In 2023, more than 17.3 million hectares of land had burned in Canada because of forest fires. This was the largest annual land loss due to wildfires since records started. The number of forest fires in Canada stood at around 5,475 in 2023. The cost of Canadian wildfires In Canada, estimated property losses due to forest fires from 1970 to 2020 amounted to almost 250 million Canadian dollars. The province of British Columbia was by far the most affected, with losses of 115.4 million Canadian dollars, followed by Ontario with 57.9 million Canadian dollars.On the human side, the largest evacuation caused by wildfires in the North American country from 1980 to 2019 occurred in 2016, when more than 92,000 people were displaced. The Fort McMurray wildfire – the costliest natural catastrophe in Canadian history – took place that year. A worldwide picture Wildfires have been wreaking havoc around the world in recent years. In 2022 alone, around 5.2 million hectares of tree cover were lost due to wildfires. A year earlier, wildfire tree cover loss reached the peak of the century so far, with more than seven million hectares. In the past century, Russia has seen the largest annual tree cover loss due to wildfires, with an average of 2.5 million hectares. Canada is the second most impacted country in the world, with an average annual loss of roughly 1.3 million hectares during the same period.

There were a total of 5,475 forest fires in Canada in 2023. As of November 2024, the total annual figure from the previous year almost gets surpassed at 5,374 fire stats in Canadian territory. Forest fires in Canada Forest fires in Canada have burned an average of 2.2 million hectares annually since 2000. Forest fires or wildfires are named so because they occur in areas such as woodlands, grasslands, and scrublands. They are not confined to remote forest areas and can cause extensive property damage and threaten the lives of people who live in transitional areas between regions of human habitation and wilderness. Since 2000, forest fires have caused an estimated 3.76 million Canadian dollars annually. A recent major forest fire which began in Fort McMurray, Alberta is likely to be the most economically damaging disaster in Canada’s history, according to insurers. The fires have also affected Alberta’s oil sands operations which have a significant impact on Canada’s GDP. What are the causes of forest fires? The Fort McMurray fire of 2016, like many forest fires, is suspected to have been caused by human activities. Fires started by humans can be intentional, as in the case of arson, or accidental, such as failing to fully extinguish a camp fire or cigarette. The most common natural cause of forest fires is human activity, which accounted for 2,719 fires in 2020.

Wildfire perimeters for all fire seasons before the current year. Supplied through various sources. Not to be used for legal purposes. These perimeters may be updated periodically during the year. On April 1 of each year the previous year's fire perimeters are merged into this dataset

Get data on forest fires, compiled annually for the National Forestry Database

The National Forestry Database includes national forest data and forest management statistics to seve as a credible, accurate and reliable source of information on forest management and its impact on the forest resource.

Forest fire data is grouped into eight categories, which are further broken down by geographic location. These include:

• number of fires by cause class and response category
• area burned by cause class and response category
• number of fires by month and response category
• area burned by month and response category
• number of fires by fire size class and response category
• area burned by fire size class and response category
• area burned by productivity class, stocking class, maturity class and response category
• other fire statistics, such as property losses

This dataset provides spatial estimates of carbon combustion from all 2015 wildfire burned areas across Saskatchewan, Canada, on a 30-m grid. Carbon combustion (kg C/m2) was derived from post-fire field measurements of carbon stocks completed in 2016 at 47 stands that burned during three 2015 Saskatchewan wildfires (Egg, Philion, and Brady) and at 32 unburned stands in adjacent areas. The study areas covered two ecozones (Boreal Plains and Boreal Shield), two stand-replacing history types (fire and timber harvest), three soil moisture classes (xeric, mesic, and subhygric), and three stand dominance classifications (coniferous, deciduous, and mixed). To spatially extrapolate estimates of combustion to all 2015 fires in Saskatchewan, a predictive radial support vector machine model was trained on the 47 burned stands with associated environmental variables and geospatial predictors and applied to historical fire areas. The dataset also includes uncertainty estimates represented as per pixel standard deviations of model estimates derived using a Monte Carlo analysis.

In an effort to assess the current state of wildland fire as an ecological process, the Area Burned Condition Class (ABCC) measure is designed to reflect modern-day deviations from historical wildland fire cycles (i.e., frequency). The ABCC was developed as a medium to long term ecological integrity monitoring measure that is fully integrated with the national program of ecological Integrity (EI) indicators, and measures. Calculations of area burned condition class are according to the methods outlined in the Park Canada Agency’s Fire Monitoring Guide.

Dataset including information on wildfires in the province of Alberta from 2006 to 2024, inclusive. Information tracked for each fire includes: cause, size, location (latitude and longitude, legal land description, and forest area), time and duration, weather conditions, staffing and physical resources used to suppress the fire, and area burned.

The hemi-boreal climate-vegetation-fire nexus, marking the southern boreal forest boundary in North America, has evolved post-glaciation. This transitional zone hosts diverse ecosystems, including mixed forests with a wide array of tree species, savannas, grasslands, and wetlands. While the interplay of humans, climate, and fire shapes continental vegetation dynamics, specific influences remain unclear. Integrating archaeological records with climate, vegetation, and fire data, we present a 12,000-year historical account of the hemi-boreal zone. Postglacial biomass burning exhibited episodes of persistent elevated activity, and a pivotal shift around 7,000 years ago saw the boreal forest transition to an oak-pine barren ecosystem for about 2,000 years before reverting. This mid-Holocene shift occurred during a context of lower fire return intervals and sudden uptick in mean annual temperatures. Population size of Indigenous peoples mirrored these wildfire fluctuations, increasing during longer fire intervals and decreasing during elevated fire activity. Anticipated increases of fire activity with climate change are expected to echo transformations observed 7,000 years ago, reducing boreal forest extent and impacting land use.

Dataset including information on wildfires in the province of Alberta from 1983 to 1995, inclusive. Information tracked for each fire includes: cause, size, location (latitude and longitude, legal land description, and forest area), time and duration, weather conditions, staffing and physical resources used to suppress the fire, and area burned.

This Alberta Official Statistic describes the number of hectares of land burned from wildfire in Alberta during the fire season which runs from April 1 to October 31 of each year. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is mandated to control and contain wildfires within the Forest Protection Area of the province. The number of wildfires and the amount of hectares burned vary greatly due to factors such as environmental conditions, response times, resources available for containing fires, and swiftness of detection and containment. Wildfire management practices are important because they protect our forest resources and the communities which depend on them.

In an effort to assess the current state of wildland fire as an ecological process, the Area Burned Condition Class (ABCC) measure is designed to reflect modern-day deviations from historical wildland fire cycles (i.e., frequency). The ABCC was developed as a medium to long term ecological integrity monitoring measure that is fully integrated with the national program of ecological Integrity (EI) indicators, and measures. Calculations of area burned condition class are according to the methods outlined in the Park Canada Agency’s Fire Monitoring Guide.

Dataset including information on wildfires in the province of Alberta from 1961 to 1982, inclusive. Information tracked for each fire includes: cause, size, location (latitude and longitude, legal land description, and forest area), time and duration, weather conditions, staffing and physical resources used to suppress the fire, and area burned.

Incident-based fire statistics, by type of fire incident, Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Canadian Armed Forces, 2005 to 2021.

Forest fires are an important part of the Canadian landscape. The number of fires and area burned can vary dramatically from year to year, but there are more than 8000 reported wildfires in Canada during a typical year, burning an average of 2.5 million hectares or 25 000 square kilometres. Only 3 percent of fires in Canada reach a final size greater than 200 hectares, but these fires are responsible for 97 percent of the total area burned. This map shows the forest fire ignition causes for fires greater than 200 hectares. The data represent a compilation of all fire point location and perimeters for fires greater than 200 hectares, as provided by fire management agencies of provinces, territories and Parks Canada.

To assess the current state of wildland fire as an ecological process in the interior forests (Pukaskwa Plains, Bremner Uplands and Bremner-Widgeon Uplands ecodistricts) of Pukaskwa, the Area Burned Condition Class (ABCC) measure calculates the modern-day departure from historical wildland fire cycles (i.e., fire frequency). Area burned (hectares) and fire locations from wildland and prescribed burns are collected annually. Calculations of the ABCC follow the methods outlined in the Park Canada Agency’s Fire Monitoring Guide.

In 2020, the month with the highest number of wildfires in Canada was May, with almost 930 fires reported. During the same month, the province with the biggest area affected was Manitoba with approximately 1.3 million hectares burned.

Forest fires are an important part of the Canadian landscape. The number of fires and area burned can vary dramatically from year to year, but there are more than 8000 reported wildfires in Canada during a typical year, burning an average of 2.5 million hectares or 25 000 square kilometres. Only 3 percent of fires in Canada reach a final size greater than 200 hectares, but these fires are responsible for 97 percent of the total area burned. This map shows fires greater than 1000 hectares. The data represent a compilation of all fire point location and areas for fires greater than 1000 hectares, as provided by fire management agencies of provinces, territories and Parks Canada.

The Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI) program provides data and information to track Canada's performance on key environmental sustainability issues. The Forest management and disturbances indicator includes information on the management of Canadian forests, disturbances to Canadian forests, and planting and seeding of trees in Canada. Specific measures included in this indicator look at the annual timber harvest, number of forest fires, areas burned by forest fires, defoliation by insects, deforestation, and seeding and planting. Information is provided to Canadians in a number of formats including: charts and graphs, HTML and CSV data tables, and downloadable reports. See the supplementary documentation for the data sources and details on how the data were collected and how the indicator was calculated. Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators: https://www.canada.ca/environmental-indicators

Canada CA: Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Kt of CO2 Equivalent data was reported at 677,709.223 kt in 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 726,904.120 kt for 2019. Canada CA: Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Kt of CO2 Equivalent data is updated yearly, averaging 677,709.223 kt from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2020, with 31 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 742,232.537 kt in 2018 and a record low of 538,980.885 kt in 1991. Canada CA: Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Kt of CO2 Equivalent data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Environmental: Gas Emissions and Air Pollution. Total greenhouse gas emissions in kt of CO2 equivalent are composed of CO2 totals excluding short-cycle biomass burning (such as agricultural waste burning and savanna burning) but including other biomass burning (such as forest fires, post-burn decay, peat fires and decay of drained peatlands), all anthropogenic CH4 sources, N2O sources and F-gases (HFCs, PFCs and SF6).;Climate Watch Historical GHG Emissions (1990-2020). 2023. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Available online at: https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions;Sum;

This record is for the dataset “Vascular plant community data for Northwest Territories, Canada” at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7sth. Climate change is altering disturbance regimes outside of historical norms, which can impact biodiversity by selecting for plants with particular traits. The relative impact of disturbance characteristics on plant traits and community structure may be mediated by environmental gradients. We aimed to understand how wildfire impacted understory plant communities and plant regeneration strategies along gradients of environmental conditions and wildfire characteristics in boreal forests. We established 207 plots (60m2) in recently burned stands and 133 plots in mature stands with no recent fire history in comparable gradients of stand type, site moisture (drainage), and soil organic layer (SOL) depth in two ecozones in Canada’s Northwest Territories. At each plot, we recorded all vascular plant taxa in the understory and measured the regeneration strategy (seeder, resprouter, survivor) in burned plots, along with seedbed conditions (mineral soil and bryophyte cover). Dispersal, longevity, and growth form traits were determined for each taxon. Fire characteristics measured included proportion pre-fire SOL combusted (fire severity), date of burn (fire seasonality), and pre-fire stand age (time following fire). Results showed understory community composition was altered by fire. However, burned and mature stands had similar plant communities in wet sites with deep SOL. In the burned plots, regeneration strategies were determined by fire severity, drainage, and pre- and post-fire SOL depth. Resprouters were more common in wet sites with deeper SOL and lower fire severity, while seeders were associated with drier sites with thinner SOL and greater fire severity. This led to drier burned stands being compositionally different from their mature counterparts and seedbed conditions were important. Our study highlights the importance of environment-wildfire interactions in shaping plant regeneration strategies and patterns of understory plant community structure across landscapes, and the overriding importance of SOL depth and site drainage in mediating fire severity, plant regeneration, and community structure. This data can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7sth