Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domainA flood study covers Sainte-Marie-Madeleine: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Gouvernement du Québec
Wildfire is rare near Sainte-Marie-Madeleine: 0% of the land within 25 km has burned since 1986, a burn rate of 0.001% a year. Earthquakes add more: NRCan’s model puts building losses at $0.16 a year per $1,000 of value, against $0.030 for the typical town. Radon around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is ordinary for Canada: 8.2% of tested homes over the guideline (6.6% typical). Sainte-Marie-Madeleine grades C for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s hazards
For Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sainte-Marie-Madeleine faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sainte-Marie-Madeleine grades C for hazard risk
The grade weighs Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’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: #273 of 507 in Quebec and #2,226 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.
Wildfire is rare near Sainte-Marie-Madeleine: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0.1% within 5 km
Past fire around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Low: the land around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine burns at 0.001% a year, where the typical Canadian town sees 0.000%.
Around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine the forest is thin or far off: 0.5% of the land within 5 km and 1.5% within 25 km is forest fuel.
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%): Sainte-Marie-Madeleine 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; Sainte-Marie-Madeleine 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.
Gouvernement du Québec has mapped flooding for Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (1 study)
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sainte-Marie-Madeleine: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
Gouvernement du Québec studied flooding in an area that includes Sainte-Marie-Madeleine (1983); open its map to see which streets lie in a flood zone.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yamaska-St-Hyacinthe-St-césaire | Gouvernement du Québec | 1983 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Sainte-Marie-Madeleine among them, below the 58% across Canada.
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
Listed, not scored: a flood study proves a map exists, not that Sainte-Marie-Madeleine 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.
High seismic risk in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine: $0.16 per $1,000 of buildings a year
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
The typical town loses $0.030 a year to shaking; Sainte-Marie-Madeleine loses $0.16, 5.2 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
The median in Quebec is $0.14; Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, at $0.16, is right beside it, and La Pocatière tops the list at $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.
More earthquake risk than most: only 15% of Canada’s 2,611 towns are above Sainte-Marie-Madeleine.
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-Marie-Madeleine 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).
8.2% of homes tested around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine are over the radon guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Measured across the Monteregie health region: radon tests
Around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, 8.2% of tested homes topped the guideline, near the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
The typical town in Quebec has 8.2% over 200 Bq/m³; Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s area has 8.2%, much the same.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is in the 5–10% band with 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% have more.
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-Marie-Madeleine, 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-Marie-Madeleine
Alerts for Sainte-Marie-Madeleine 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-Marie-Madeleine 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-Marie-Madeleine’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Marie-Madeleine | Low | $0.16 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Sainte-Madeleine 2,387 · 2.4 km | Low | $0.16 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Saint-Jean-Baptiste 3,332 · 7.9 km | Low | $0.12 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Mont-Saint-Hilaire 19,447 · 8.4 km | Low | $0.12 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Damase 2,390 · 8.6 km | Low | $0.12 | 8.2% | Yes |
| La Présentation 2,696 · 8.9 km | Low | $0.15 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Beloeil 25,240 · 10 km | Low | $0.20 | 8.2% | Yes |
The fire record around Saint-Jean-Baptiste is a touch heavier than Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s, but the band is the same: low (here low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Marie-Madeleine faces
What to do about the hazards Sainte-Marie-Madeleine 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. Flood studies cover areas of every size, which is why the page lists them for Sainte-Marie-Madeleine without grading them.
- 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-Marie-Madeleine until then.
- Wildfire counts one way. For Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, wildfire means how much nearby land burned in the past forty years, a one-way input that can pull Risk down and nothing more.
- Earthquakes are modelled. Seismic risk is NRCan’s model of yearly building losses from shaking, averaged over many years and given for Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s census subdivision (a neighbourhood shows its city’s).
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine?
Around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, 110 survey homes were tested and 8.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
Is Sainte-Marie-Madeleine at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0% of the land around Sainte-Marie-Madeleine since 1986 (last in 2021); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Does Sainte-Marie-Madeleine flood?
A flood study covers Sainte-Marie-Madeleine on Canada’s Flood Map Inventory; open the owner’s map to check a street, since flood isn’t graded.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine?
NRCan’s model expects shaking to cost buildings in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine $0.16 a year for every $1,000 of their value, on average over many years.
How is Sainte-Marie-Madeleine’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sainte-Marie-Madeleine grades C for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
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).