How bad will wildfires get this year? Officials set to share outlook

Canadians across the country will get a sense on Thursday of how bad the 2026 wildfire season could get, as officials prepare to give an update on the national outlook.

This comes after years of intense wildfires across Canada, with the 2025 wildfire season being Canada’s second-worst on record, with nearly 90,000 square kilometres consumed as of September 2025 — an area larger than New Brunswick.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Eleanor Olszewski will give the update along with Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, and Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary for the minister of energy and natural resources.

On May 25, Olszewski announced in a news release that provincial and territorial wildfire agencies will be able to request the use of four air tankers, one spotter plane and five heavy lift helicopters to fight wildfires.

In addition, the government says the new assets will boost national firefighting surge capacity by increasing provincial and territorial access to aircraft during periods of intense wildfire activity.

It is the first time Ottawa will have federal firefighting planes to loan to the provinces, paid for by a new $317-million budget allocation to establish a national aerial firefighting surge capacity.

The government says the assets will be positioned within Canada based on fire activity forecasts and current wildfire activity.