Canada reports worst wildfire season on record — and there's more to come this fall

Canadian wildfire officials said Friday that the 2023 wildfire season is easily the worst ever recorded, with millions of hectares already burned — and they're expecting "higher-than-normal'' activity to continue throughout the late summer and fall.

Speaking to reporters at a technical briefing, Michael Norton, the director general of the northern forestry centre at the Canadian Forest Centre, said there's an "extreme risk" for more fires in B.C., the Prairies, the Northwest Territories and in northern Ontario because there's been drought in some areas that could help fuel the flames.

"This summer has turned into a challenging marathon. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that the fire season is not over and it's likely we'll experience significant fire activity for many weeks yet," Norton said.

Federal data reveals just how devastating this wildfire season has already been with more than 5,500 fires reported so far — events that have burned approximately 13.4 million hectares. That stunning figure is significantly more than the 10-year average of 2.2 million hectares burned in any given year.

It also easily dwarfs the previous record of 7.6 million hectares reported in 1989 — and the season isn't even over yet.

The number of hectares burned is so high this year because there's been fire activity reported in virtually every corner of the country, Norton said.

The "monumental fires" in Quebec and unusual fires in Nova Scotia have been "challenging" for the country's firefighting resources, he said.

June, which is normally a quieter month for fires, was particularly bad this year, which has pushed up the figures, he said.

There's been 211 evacuation orders issued so far with more than 167,000 people forced to temporarily relocate to avoid disaster, federal data shows.

The fires have burned valuable land, displaced people and threatened communities — and they've also been devastating for the environment.

The fires have already released one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the air, Norton said, which is roughly the same figure as what the entire global airline industry emits in a year.

"This kind of simultaneous fire activity in all regions of the country is virtually unheard of, it's usually more regional," he said.

"There has been very little respite since May. This season has been relentless. This is by far the largest amount of area burned since we started keeping good records," he said.

With more fires expected, Norton sought to assure Canadians that the country has the personnel and resources to respond to fires as they continue to emerge. Canada has already deployed 5,821 domestic firefighters and 4,990 international firefighters from 12 countries to battle wildfires across the country.

The federal government has a multimillion-dollar program to help equip provincial firefighting teams and train new members, which has put Canada in a relatively good position, Norton said.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson also announced Friday a new program that will see Ottawa send money to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) to fund a pilot project to help build wildfire fighting capacity and enhance training best practices.

The new money will be earmarked to help local firefighters better deal with fires in the so-called "wildland urban interface," areas where fires are particularly close to populated areas.

As witnessed in Fort McMurray, Alta., Lytton, B.C., and Halifax in recent years, wildland fires can encroach on urban areas with devastating effects.

The program will help firefighters not normally accustomed to fighting wildfires be better prepared to respond, Wilkinson said.

Officials can't predict how next year's fire season will evolve, but the trend has been toward longer seasons and larger, more aggressive fires, Norton said.

"The science is clear that longer, tougher fire seasons are going to be part of our future," he said. "For sure all fire agencies recognize that there is an important message here about needing to adapt."