Wildfire forecast anticipates high risk for new wildfires in B.C., Prairies, N.W.T.

OTTAWA — This year’s wildfire season has been slow compared with 2025, but the overall risk remains high in certain parts of Canada because of warm and dry weather conditions.

Federal officials told reporters on Thursday that the levels of burning are not anticipated to be as harsh as 2023 or 2025, the worst and second-worst on record, but above-average wildfire conditions are being forecasted into summer.

“We should just be prepared for the worst, I think, at all times,” said Eleanor Olszewski, emergency management minister.

“We need to be fully prepared … in terms of detection, in terms of suppression, being ready for evacuations, being ready for recovery. We need to be ready for all of those things.”

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reports 65 active wildfires across the country, six of which are classified out of control.

As of this week, more than 1,300 fires have burned about 180 square kilometres, with British Columbia being hit the hardest.

The Canadian Drought Monitor said B.C. saw a below-normal level of precipitation last month resulting in the expansion of drought conditions. It said at the time that significant drought remained in southern parts of the province along with southern Alberta, the Northwest Territories and through the Maritime region.

Wildfire preparedness levels nationally are considered at a level one, meaning the demand for firefighters and equipment from other jurisdictions is low.

The highest-risk areas are in B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

Ontario and Quebec are believed to be more at risk in June, while southern portions of the Prairies are believed to be more at risk in July.

Officials are also predicting that nearly all regions in the country will see above-normal temperatures in June.

“If there are ignitions during that time period that are very critical, we might see the fire spread pretty quickly into the landscapes,” said Yan Boulanger with Natural Resources Canada.

Officials said northern parts of the Prairies and areas in Quebec still have snow, which has delayed the beginning of wildfire season there.

Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan were some of the hardest-hit areas during the 2025 wildfire season. Close to 90,000 square kilometres in total across Canada had been consumed as of September — an area larger than New Brunswick.

More than 6,000 wildfires were recorded across the country last year, forcing 76,000 people from their homes.

About 46,000 of them were from First Nation communities, underscoring the disproportionate impact of the blazes on Indigenous and remote communities, officials said.

Many were sent to urban centres far from their traditional territories, and in some cases, families were separated and sent to evacuation centres in other provinces because of a lack of hotel spaces.

Mandy Gull-Masty, minister of Indigenous services, said she has received proposals from First Nations that are interested in developing culturally safe evacuation spaces in the event residents may be displaced again.

“There’s a lot of creativity and trying to build solution there,” she said.

So far this year, 15 First Nations have been affected by wildland fires resulting in evacuations from four communities, said Gull-Masty.

The federal government emphasized it is prioritizing wildfire preparation efforts by supporting the training of more than 2,000 personnel, including wildland and structural firefighters, and community wildfire protection trainees.

It also announced this week that it is leasing 10 new firefighting planes and helicopters to help provinces and territories respond to wildfire this summer.

Ottawa said on Thursday that it is supplying more than $47 million over five years to support wildfire preparedness, response and risk reduction through Parks Canada’s national fire management program.

The funding will be used to support training and the addition of deployable equipment. It will also go toward measures that reduce wildfire risk, such as prescribed fires and vegetation management.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2026.

— By Brittany Hobson in Winnipeg