Airthings Corentium Home (Canadian version, Bq/m³)
~$140–180 (indicative price)The simplest one: battery, display, no app.
Battery-powered continuous monitor showing 7-day to 1-year averages in Bq/m³.
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Where to buy a radon detector in Quebec
Dosimeter or monitor: two families, two uses
Before choosing where to buy, know what you are buying. The word “detector” covers two families of devices that do different jobs. The passive long-term dosimeter (also called an alpha-track) is a small sensor with no battery and no screen: you expose it at home for 91 days or more, then mail it back to a laboratory, which reports the average concentration in becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m³). That is the measurement Health Canada’s protocol recognizes as the reference. (Health Canada)
The continuous electronic monitor plugs in or runs on batteries and displays the concentration in real time, with its history. It answers a different question: tracking variations day after day, checking that a mitigation is doing its job, exploring. Consumer-grade monitors are useful as a complement — they do not replace the long-term measurement, and their instant readings are no substitute for a laboratory-established annual average. (C-NRPP)
How much does a radon detector cost?
Prices below are planning ranges, not quotes — they move with the model, the retailer and the season. The passive long-term dosimeter is counted in tens of dollars: roughly $30 to $60 per unit when the laboratory analysis is ordered separately. The Quebec Lung Association’s all-inclusive option — device, analysis, shipping and taxes — sits around $55. (Health Canada)
Continuous electronic monitors cost noticeably more: expect roughly $150 to $250 for entry-level models, and up to just under $400 for the full stations that also watch CO₂, humidity or fine particles. Pricier is not “more compliant”: under the protocol, what counts is always the long-term measurement of 91 days or more. (C-NRPP)
And if the measurement exceeds 200 Bq/m³, the cost chapter changes order of magnitude — mitigation. Two ranges coexist there, because they do not cover the same work: $500 to $3,000 for partial work or do-it-yourself solutions (Health Canada), and $2,500 to $5,000 for a complete system installed by a certified C-NRPP/CHNP contractor (Take Action on Radon). The “Reducing radon” page — next in this guide — details those amounts and the choice of a professional.
The long-term test: the measurement that counts
Radon concentration varies hour by hour and season by season: ventilation, weather, heating, open windows. An honest average therefore takes time. Health Canada recommends a long-term measurement — 91 days or more, ideally 3 to 12 months, preferably during the heating season, when the house is closed up and radon accumulates the most. (Health Canada)
Placement follows simple rules: the lowest room you occupy regularly, at breathing height, away from drafts, windows, exterior walls and ventilation appliances. Health Canada’s guide details placement for your house’s configuration — and follow the instructions that come with your device too. That long-term measurement, reported in Bq/m³, is what the radon map aggregates: sector averages rest on it alone. (Health Canada)
Short-term tests: a glimpse, not a diagnosis
Some devices and services promise a result within days. Those short-term tests render a real service — spotting an obvious problem, comparing two rooms, quickly checking a worry — but they measure the weather of the moment, not the air you breathe through the year. (WHO)
That is why, on the map, tests shorter than 91 days are labelled “indicative” and excluded from sector averages: they inform, they do not ground the statistics. A short-term test reporting a high concentration calls for a confirming long-term measurement; a reassuring short-term test does not waive the reference measurement.
Analysis laboratories
A passive dosimeter says nothing by itself: it is the laboratory analysis that turns the exposed sensor into a result in Bq/m³. In Canada, the proficiency of these services is governed by the C-NRPP — the Canadian National Radon Proficiency Program — which maintains the directories of accredited providers and laboratories. (C-NRPP)
In practice, three paths lead to an analyzed measurement: buying a dosimeter “with analysis included” from an organization like the Quebec Lung Association (the result comes back by email or post, with no extra step); ordering a detector + analysis kit from an accredited service; or hiring a certified professional who places, collects and interprets the dosimeter for you. In every case, check that the analysis is performed by an accredited laboratory — the C-NRPP directory is the reference. (C-NRPP)
The commented selection
The selection below gathers the two families: first the continuous electronic monitors — a monitoring complement, never a substitute for the long-term measurement — then the Quebec Lung Association’s long-term dosimeter, the protocol-compliant option at the lowest price, analysis included. Each card says who the device suits and why it is here.
Where to get a detector?
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Continuous electronic monitors — a complement, not a substitute
Useful as a complement (post-mitigation follow-up, curiosity, day-to-day fluctuations) — never a substitute for a ≥ 91-day long-term measurement.
Airthings 325 Corentium Home 2 (Bluetooth)
~$230–250 (indicative price)The modernized Corentium, with in-app tracking.
The Corentium's update with Bluetooth and week-over-week variation tracking in the app.
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Airthings Wave Radon
~$200 (indicative price)Wall-mounted: read the level with a wave of the hand.
Wall-mounted monitor for day-to-day post-mitigation follow-up, readable without even opening an app.
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Airthings Wave Plus
~$300 (indicative price)Radon + air quality (CO₂, VOCs, humidity, temperature).
Like the Wave Radon, plus temperature, humidity, CO₂ and airborne chemicals.
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Airthings View Radon 2989 (Wi-Fi + display)
~$230–250 (indicative price)Permanent color display, connected (Wi-Fi).
Wi-Fi monitor with a color display tracking radon continuously — convenient after mitigation.
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Airthings View Plus 2960
~$370–380 (indicative price)The full station: radon, CO₂, humidity, fine particles.
The most complete monitor (radon, CO₂, humidity, airborne particles) for a full indoor-air picture.
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Quebec Lung Association long-term dosimeter
The simplest, least expensive route to the regulatory measurement: a passive dosimeter exposed for ≥ 91 days with lab analysis included — no continuous monitoring (see the monitors above for real-time tracking).
Radon dosimeter — Quebec Lung Association
~$55 (indicative price)The regulatory measurement at the lowest price, analysis included.
No continuous monitoring: this is a one-time measurement — a passive dosimeter exposed for ≥ 91 days then analyzed in a lab, exactly as the Health Canada protocol calls for. Single all-inclusive price (analysis, shipping, taxes), and the purchase supports the association's respiratory-health programs.
Last verified: 2026-08-28