Canada’s Wildfire Season Shows No Signs of Slowing

Canada’s western provinces and the East Coast should remain on alert for the possibility of more wildfire activity throughout the rest of summer, The Canadian Press reported (8-18-25).

In northern regions, fire activity typically begins to wind down around September as cooler weather sets in and days grow shorter. This year, however, federal forecasters are predicting above-average seasonal temperatures for most of the country over the next three months. Large parts of British Columbia and the prairie provinces are expected to be hotter and drier than normal.

Officials said there is a high likelihood that large fires currently burning will continue well into the fall amid higher temperatures.

“Wildfire season’s not slowing down,” Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said on Monday. “Across the country, it’s been a really hot and dry summer and this has of course contributed to above-normal fire activity with fires in mainly British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and more recently in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.”

A recent heat wave and dry weather have raised alarms about the threat of fires in Atlantic Canada, with 21 currently burning across areas larger than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles).

According to Public Safety Canada, 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) of land have burned so far this year, an area larger than New Brunswick. It is the second highest total on record after 2023 and more than double the 10-year average. There are 707 active fires nationwide, 68 of which are considered out of control.

Since April, there have been 165 emergency events affecting 134 First Nations communities, resulting in 88 evacuations, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said.

Firefighters and equipment are currently deployed in every province and territory. Some 563 firefighters are on the ground, including international crews from the US, New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, Chile, and Mexico. Over the summer, about 1,600 personnel have come from abroad to assist with the fires, officials said.