Photo: Genvievegarneau2 · CC BY-SA 4.0A flood study covers Sherbrooke: 3 on the national inventory, the newest from Ville de Sherbrooke
Wildfire isn’t Sherbrooke’s worry: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (0.000% a year). For earthquakes Sherbrooke is middling, $0.043 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. Sherbrooke’s survey area, 7.3% over the radon guideline, is close to the typical town’s 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Sherbrooke a grade of B, from earthquakes and radon alone.
What stands out about Sherbrooke’s hazards
For Sherbrooke, from NRCan’s seismic model, Health Canada’s radon survey, the national burned-area record and the flood map inventory.
What Sherbrooke faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Sherbrooke grades B for hazard risk
Risk averages earthquakes and radon; wildfire joins only where it pulls the average down, so a town like Sherbrooke with little fire nearby would get no credit for it.
Its place: #65 of 507 in Quebec and #1,446 of 2,589 Canadian towns.
How sure: The seismic figure is a long-run average from NRCan’s model, not a prediction. Only 55 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.
Wildfire is rare near Sherbrooke: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Past fire around Sherbrooke’s homes, from the national burned-area record, with the fuel within 5 km.
Forty years of fire maps put Sherbrooke at 0.000% a year, low next to the typical Canadian town’s 0.000%.
No fire has burned within 5 km of Sherbrooke’s homes since 1986; the nearest burn is 7.3 km away.
About as much forest grows next to Sherbrooke’s homes (35% within 5 km) as across 25 km (36%).
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
Mistissini has the highest burn rate in Quebec, 0.31% a year; around Sherbrooke, as around 144 of the 513 towns, it rounds to zero.
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.
Like most of Canada’s 2,610 towns (92%), Sherbrooke is in the low band, with a burn rate of zero to three decimals; 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.
Sherbrooke is on the flood map inventory: 3 studies, latest by Ville de Sherbrooke
What Canada’s Flood Map Inventory lists for Sherbrooke: who studied flooding and where to see their maps.
3 studies on the inventory touch Sherbrooke, the newest Ville de Sherbrooke’s from 2010, and their areas can be large, so they say maps exist, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke Zones inondables | Ville de Sherbrooke | 2010 | final |
| Sherbrooke-Lennoxville | Gouvernement du Québec | 2004 | final |
| Richmond-Lennoxville | Gouvernement du Québec | 1981 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Sherbrooke apart in Quebec, where 45% of towns have one (Canada: 58%).
NRCan Canada Flood Map Inventory: a study footprint touching the town’s boundary; towns of 2,500 people or more.
The 3 studies touching Sherbrooke are spread over time, from the 1980s to the 2010s.
Study dates as the NRCan inventory lists them, one count per study touching Sherbrooke.
Flood studies don’t enter the grade; they are listed so you can open the official map for Sherbrooke.
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.
Expected shaking damage in Sherbrooke: $0.043 a year per $1,000
Expected yearly building losses from earthquakes, from Natural Resources Canada’s model.
Nothing unusual about Sherbrooke’s ground: $0.043 against a typical $0.030, 1.4 times.
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
At $0.043, Sherbrooke is below the typical town in Quebec ($0.14); La Pocatière is highest 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.
Sherbrooke’s earthquake risk lands near the centre of Canada’s range; 36% of the 2,611 towns are higher.
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).
What a quake does after the shaking, fire, landslides, tsunami, falls outside NRCan’s figure for Sherbrooke.
Natural Resources Canada, Canada’s Seismic Risk Model (2022), by census subdivision (2016 boundaries; a few 2021 subdivisions take their residents’ mean).
Radon about average around Sherbrooke: 7.3% over the guideline
Long-term radon tests in homes across the survey area, against Health Canada’s guideline.
Sherbrooke’s area sits close to the typical Canadian town: 7.3% over the guideline, against 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Around Sherbrooke, 7.3% of tests topped the guideline, about the same as the typical town in Quebec (8.2%).
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Sherbrooke 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.
A low area share in Sherbrooke doesn’t clear a house, nor does a high one condemn it: test.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011). · Area behind the radon tests figures: the Estrie health region
Where to get warnings in Sherbrooke
Alerts for Sherbrooke 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 Sherbrooke 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)
Hazards in the places around Sherbrooke
Wildfire band, earthquake risk, radon and flood studies for each place nearby.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke | Low | $0.043 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Hatley 2,512 · 8.2 km | Low | $0.046 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Waterville 2,643 · 11 km | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Ascot Corner 3,725 · 12 km | Low | $0.044 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Stoke 3,272 · 12 km | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Saint-Denis-de-Brompton 5,249 · 15 km | Low | $0.047 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 2,938 · 18 km | Low | $0.038 | 7.3% | Yes |
The fire record around Ascot Corner is a touch heavier than Sherbrooke’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 Sherbrooke faces
What to do about the hazards Sherbrooke 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?
- Check the address on the flood map.
- Are flood and wildfire insured?
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, Sherbrooke’s included.
- 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 Sherbrooke.
- 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 Sherbrooke 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 Sherbrooke floods.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Sherbrooke
Does Sherbrooke flood?
Sherbrooke’s area has been studied for flooding, and the owner’s map shows which streets lie in a zone; the grade leaves flood out.
How big is the earthquake risk in Sherbrooke?
In NRCan’s seismic model, Sherbrooke’s buildings lose $0.043 per $1,000 of value in an average year.
How is Sherbrooke’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Sherbrooke grades B for hazard risk, from earthquakes and radon, with wildfire counted only where it lowers the grade.
Is Sherbrooke at risk of wildfire?
Less than most of Canada: 0% of the land within 25 km of Sherbrooke has burned since 1986, the last in 2016, a low band that leaves Risk alone.
Is radon a problem in Sherbrooke?
In Health Canada’s survey, 7.3% of 55 homes tested in Sherbrooke’s area were above 200 Bq/m³, though only a test tells you about one house.
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).