Photo: Denis Lavoie · CC BY 3.0Hazard risk in Sainte-Luce is higher than in 88% of Canadian towns
Fire has left almost no mark near Sainte-Luce: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.000% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.092 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. More homes than usual carry radon here, 14% over the guideline where the typical town has 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Sainte-Luce a grade of D, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Sainte-Luce’s hazards
For Sainte-Luce, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sainte-Luce faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sainte-Luce grades D for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Sainte-Luce with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #442 of 507 in Quebec and #2,435 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. The burned-area record misses fires under about 10 ha and most grass and farm fires.
Few fires near Sainte-Luce: 0% within 5 km, 0% within 25 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Sainte-Luce’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
At 0.000% of the land a year, Sainte-Luce’s burn rate is in the low band; the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Forest fuel covers 36% of the land close to Sainte-Luce and 47% across 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
Of the 513 towns in Quebec, 144 have a burn rate that rounds to zero, Sainte-Luce among them; Mistissini leads at 0.31% 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.
Measured against 2,610 towns, Sainte-Luce is in the largest group, low (92%), and at its floor, while 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-Luce
Flood studies whose area touches Sainte-Luce, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
An empty entry for Sainte-Luce on the inventory isn’t proof of safety; ask locally for flood maps.
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, below the 58% across Canada, and not Sainte-Luce.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Sainte-Luce.
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-Luce $0.092 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-Luce loses $0.092, 3.1 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The typical town in Quebec expects $0.14 a year in shaking damage; Sainte-Luce expects less, $0.092, 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.
27% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Sainte-Luce, 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).
For Sainte-Luce the model prices shaking damage to buildings, nothing more.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Test for radon in Sainte-Luce: 14% of area homes were over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Measured across the Bas-Saint-Laurent health region: radon tests
Sainte-Luce’s area, at 14%, 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
Sainte-Luce’s area, at 14%, is above the median in Quebec (8.2%), and 1.8% 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.
The 10–20% band holds 22% of Canada’s 2,611 towns, Sainte-Luce among them; 4.6% rank 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.
Health Canada advises testing every home, Sainte-Luce’s included, whatever the area’s figure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Where to get warnings in Sainte-Luce
Alerts for Sainte-Luce 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. |
Fire danger and active fires near Sainte-Luce are mapped daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System; evacuation orders come from the municipality or province.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Sainte-Luce’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Luce | Low | $0.092 | 14% | None listed |
| Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard 3,018 · 12 km | Low | $0.095 | 14% | None listed |
| Mont-Joli 6,492 · 12 km | Low | $0.093 | 14% | None listed |
| Rimouski 51,756 · 18 km | Low | $0.091 | 14% | None listed |
| Price 1,701 · 18 km | Low | $0.11 | 14% | None listed |
| Saint-Gabriel-de-Rimouski 1,239 · 18 km | Low | $0.085 | 14% | None listed |
Fire is no heavier anywhere nearby than around Sainte-Luce (low), with Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard next at low.
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Luce faces
What to do about the hazards Sainte-Luce 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. Radon figures pool the survey’s home tests by area: postal areas once their boundaries arrive, the 2007 health region around Sainte-Luce until then.
- Flood studies aren’t flood zones. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Sainte-Luce without grading them.
- 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-Luce.
- Earthquakes are modelled. The earthquake figure is an expected loss, not a forecast, worked out by NRCan for each census subdivision, Sainte-Luce’s included.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Luce
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Luce?
Around Sainte-Luce, 171 survey homes were tested and 14% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Does Sainte-Luce flood?
With 0 studies on the inventory, Sainte-Luce’s flood risk is unmapped nationally; check with the municipality before buying.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Luce?
About $0.092 a year per $1,000 of building value, NRCan’s long-run expectation for Sainte-Luce.
How is Sainte-Luce’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Hazard risk gives Sainte-Luce D, weighing earthquakes and radon and counting wildfire only against it.
Is Sainte-Luce at risk of wildfire?
No meaningful wildfire history near Sainte-Luce: 0% of nearby land since 1986, band low.
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).