In fact, Canada is currently undergoing its second-worst wildfire season on record, fueled by widespread dry conditions combined with human activity. As of 2023, almost 7.5 million hectares, or 18.5 million acres, have burned nationwide. Nationally, this figure is a considerable 18 percent over the 10-year average. The public health and economic crisis combined with an unprecedented fire season has left tens of thousands no choice but to evacuate their communities. In wake of this high wildfire risk, Nova Scotia officials have closed all hiking, camping, and fishing in forests.
This unprecedented fire season in no-doubt has affected hard coast-to-coast, even spreading across the Atlantic region. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are taking most of the hit, as the two provinces have seen more than 60% of the land burned so far. Even Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region— a haven for summer vacationers — has experienced rare fire events. Jen Baron, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, said that wildfires are different now. This change has forced Canadians to reconsider everything they thought they knew about these natural disasters.
“This can show up anywhere,” said Paul Kovacs, emphasizing the widespread nature of the crisis.
The federal government has responded with a multimillion-dollar funding initiative aimed at studying wildfire risks and adapting strategies for the future. For one, Baron made clear that wildfire is a natural component of the ecosystem. Thanks to climate change, managing it just got much harder. She stated, “We’re just starting to catch up to the scale of the problem.”
Even through these dramatic transformations, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston underscored the urgency of the moment in his home province. “Conditions are really dry, there’s no rain in sight, the risk is extremely high in Nova Scotia,” he remarked. This announcement was made just as governors and other officials were moving to get ahead of threats posed by wildfires by lessening their dangers.
Smoke from these wildfires has now covered large parts of the contiguous United States. This paints a picture of the unprecedented scope and severity of this year’s fire season. Kovacs described the situation vividly: “We had fire everywhere. We had evacuations everywhere. We had smoke at a scale that was remarkable.” He noted that this year is already on par with Canada’s most extreme fire season of 2023. This indicates the opposite—the trend is speeding toward more frequent wildfires.
The recent anomaly of wildfires spreading into areas once thought to be protected from such calamities is a part of this larger climate change adjusted reality. Baron remarked on this phenomenon by saying, “British Columbia and Alberta have long been the poster children for this wildfire problem… but other regions are beginning to experience some of those same challenges.”
As the situation gets worse in many parts of the country, the fire season is a worry that hangs over many communities. Baron noted that Canada can expect extreme fire years like this one every year from now on. This varies greatly from the past trend of having big fire years once every 15 to 20 years.
“That’s the behavioral change we’re hoping to see next because there will be many years of fires to come,” Kovacs added. He pointed out that the burned landscapes are not going to magically shrink back to what they were 25 years ago. Instead, Canadians will have to get used to what he termed “our new reality.”
Baron warned that it’s still not possible to predict future climate patterns with confidence. “I don’t know exactly how climate change is going to continue. It doesn’t drive things in linear ways,” she explained. “We can’t predict where there’s going to be a drought next year. It will be somewhere.”