Photo: Mario Hains · CC BY-SA 3.0A flood study covers Stoke: 1 on the national inventory, the newest from Ville de Sherbrooke
Fire has left almost no mark near Stoke: 0% of the land within 25 km since 1986, 0.001% a year. For earthquakes Stoke is middling, $0.039 a year per $1,000 against $0.030 for the typical town. In Health Canada’s survey, 7.3% of homes tested in Stoke’s area exceeded 200 Bq/m³, close to the typical 6.6%. Hazard risk gives Stoke a grade of B; its wildfire band pulls it down.
What stands out about Stoke’s hazards
Four national sources, each read for Stoke: earthquakes, radon, past fires and flood studies.
What Stoke faces
Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.
Wildfire
Earthquakes
Radon
Flood study
Hazard risk in Stoke: B
Earthquake risk and radon make Stoke’s grade; wildfire can only lower it, never raise it, and flood studies are listed but not scored.
Its place: #54 of 507 in Quebec and #1,416 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. Small fires and grass fires are largely missing from the national burned-area record.
Wildfire is rare near Stoke: 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986, 0% within 5 km
Fires mapped since 1986 around where Stoke’s residents live, and the fuel next to their homes.
The yearly burn rate around Stoke is 0.001%, low beside 0.000% for the typical Canadian town.
The 5 km ring around Stoke’s homes is clear of burns since 1986, the nearest 6.3 km out.
There is forest near Stoke’s homes (31% within 5 km) and more of it further out (41% within 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
Stoke burns at 0.001% a year, 136th of 513 towns in Quebec; the leader, Mistissini, reaches 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, Stoke 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.
Ville de Sherbrooke has mapped flooding for Stoke (1 study)
Flood studies whose area touches Stoke, from NRCan’s inventory, each linked to its owner.
One study on the inventory touches Stoke, Ville de Sherbrooke’s from 2010, and its area can be large, so it says a map exists, not that the town floods.
| Study | By | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherbrooke Zones inondables | Ville de Sherbrooke | 2010 | final |
Towns with a flood study on file
Its flood study sets Stoke 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.
Nothing here counts toward Risk; the studies are pointers to the maps their owners keep for Stoke.
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 Stoke: $0.039 a year per $1,000
NRCan’s seismic risk model: the damage shaking is expected to do to buildings each year, on average over many years.
Earthquake losses in Stoke, $0.039 per $1,000, are in line with the typical $0.030 (1.3 times).
Shaking damage a year per $1,000 of building value
Stoke’s $0.039 sits under the median in Quebec, $0.14, and well under 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.
Middle of the pack: 45% of Canada’s 2,611 towns have more earthquake risk than Stoke.
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).
Roads, pipes and bridges aren’t in Stoke’s figure, nor landslides or tsunami: it is buildings and shaking.
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 Stoke: 7.3% of area homes over the guideline
Health Canada’s survey of long-term home tests: the share above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline. · Area-wide: radon tests, counted over the Estrie health region
The survey area of Stoke reads 7.3%, a shade from the typical Canadian town’s 6.6%.
Tested homes over 200 Bq/m³
Over 600 Bq/m³
Radon around Stoke is ordinary for towns in Quebec: 7.3%, beside a median of 8.2%.
Health Canada radon survey (2009–2011), by 2007 health region; medians of towns of 2,500 people or more.
Between 5% and 10% of tests over the guideline: Stoke, and 37% of Canada’s 2,611 towns; 26% are higher.
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.
One home in Stoke can be high while next door is low; a three-month test settles it.
Health Canada, Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011).
Weather and fire alerts for Stoke
Environment and Climate Change Canada issues the weather alerts for Stoke; 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 Stoke, and listen to local authorities for orders.
Weather alerts (ECCC) · Alert Ready · Fire danger and active fires (CWFIS)
How Stoke’s neighbours compare on hazards
The same four hazards for the places next door.
| Town | Wildfire | Quake $/1,000 | Radon | Flood study |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stoke | Low | $0.039 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Ascot Corner 3,725 · 4.0 km | Low | $0.044 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Sherbrooke 184,135 · 12 km | Low | $0.043 | 7.3% | Yes |
| East Angus 4,261 · 13 km | Low | $0.045 | 7.3% | None listed |
| Westbury 1,207 · 15 km | Low | $0.051 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Val-Joli 1,787 · 15 km | Low | $0.053 | 7.3% | Yes |
| Cookshire-Eaton 5,491 · 16 km | Low | $0.040 | 7.3% | Yes |
None of the places around has more fire nearby than Stoke (low); Ascot Corner comes closest (low).
Radon is the survey area’s figure, so neighbours in one area share it.
Get ready for what Stoke faces
Practical steps for Stoke’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.
- 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
- 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 Stoke 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 Stoke sits in.
- Wildfire counts one way. Wildfire is read from the national burned-area record around Stoke’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; Stoke’s figure is its subdivision’s.
Questions about flooding and hazards in Stoke
How big is the earthquake risk in Stoke?
Expected earthquake damage in Stoke comes to $0.039 a year for each $1,000 that buildings are worth.
Is Stoke at risk of wildfire?
Not much by Canadian standards: Stoke’s band is low, with 0% of the land within 25 km burned since 1986 (last in 2015), so wildfire doesn’t change its grade.
Is radon a problem in Stoke?
7.3% of the 55 homes Health Canada tested around Stoke topped the guideline; your own house needs its own test.
Does Stoke flood?
Stoke’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 is Stoke’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?
Stoke’s Hazard risk grade is B, built on earthquakes and radon with a one-sided wildfire input.
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).