Government of Canada officials held a technical briefing to provide an updated forecast for the remainder of the 2023 wildfire season.
Article continues below
The 2023 wildfire season has already been Canada’s most severe on record. Current projections indicate that this may continue to be a significantly challenging summer for wildfires in parts of the country.
Most recent projections indicate a continued potential for higher-than-normal fire activity across most of the country throughout the 2023 wildland fire season.
This is due to long-range forecasts for warm temperatures and ongoing drought, which are affecting parts of all provinces and territories and intensifying in some regions.
For July, warm and dry conditions will increase wildfire risk from British Columbia and Yukon through to western Labrador. During August, the area at risk will stretch from British Columbia through western Quebec.
Following a technical briefing on the updated July wildfire modelling, Bill Blair, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness; Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health; and Julie Dzerowicz, Member of Parliament for Davenport; and Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, provided an update on the current wildfire situation and on the actions that the Government of Canada is taking to support communities and prepare them for future seasons.
The government has already taken key steps to respond to the 2023 wildfire season, such as making additional investments to train more firefighters and provide support to provinces and territories on equipment and deploying Canadian Armed Forces personnel and capabilities.
On July 6, Ministers announced two new steps to strengthen Canada’s response.
This includes the upgrading of a National Fire Equipment Cache in Banff National Park to act as a central equipment repository for Parks Canada and augment local equipment reserves in national parks across the country.
The Ministers also highlighted the announcement of the Canada–Portugal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on wildland firefighting cooperation, which will help strengthen resources sharing between the two countries.
“In the face of the worst wildfire season on record, Canadians can be certain that their government will be there to support them," The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Natural Resources said.
"While current forecasts show that the remaining months of the 2023 wildfire season will continue to be challenging, the federal government is working with all our partners — provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and our international allies — to keep Canadians safe and healthy.
"Coupled with long-term investments in wildfire fighting as well as climate mitigation and adaptation, Canada will continue to protect homes, livelihoods and communities while also addressing the root cause of these intensified fires: climate change.†■