Here’s a look at what’s happened in Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season so far

Canada is now halfway through its record-breaking wildfire season, which has seen more land than ever burned, the highest number of evacuations in a given year and several casualties. Almost every province and territory in Canada has dealt with the forest fires that have displaced communities and touched Canadians from coast to coast with smoke and ash. Climate Barometer newsletter: Sign up to keep your finger on the climate pulse This year’s wildfire season is the worst Canada has ever seen and there are still months of blazes expected ahead — the season typically lasts from May through to the end of September.
Here’s a look at what this year’s wildfire season has been like so far.
Fires Concentrated In Western Canada
At the beginning of May, more than 819 wildfires were burning in Canada, the majority of which were in Alberta and British Columbia, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) statistics show. Temperatures in the two provinces were high, increasing the fire risk for communities, particularly in the northern regions. B.C.’s fires were already breaking records by May 8. At that point, the province had reported 131 fires since January, which is a little higher than the 10-year average. As fires grew, several communities were forced to evacuate, including the East Prairie Metis Settlement, one of several Indigenous communities hit hard by the wildfires. More than 155,000 people forced to evacuate their homes due to fire and smoke so far, the highest number of evacuations in a given year compared to the past four decades.
Where We’re At Now?
Currently, there are 1,148 active fires in Canada, with 13.3 million hectares hectares — or 133,000 square kilometres — burned to date.The majority of fires are burning in B.C. and the N.W.T., the latest data from the CIFFC’s dashboard shows. Canada has surpassed the total number of fires seen in 2022. As of Wednesday, there were 5,550 fires that have burned in Canada. Source: ctv.ca