Feds pay out $84M 'advance' for disastrous N.W.T. wildfire season

The N.W.T. has received $84-million "advance payment" from the federal government to help cover the costs of 2023's disastrous wildfire season.

The money, provided through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), will help offset costs related to the wildfire response and recovery, according to a news release Wednesday morning. 

The full cost of the summer's wildfires and evacuations have not yet been released, but the cost of fighting those fires alone was projected in August to be $100 million, five times what they normally are.

Federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness Harjit Sajjan said the territory is now responsible for disbursing the money to municipalities that had applied for reimbursements of wildfire-related costs.

"In times of disaster we try to be as flexible as possible," Sajjan told CBC News.

"What we find is, sometimes the municipalities don't know exactly what the DFAA covers, so they may not actually ask for that money or make the request for it," he added.

Sajjan says the department sent staff to work with municipalities in N.W.T. to help them identify which of their expenses were eligible for federal funding.

"We're trying to move the money as quickly as possible," Sajjan said.

Total costs still unknown

Wednesday's announcement suggests the true cost of this year's wildfire response and recovery could be near $200 million.

That's because rules for the federal DFAA program state advance payments shouldn't be more than half of the total amount the federal government expects to contribute, according to that program's rules — meaning the federal contribution for this wildfire season could exceed $168 million.

Since the program covers up to 90 per cent of eligible costs, that would put total costs up around $187 million.

Currently the DFAA funding can only be used to cover disaster response, but Sajjan said he's planning reforms to the funding and is consulting with governments across the country. He envisions the reforms to include allowing the money to be spent on building infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of future disasters, rather than only after a disaster has happened.

Early accounting in November of the insured losses alone suggested they are in excess of $60 million, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

This year's wildfire season burned more than 4 million hectares of land in the N.W.T. and forced numerous evacuations. Wildfires devastated the town of Enterprise, burned through homes in Behchokǫ̀ as well as homes south of Hay River, and destroyed countless cabins throughout the territory.