands out about Sainte-Béatrix’s hazards
For Sainte-Béatrix, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sainte-Béatrix faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sainte-Béatrix grades B+ for hazard risk
Two inputs always count for Sainte-Béatrix, 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 77 home tests in the survey area, so a few homes move it. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Little of the land around Sainte-Béatrix has burned: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km since 1986
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sainte-Béatrix’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The land within 25 km of Sainte-Béatrix burns at 0.001% a year on average, the low band; the typical Canadian town: 0.000%.
Fire has stayed at least 6.2 km from Sainte-Béatrix’s homes since 1986.
Forest fuel is spread evenly around Sainte-Béatrix: 38% within 5 km, 34% 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
Sainte-Béatrix burns at 0.001% a year, 136th of 514 towns in Quebec; the leader, Mistissini, reaches 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.
The low band takes in 92% of Canada’s 2,610 towns, Sainte-Béatrix among them, though its rate is above zero; 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 Sainte-Béatrix
Flood studies whose area touches Sainte-Béatrix, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists no study whose area touches Sainte-Béatrix, which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped.
Towns with a flood study on file
Only 45% of towns in Quebec have a flood study, short of Canada’s 58%, and Sainte-Béatrix is not among them.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood is shown here, never graded: a study says where a map exists, not how many of Sainte-Béatrix’s homes stand in a flood zone.
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 Sainte-Béatrix $0.065 per $1,000 a year
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Sainte-Béatrix loses $0.065, 2.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Below the middle in Quebec: Sainte-Béatrix’s $0.065 against a median of $0.14; La Pocatière has $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: 29% of its 2,611 towns expect more damage than Sainte-Béatrix.
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 Sainte-Béatrix 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 low around Sainte-Béatrix: 3.9% of tested homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline.
A lower share than most: 3.9% of tested homes around Sainte-Béatrix, the typical Canadian town 6.6%. For radon tests, the only official count covers all of the Lanaudiere health region, Sainte-Béatrix included.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon runs lower around Sainte-Béatrix than in most towns in Quebec: 3.9% 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 Sainte-Béatrix; 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.
Whatever Sainte-Béatrix’s area share, the reading that matters is your own home’s, over a winter.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sainte-Béatrix
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sainte-Béatrix; 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 Sainte-Béatrix 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 Sainte-Béatrix’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Béatrix | Low | $0.065 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez 3,639 · 6.6 km | Low | $0.067 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare 1,941 · 7.7 km | Low | $0.064 | 3.9% | None listed |
| Saint-Jean-de-Matha 5,415 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.068 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Mélanie 3,417 · 12 km | Low | $0.085 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare 4,615 · 14 km | Low | $0.12 | 3.9% | Yes |
| Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie 1,856 · 14 km | Low | $0.048 | 3.9% | Yes |
Sainte-Émélie-de-l'Énergie burns a little more than Sainte-Béatrix, in the same low band (low here).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Béatrix faces
What to do about the hazards Sainte-Béatrix 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
- 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 Sainte-Béatrix 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 Sainte-Béatrix floods.
- Wildfire counts one way. Burned land within 25 km of where people live, averaged over 1986–2025 and checked for fuel near homes, is the measure; it looks back, not ahead, and only ever counts against Sainte-Béatrix.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sainte-Béatrix’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Béatrix
How is Sainte-Béatrix’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sainte-Béatrix’s Hazard risk grade is B+, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
Does Sainte-Béatrix flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Sainte-Béatrix’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Béatrix?
About $0.065 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Sainte-Béatrix.
Is Sainte-Béatrix at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Sainte-Béatrix since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Béatrix?
Around Sainte-Béatrix, 77 survey homes were tested and 3.9% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
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).