Wildfires: Federal Response

Current Wildfire Situation

The combination of extreme heat, dry conditions, and gusting winds have exacerbated numerous active wildfires in Canada this summer.

On July 17, 2026, the Government Operations Centre (GOC) activated at Level 3 for wildfire season. At level 3, federal-national and regional-federal coordination is in effect, and the GOC works with Public Safety's regional offices to address current and identify potential Requests for Federal Assistance. A Request for Federal Assistance is how a province or territory formally requests support from the federal government in their emergency response efforts if the emergency escalates beyond their capacity.

Counting professional and volunteer personnel, Canada can mobilize up to 15,000 fire personnel over the course of a year. Over 2,000 of these were recently trained under new federal programming.

Since 2020, Canada has invested $12 billion in forests sustainability and fire prevention. These investments include early warning technology, combining data from 2,500+ weather stations, satellites, fire behaviour models, and AI-enabled detection technologies, including cameras, drones, and thermal imaging, to provide near real-time wildfire detection, mapping, and situational awareness across Canada.