National Wildland Fire Situation Report

National Wildland Fire Situation Report

Archived reports

Current as of: November 19, 2025

• Data courtesy of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
• Check the Air Quality Health Index for air quality in your area.

Priority fires

Weekly national situation reports will resume Spring 2026. Please note that data required for table above is unavailable at this time of year.

Interagency mobilization

2025 Seasonal Summary

Interagency mobilization: Requests for wildland fire resource sharing both nationally and internationally are managed through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), a not-for-profit corporation owned by the federal, provincial, and territorial wildland fire management agencies.

National Preparedness Level 1 indicates minimal wildland fire activity and the demand for firefighters and equipment from other jurisdictions is light. On the other end of the spectrum Level 5 is the highest preparedness level and indicates significant activity across one or more jurisdictions with firefighters and equipment in every jurisdiction across Canada in use, and international help has been requested.

Fire activity in the spring started early in Canada, with the National Preparedness Level (NPL) rising from level 1 to 3 in the first two weeks of May before going to level 3 on May 15th indicating increasing mobilizations from across Canada to support active agencies. National preparedness increased to level 4 then 5 before the end of the month. The CIFFC remained at Preparedness level 5 throughout June, July, and most of August when it reduced to level 4 on August 26th as ongoing competition and demand across Canada for resources saw a reduction. The CIFFC continued to reduce its posture throughout September to level 3 on the 3rd where it remained to mid September. National preparedness eventually dropped to level 2 on September 16th; there was still some mobilization occurring through CIFFC into October.

Over the fire season, response resources were mobilized across the country from all CIFFC member agencies. There were 14 requests for federal assistance (including extensions of existing resources) by provinces for fire fighters, airlift support, humanitarian workforce assistance, and logistics and staging.

The Government of Canada in collaboration with the CIFFC coordinated international personnel from Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, New Zealand, and United States. Provinces and territories also have mutual aid assistance agreements with border states also known as the North American Fire Compacts. Additional U.S. resources were mobilized (personnel and aircraft) through these agreements.

Seasonal Summary:

Wildfire season starts officially at varying times across the country. Alberta has one of the earliest official start dates (March 1st) as the hazard is highest in the spring months in the Prairies due to snow melt and trees and grasses not yet greened up. Wildfire season officially ends for most agencies at the end of October.

The first wildfires (grassfire) of the season were reported in southern Alberta at the end of February. The first evacuation due to wildfire was in late-April in central Alberta. Residents were able to return a few days later. A series of evacuations across central Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba soon followed including one sweeping through the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village east of Edmonton.

In early May, significant fire activity picked up across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northern Ontario and Newfoundland. By the middle of the month Manitoba declared multiple local states of emergency closing provincial parks in eastern Manitoba due to extreme wildfire conditions. This was followed by a formal request for federal assistance due to the wildfires to assist remote community evacuations, and for the humanitarian workforce to assist evacuees. The Town of Flin Flon on the Saskatchewan border declared an evacuation order as fires on the Saskatchewan side began to approach.

By the end of May both Saskatchewan and Manitoba declared Provincial States of Emergency. Between both provinces thousands of people were evacuated, with some evacuees travelling out of province to Alberta and Ontario respectively to find shelter as hotels were full.

In June Ontario requested assistance to evacuate the remote community of Sandy Lake, northeastern British Columbia started seeing an increase in activity which caused evacuations, and smoke from wildfires impacted large portions of Canada and the United States. Fire activity started to increase in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia due to wildfires.

At this time international firefighting personnel were sought, as the domestic resources could not meet the demand. Firefighters and specialized incident management teams from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Chile and Mexico began to arrive to assist British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba throughout the following months.

In early July, Yukon and British Columbia started seeing an increase of fire activity. Northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba continued to see a lot of activity. The province of Manitoba redeclared a provincial state of emergency as the previous state of emergency was lifted late June due to improving conditions.

In mid-July activity was picking up across the country as fires in northwestern Ontario destroyed several transmission lines to northern communities. Fires in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Vancouver Island impacted multiple communities as Saskatchewan and Manitoba continued to have widespread fires on the landscape. Nova Scotia closed access to all Crown land due to as there was an increase in wildfire hazard as a heatwave broke longstanding records.

August saw increased fire activity across the country. In British Columbia there were multiple evacuations across the northeast, central and coastal regions including Vancouver Island. By the middle of the month significant rainfall reduced activity on the island.

Northwest Territories saw an increase in activity as a local state of emergency was declared for the First Nation community of Whati due to an approaching wildfire.

Saskatchewan renewed their request for federal assistance for continued firefighter support through to the end of August. Repatriation planning for several communities commenced as conditions began to improve. By the end of August Saskatchewan saw a decrease in fire activity and evacuees returned to their communities.

Manitoba continued to be busy while several communities began planning for re-entry as restoration of services started, they renewed their request for federal assistance for humanitarian workforce to support evacuees.

In the Atlantic, air quality remained poor for large periods of time throughout the summer. Hurricane Erin winds threatened the region near the end of August, and while of moderate speed, likely contributed to fire growth in Nova Scotia. New Brunswick activated their emergency operations centre as interface fires approached Moncton and then later Miramichi. Nova Scotia requested federal assistance for logistics support and a staging area for air operations and Annapolis County declared a state of emergency due to wildfires. The province placed widespread public restrictions for travel and recreational activities in the woods.

Newfoundland requested federal assistance for logistics and transportation of foods and people, humanitarian workforce assistance, air assets, and firefighters as wildfires across the Bay de Verde Peninsula continued to affect multiple communities.

In early September Nova Scotia continued to be active, however evacuees from Annapolis County began to repatriate in phases. Northwest Territories saw an increase in fire activity over the Labour Day long weekend as wildland fire threatened Fort Providence and smoke blanketed most of western Canada from southern and central British Columbia, most of Alberta, Northwest Territories and central and northern Saskatchewan.

By mid- September all international resources were demobilized and on enroute to their respective countries. British Columbia continued to be active as multiple fires across the Cariboo region sparked new evacuation orders. Newfoundland lifted the province-wide fire ban including ban on off-road vehicles later in the month as conditions improved. By the end of September, the Long Lake fire in Nova Scotia was finally listed as under control, while fires in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario caused new evacuations.

At the beginning of October, Nova Scotia continued to have some fire activity and they extended their official fire season to the end the month. Quebec saw some late season activity as wildfires smouldered in the Outaouais region triggering a short-term evacuation order.

Weekly Synopsis

Synopsis:

This year’s fire season began early with dry spring conditions and high fire danger ratings in the prairies. Communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland saw spring evacuation alerts and orders throughout March to May. Following a relatively busy spring, there were numerous evacuation orders throughout the summer across the previously mentioned provinces as well as British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Quebec, and Nova Scotia due to wildfire and smoke. The overall evacuation numbers for the year were well above its 20-year average, lower than 2023, but higher than 2024. Final numbers are not yet available.

According to the CWFIS, 6,127 fires have been recorded nationally in 2025, burning a total of 8,922,148 hectares (ha). For comparative purposes, the total number of fires and area burned last year according to the Canadian National Fire Database (CNFDB) was (5,844 fires; 5,374,344 ha), and the 10-year average (5,818 fires; 4,178,669 ha).

According to the National Area Burned Composite (NBAC) database, a system which chooses the best available source of data and is updated annually, in terms of area burned, this year is the second highest recorded exceeding the total recorded in 1989 (6,663,734 ha). This is subject to change, as fire management agencies continue to map and recalculate areas burned.

According to CIFFC, British Columbia saw the most wildfires so far this year (1,370), followed by Alberta (1,260). In terms of area burned Manitoba (2.17 M ha), Saskatchewan (1.99 M ha), and Northwest Territories (1.37M ha) each had over a million hectares burned. Estimated area burned was above the 10-year average in Yukon, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It was lower than the 10-year average in all other agencies.

According to the CNFDB historically each year in Canada only 3% of fires grow to more than 200 hectares of area burned, accounting for about 97% of the total area burned. According to 2025 CIFFC reported data, at the time of this report, fires greater than 200 ha accounted for about 7.2% of fires and about 99.6% of area burned. Very large fires (greater than 100,000 hectares in size) accounted for 0.25% of fires but resulted in about half the area burned or 51.6%.

Prognosis:

We will not be providing a weather prognosis. Weekly national situation reports will resume Spring 2026.

Prognosis

2025 Weather In-Review

The 2024-25 winter did not show alarming fire season trends as snow cover was plentiful through much of Canada, and drought was patchy but not severe, although the Northwest Territories did feature a large Moderate Drought area over the winter. Conditions conducive to enhanced fire activity began to appear in March, as Arctic air masses continued to settle over central Canada (generally Saskatchewan through western Ontario), preventing normal late winter and early spring precipitation totals. These dry air masses are typical of a La Niña event, but while a negative El Niño/Southern Oscillation condition was present, a true La Niña never developed.

May The fire season began with high drought codes throughout much of western Canada and fire activity closely followed the 10-year average throughout the month in terms of both numbers and area burned. Much of the north and British Columbia saw variable weather and steady snow melt, while upper ridging in the prairies brought rapid drying, heat warnings and severe wildfires by mid-month. Large areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba received only 25-50% of the climatological normal precipitation for the month, exacerbating ongoing drought conditions.

By the end of May, forest fuels in northeast British Columbia and the prairies were well dried as organized convective systems began bringing lightning. Conditions in eastern and Atlantic Canada were less severe, but a persistent pattern of upper ridging was beginning to stretch east from the prairies.

June As June began, many large active fires were present in central Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with numerous smaller blazes located in Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and Ontario. This month continued the trend of Arctic air masses moving into central Canada, extending the dry period that affected the region since late winter. In many regions, cloud was present and temperatures were cool to moderate, but precipitation was scarce. Rainfall moving into western Canada continued to be often forced around the edges of the high pressure regions in central Canada, and then northeastward across the Great Lakes into Quebec and Labrador. Periodic instability did move east across the Prairie Provinces, generating showers and thundershowers and triggering some new fires, but growth was somewhat limited on many of these. Pockets of abundant moisture fell in western mountain areas and the southern plains, with sporadic rain in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Most of this moisture missed Nova Scotia, where Buildup Index values increased to 60 or higher by month’s end, indicating intense burning could occur.

July Fire growth was rapid in early July as dry conditions continued. Wind speeds were high in the first few days of the month in the Prairies, notably on July 4. Drying conditions in northern British Columbia and Alberta, the Territories, and western Ontario allowed new fire starts. The Atlantic region generally continued drying with most rain staying over the ocean or fizzling over the northeastern USA before reaching Canada. Southeastern British Columbia, southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and Quebec and Labrador continued to receive generous rainfall. Fortunately, during much of July, the lack of rainfall in the most intense fire areas also meant little lightning in those regions. Most lightning occurred in areas receiving ample moisture, except in the Northwest Territories east of the mountains, where occasional lightning could trigger new fires given the dryness. New fire starts tapered off in some areas during July, but the dryness allowed growth on existing fires. This is reflected in the weekly plot of fires, which show a rapid increase in burned area as July transitioned to August. Fire also begins to appear in Newfoundland and other Atlantic regions in mid-July, although these events were not prolonged. Drying across the country late in the month brought favorable conditions for fire growth and new starts.

August August began with fires burning primarily in Manitoba, central Saskatchewan, as well as scattered across the Northwest Territories and Yukon. However, early in the month several significant rain events quickly helped to bring fires under control in the central prairies. During August, northeastern Alberta, much of Saskatchewan, and western Manitoba received 115-200% over their average rainfall totals. Outside of the prairies, much of the country received less than normal precipitation amounts. The deficits were most notable in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, where fire activity increased significantly throughout the month. Even with a wet month, fire activity on the prairies once again picked up late in August driven by a period of extreme heat and drying. This heat event extended into the southern Northwest Territories, where numerous fires burned with significant intensity and smoke output.

In general, the weather pattern continued to closely resemble that of a classic La Niña, though conditions were close to neutral. This pattern drove many troughs inland off the Pacific coast resulting in periods of both troughing and ridging. Periods of ridging dominated during August, resulting in the warmer, drier conditions observed over a large part of Canada. Further east, the Polar vortex over Hudson Bay steered frontal weather systems either north into northern Quebec and Labrador or south, remaining over the Atlantic Ocean. This pattern resulted in an extremely dry period for Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland).

In British Columbia, the southern interior only received about 40% of their normal August precipitation amounts. A mid-month low pressure system brought the bulk of precipitation as upwards of 80mm fell during a short period. In late August, a significant lightning event ignited numerous wildfires in central British Columbia. These fires, extending from the Caribou region south to the US border, resulted in numerous evacuations and highway closures.

Continuous dry and generally warm conditions in Atlantic Canada resulted in fire weather conditions rarely observed in this region. August precipitation was at or near a record low with eastern New Brunswick and northern Nova Scotia receiving 0-2% of their monthly totals. Buildup Index values sat over 90 for most of the month and Drought Code values >425 (extreme) were recorded in all Atlantic provinces. Several fires ignited in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, resulting in numerous evacuations and structure losses. These fires were extremely difficult to contain and burned at a high intensity, a feature not common to the fire regime of Atlantic Canada. Late in August, some reprieve came in the form of rain, though it was short-lived.

September In September, the effects of shortening daylight hours and cooler overnight temperatures were finally felt by the end of the month. However, a Canada-wide drying trend resulted in deteriorating drought conditions. Additionally, most of the country was warmer than normal, peaking in Ontario. Little measurable rainfall in some western regions throughout the month was common from the interior British Columbia into Alberta and northern Saskatchewan. Additionally, dry conditions extended from Quebec to northwestern Ontario, where the Kenora region received 15-20% of its typical September rainfall. Much of Atlantic Canada has its driest September on record or were in the driest five on record.

Above-normal rain fell over the southeastern prairies and along the eastern parts of the Great Lakes. Fortunately, Atlantic Canada had below normal lightning activity in September, minimizing the number of natural ignitions. Drought in this region helped to prolong fire activity well into September. Evacuations extended into September, with some newer fires resulting in additional evacuations.

At the beginning of September, fires also continued in the Caribou region in British Columbia, near Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, west-central Saskatchewan, and the previously mentioned Atlantic Canada fires occurred primarily in Nova Scotia. Smoke was a significant issue in the Northwest Territories, impacting many communities. Additionally, Washington State has a late-season uptick in fire activity, bringing smoke to much of southern British Columbia, extending into Alberta for a short period of time. Fires in Nova Scotia burned throughout the month, though rain at the end of the month helped to diminish their activity. Elsewhere in Canada, the fire activity decreased throughout the September.

October The seasonal downtrend in fire weather continued throughout much of Canada as a series of storms moved through British Columbia and the prairies, bringing needed moisture and cooler temperatures. Atlantic Canada likewise saw further relief in the form of precipitation and cooler temperatures. Anomalously warm temperatures did persist in the eastern prairies and Ontario under the influence of several short-lived upper ridges. By the final week of October, the fire danger had dropped to low in all forested areas, with higher values persisting only across the plains of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. By the end of the month fire activity was minimal nationally, but a severe moisture deficit persisted in British Columbia, the prairies and the territories.

Weekly graphs (current as of: November 19, 2025)