Photo: Benoit Rochon · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Sainte-Martine: 2 on the national inventory, the newest from MRC Roussillon
Little of the land around Sainte-Martine has burned: 0.1% within 25 km since 1986, or 0.002% a year. Seismic risk runs high: $0.19 of expected damage per $1,000 of buildings a year, the typical town $0.030. Sainte-Martine’s survey area, 8.2% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Sainte-Martine grades C− for hazard risk; wildfire is low here, so it earns no credit.
What stands out about Sainte-Martine’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Sainte-Martine: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Sainte-Martine 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-Martine: C−
Two inputs always count for Sainte-Martine, earthquakes and radon; the third, wildfire, counts only against a town.
Its place: #356 of 507 in Quebec and #2,327 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Few fires near Sainte-Martine: 0% within 5 km, 0.1% within 25 km
Past fire around Sainte-Martine’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Sainte-Martine at 0.002% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
Sainte-Martine’s homes have had no fire within 5 km since 1986; the closest was 11 km away.
Forest makes up 1.8% of the land within 5 km of Sainte-Martine and 4.4% within 25 km, little for a forest fire to run through.
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
Sainte-Martine ranks 35th of the 513 towns in Quebec for burn rate, at 0.002% a year; Mistissini leads with 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.
7.5% of Canada’s 2,610 towns burn fast enough to rank moderate or above; Sainte-Martine 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.
Flooding around Sainte-Martine is mapped in 2 studies, the newest by MRC Roussillon
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sainte-Martine: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
The newest of 2 studies covering Sainte-Martine is MRC Roussillon’s, from 1996; open its map to see the zones.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercier | MRC Roussillon | 1996 | final |
| St-Martine | Gouvernement du Québec | 1995 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Mapping in Quebec reaches 45% of towns, Sainte-Martine 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-Martine 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-Martine: $0.19 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-Martine loses $0.19, 6.4 times as much.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Sainte-Martine’s $0.19 tops the median in Quebec, $0.14, though La Pocatière reaches $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.
12% of Canada’s 2,611 towns expect more shaking damage than Sainte-Martine, 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 loss is to Sainte-Martine’s buildings alone, from ground shaking; infrastructure and secondary hazards are left out.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Some radon around Sainte-Martine: 8.2% of area homes over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline. · Radon tests for the Monteregie health region
8.2% of tested homes around Sainte-Martine were over the guideline, much like the typical Canadian town at 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-Martine’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-Martine 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.
The share describes the area, not a house: in Sainte-Martine as anywhere, test to be sure.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Sainte-Martine
Alerts for Sainte-Martine 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. |
Alert Ready carries evacuation orders for Sainte-Martine to phones; CWFIS shows the day’s fire danger.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
Hazards in the places around Sainte-Martine
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Martine | Low | $0.19 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Urbain-Premier 1,380 · 6.0 km | Low | $0.19 | 8.2% | None listed |
| Mercier 16,036 · 7.6 km | Low | $0.19 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Très-Saint-Sacrement 1,223 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.20 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Isidore 2,889 · 8.8 km | Low | $0.20 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Beauharnois 15,285 · 8.8 km | Low | $0.18 | 8.2% | Yes |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois 1,151 · 9.5 km | Low | $0.18 | 8.2% | None listed |
The neighbour with the most fire is Très-Saint-Sacrement (low), still no more than Sainte-Martine (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Sainte-Martine faces
What to do about the hazards Sainte-Martine 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
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Sainte-Martine’s homes since 1986, a history of fire that may lower Risk but never raises it.
- Earthquakes are modelled. NRCan models what earthquakes would cost buildings each year on average, subdivision by subdivision; Sainte-Martine’s figure is its subdivision’s.
- 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-Martine 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-Martine floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sainte-Martine
Is Sainte-Martine at risk of wildfire?
Fire has reached 0.1% of the land around Sainte-Martine since 1986 (last in 2025); at low, it neither helps nor hurts the grade.
Is radon a problem in Sainte-Martine?
Around Sainte-Martine, 110 survey homes were tested and 8.2% came in over 200 Bq/m³, a guide to the area, not to any one home.
How is Sainte-Martine’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sainte-Martine grades C− for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sainte-Martine?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sainte-Martine’s buildings lose $0.19 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
Does Sainte-Martine flood?
Sainte-Martine’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
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).