CBC Lite Sections News • Canada Canada's wildfire paradox: fewer fires, greater destruction highlighted in new analysis Colin Butler | CBC News | Posted: January 25, 2026 9:00 AM | Last Updated: 3 hours ago Federal data also shows reversal in long-term declines in human-caused wildfires Image | 2023 wildfire Caption: A wildfire burns south of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Manitoba in May 2023, illustrating the growing impact of large fires highlighted in a new national analysis. (Roxanna Kimberly/Facebook) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab Canada's wildfire seasons are growing longer, larger and more destructive, according to a six-decade analysis of fire records by the federal government's Canadian Forest Service. The study shows the trend isn't being driven by more frequent fires but by a smaller number of increasingly large wildfires that are burning more land than in the past, reinforcing a trend federal scientists first identified years ago. In 2019, fire scientists with Natural Resources Canada published a study that suggested wildfire activity across the country had increased steadily since the mid-20th century, driven by rising temperatures and longer fire seasons. * New approaches needed for Canada to prepare for, combat wildfires: experts The pattern was uneven at the time: Some regions showed clear increases in area burned, while others appeared stable or even declining. Human-caused fires were thought to be in retreat, reflecting decades of prevention efforts, and the largest fires, though growing, had not yet come to dominate the national picture. The updated study, recently published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, extends that analysis through 2024 using improved satellite mapping and nine additional fire seasons that comprise several of the most severe on record, including 2021, 2023 and 2024. Image | Jasper wildfire Caption: The townsite of Jasper, Alta., about 365 kilometres west of Edmonton, was decimated by a wildfire that ripped through the area on July 24, 2024, destroying 358 out of 1,113 structures. (Josh McLean/CBC) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab The research found that the area burned from wildfires continues to rise across nearly all Canadian eco-zones, even in the Pacific Northwest and Atlantic Canada regions. Both were once considered lower risk because of wetter conditions but are now showing flat or increasing fire trends. * This is our second-worst wildfire season on record — and could be the new normal The study also illustrates how the largest fires now account for a growing share of the damage and that while lightning continues to drive most wildfires, human-caused fires have begun increasing again since the early 2000s — a shift the authors link not to policy failure but to hotter, drier conditions that make more ignitions harder to control. Fighting the unstoppable "I think that increase in the human-caused fires, particularly the larger fires, is because the fuels are drier," said Chelene Hanes, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service at Natural Resources Canada's Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Hanes is the lead author of both the 2019 and 2025 national studies examining long-term changes in Canada's wildfire regime. Image | Chelene Hanes Caption: Chelene Hanes's research helps forest firefighters understand how wildfires are different today due to climate change. (Submitted by Chelene Hanes) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab She said the largest fires now reach a scale and intensity where conventional firefighting tactics become limited, forcing crews to focus on containment and protection rather than stopping the fire outright. Hanes said the impact of the largest wildfire events are becoming increasingly visible on a national scale. * How many wildfires are started by arson? Your questions, answered "They're becoming responsible for a larger proportion of the burned areas because everything's so dry," she said. The dynamics Hanes describes are no longer abstract datasets but have played out repeatedly in recent wildfire seasons across the country. Image | Lytton wildfire Caption: The area around Lytton, B.C., has been scorched by multiple wildfires over the years, as seen in this photo from July 28, 2025. (Clément Llobet/Radio-Canada) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab In July 2021, wildfires driven by extreme heat and record temperatures swept through British Columbia, notably destroying the village of Lytton, which had just recorded Canada's highest temperature on record, at 41.3 C. The 2023 wildfire season was widely reported as the most severe on record in Canadian history, scorching more than 15 million hectares and prompting large-scale evacuations and significant smoke pollution across Canada and into the United States. In 2024, a wildfire in Jasper National Park in Alberta forced the evacuation of roughly 25,000 people, destroyed hundreds of structures and become one of the country's most costly disasters of the year. WATCH | The impact of wildfires on wildlife in the boreal forest: Media Video | Caption: While some wildlife thrive when the boreal forest burns, experts say climate change and human activity have led to larger, more intense wildfires, exacerbating the negative effects on some species. Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Pricing the fire risk The shift in the wildfire landscape is also being felt in Canada's insurance industry, which is warning that rising wildfire risk is reshaping losses, premiums and long-term housing decisions across the country. "We price risk as an industry, and we have seen an increase in natural disaster risk across Canada — but in particular in high-risk wildfire areas," Liam McGuinty, vice-president of federal affairs at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said. Image | Sask Wildfires July 1 2015 20150703 LaRonge Caption: Smoke and flames rise from a forest near La Ronge, Sask., in this July 1, 2015, photo. (Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment/Wildfire Branch/The Canadian Press) (BUTTON) Load image Open image in new tab McGuinty said between 2005 and 2014, insurance losses from wildfires in Canada were about $70 million a year, but in the most recent decade, that average has climbed closer to $750 million — a 1,000 per cent increase in a little over a decade. The industry is responding by adjusting how it prices coverage in the most exposed communities, which can mean higher premiums or changes to policies as companies manage their overall risk, he said. * What insurance data reveals about how bad wildfires are getting * Why some Canadian insurance companies are bringing in a wildfire tactical team "Our job is to price risk," McGuinty said, noting that in areas of Canada with greater wildfire exposure, insurers have had to make "changes to insurance policies." He emphasized that wildfire coverage remains part of a standard home insurance policy in Canada and that coverage is "widely available," adding, "This isn't a California-type situation at all," referring to how major insurers stopped writing or renewing policies in high-risk wildfire areas of the state after repeated catastrophic losses. More Stories Like This The related links below are generated automatically based on the story you’ve just read. Loading... 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