OTTAWA – Canada’s wildfire season is now expected to be the fourth-worst on record, with federal forecasters warning that fire danger is forecast to remain above seasonal averages in parts of the country as September approaches.
Northern British Columbia, northern Quebec and most of Labrador are expected to experience particularly elevated wildfire risk next month, federal officials said during a recent regular fire briefing in Ottawa.
Already, wildfires have burned more than 40,000 square kilometers so far this year, an area nearly the size of Nova Scotia. The size of the fires also sets a new record: forested areas have burned for four consecutive years for the first time in Canadian history.
The effects have been felt in various communities. Earlier this month, a wildfire in the south Okanagan region of British Columbia destroyed about 150 homes, barns and other buildings. In July, another large fire destroyed much of Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins First Nation, some 250 kilometers north of Thunder Bay.
That fire later combined with other blazes in the area to form the largest wildfire ever seen in Ontario. Eventually it covered more than 3,500 sq km.
The fire season is large, but requests for federal assistance related to wildfires have plummeted compared to last year.
Craig Oldham, director general with Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, told a technical briefing the federal government received 11 requests for assistance related to wildfires and requests for extension in 2025. By contrast, only two such requests had been received so far in 2024.
First Nations community evacuations have also declined significantly. This year, 8,616 people have been evacuated from communities across the country because of wildfires, compared with about 49,000 last year.
“Every year since 2023, consistently, we’ve had the most evacuees. We are running below our averages year ago this year. Natasha Klink, operations manager with the emergency management branch at Indigenous Services Canada, said, “We had the highest number of evacuees last year than we’ve ever had, mostly due to the Manitoba fires.”
Klink also said 2026 is the fourth highest number of evacuees from First Nations communities. If the current trend continues, she expects the figure to end up at about the same level as in 2024.
There are currently 580 wildfires burning across Canada, including 30 that remain out of control, Oldham said. But he pointed out that this season is not as bad as 2025, which was the second-worst wildfire season in the country’s history.
But the danger is far from past. Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only areas expected to be wetter than normal in September, with most of Canada drier than normal. Those conditions could produce an above-normal fire danger in several areas.
“It has to be put into perspective with the season,” said Yan Boulanger, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada.
However, it is crucial to keep in mind that the seasonal baseline fire danger in many of these areas is usually very low in September, he said.
The forecast calls for above-normal fire danger, but Boulanger said he doesn’t see significant fire growth at the moment.
Canada’s worst wildfire season on record was still 2023, when more than 170,000 square kilometers burned – an area more than twice the size of New Brunswick.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
