Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0Hazards in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: wildfire low, radon over the guideline in 2.8% of tested homes
Fire seldom reaches Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: since 1986, 0.1% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.004% a year). Seismic risk runs high: $0.16 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Hazard risk gives Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc a grade of B−; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s hazards
For Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: B−
Seismic risk and radon set Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s grade, wildfire can drag it down, and flood mapping stays out of it.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 72 homes were tested in the survey area, so the radon share is rough. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: 0.6% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
In a typical year 0.004% of the land near Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc burns; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%, and both are low.
Within 5 km of Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, 44% of the land is forest fuel; widen the ring to 25 km and it is 59%.
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: Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc ranks 29th of 514 at 0.004% 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.
Beside 2,610 Canadian towns, Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc reads low, with 92% of them; only 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-Jeanne-d'Arc
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The inventory has nothing for Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, but a local or conservation-authority map may still exist.
Towns with a flood study on file
Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc has no flood study on file; only 45% of towns in Quebec do, against 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc.
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.”
Shaking is Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s costliest hazard: $0.16 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s $0.16 is about 5.4 times the typical town’s $0.030: it sits in one of Canada’s more active seismic zones.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Earthquake risk around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc ($0.16) matches the middle in Quebec ($0.14), far from La Pocatière’s $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 Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc.
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-Jeanne-d'Arc 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).
Little radon around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc: 2.8% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Saguenay - Lac-Saint-Jean health region
Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s area, at 2.8%, is below the 6.6% of the typical Canadian town, though any one home can still be high.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Fewer homes top the guideline around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (2.8%) than in the typical town in Quebec (8.2%), yet 1.4% went over 600.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
63% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have a higher share of homes over 200 Bq/m³ than Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s 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.
Radon varies from house to house in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, so the survey is a reason to test, not a result for yours.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc; 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. |
In fire season, check CWFIS for danger and active fires around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc | Low | $0.16 | 2.8% | None listed |
| Dolbeau-Mistassini 13,581 · 10 km | Low | $0.13 | 2.8% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (low); Dolbeau-Mistassini comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc faces
Practical steps for Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s hazards, most pressing first.
- 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?
- Ask the municipality for flood maps.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
- Is earthquake cover included?
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s included.
- 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-Jeanne-d'Arc floods.
- 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-Jeanne-d'Arc sits in.
- 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-Jeanne-d'Arc.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc
Is Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s band is low, with 0.1% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2023), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s buildings lose $0.16 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc B−, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc?
2.8% of the 72 homes Health Canada tested around Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc flood?
No study on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory covers Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (0), which doesn’t mean it has never been mapped, so ask 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).