October 3, 2024

By: Sushant and Michael Twigg

Canada’s 2024 wildfire season is unprecedented. Canadians watched with dismay as Alberta had one of the earliest starts to wildfire season in recent memory. A third of the iconic town of Jasper burned down. On the other side of the country, 9,600 residents were evacuated from Labrador City — the largest wildfire evacuation in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As of September 11, 5.3 million hectares had burned in Canada — less than half of what had burned at this point in 2023. While this might look like comparative “success”, more must be done to design a winning strategy to combat wildfires that works for people and the planet.

Wildfires affect everyone. Particulate matter from wildfire smoke can travel 1,000 km and cause severe respiratory issues. Our report, The Nature of Health, investigated the relationship between nature and human health in detail and found that investments in nature-based solutions often generate health cost savings.

Despite everyone being at risk of wildfire, the effects remain unequal. Indigenous communities are among the most impacted by wildfires with 80% of these communities located in fire-prone areas. With limited resources, fire-fighting equipment and transportation, finding ways to support Indigenous-led responses to wildfires represents an opportunity to advance meaningful economic growth and reconciliation.

Leading by example: Indigenous-led wildfire management 

Wildfires are not new; they are as old as Mother Earth. For centuries, Indigenous communities have adapted to the “law of nature” — cultural burns reduced the risk of wildfires while also enhancing long-term biodiversity. Cultural (or prescribed) burns are recommended in early spring and late fall to remove fuel sources from the forest floor. These burns also help remove invasive species, support regrowth of grasslands and crucially reduce the risk and severity of wildfires. By extension, these practices can minimize catastrophic losses, including to communities and nature.

Supporting capacity

There is still a lot of ground to cover in supporting Indigenous communities across the country in rebuilding their capacity to suppress and manage wildfires. In British Columbia, the province is developing 61 cultural burning plans for 2024, covering 4,700 hectares. Indigenous communities are developing another 51 plans. In contrast, the state of New Jersey is forty times smaller than B.C. but deployed cultural burns over an area five times greater than those in B.C. in 2023.

A cost-benefit analysis offers an uncommon economic dimension. According to the Auditor General of Canada, every $1 invested in emergency preparedness and mitigation saves $6 in emergency response and recovery costs. Investments in Lutsel K’e and Dehcho Guardian Programs in Northwest Territories showed a return of $2.50 to $3.70 in social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits for every $1 invested. 

As temperatures rise in Northern Canada, the risk of wildfires increases in the region and so would the costs for effective emergency response. On top of other benefits, it makes business sense to invest in innovative management strategies rather than pay to temporarily displace close to 70% of the population of Northwest Territories every year due to wildfires.

Investing in fighting wildfires makes economic sense

Regardless of where you live in Canada, wildfires cost families more money to rebuild and through higher insurance premiums. The costs for insurance companies are also going up. With a growth in the number of claims, insurance companies are forced to increase premiums to offset the costs of more payouts.

Some insurers in the U.S. have stopped issuing new property insurance policies due to increased wildfire (California) and flood (Florida) risks. A similar situation in Canada would certainly be unwelcome. 

We can better manage wildfires by:

1. Strengthening policies to support Indigenous communities in rebuilding their capacity to manage and mitigate wildfires. Many of these communities are on the front lines of wildfire mitigation efforts. The national First Nations Fire Protection Strategy is a step in the right direction, and the Cultural and Prescribed Fire policy being developed in B.C. in partnership with Indigenous peoples shows further promise. A good fire can better protect these communities, but the success of this approach will hinge on the right resources and training support being made available to train a new generation of Indigenous wildfire experts.
2. Advancing clear business cases to show that increasing investments in wildfire mitigation and management makes economic sense. Public investments to tackle wildfire are increasingly turning to sophisticated, cost-effective mitigation and management techniques capable of reducing the costs to local communities. A recent study indicates investments in the WildFireSat monitoring program can reduce the costs of wildfires by more than 10:1. Private capital through conservation finance mechanisms can be leveraged, especially when returns on investment are this clear.

Canada's wildfire situation underscores the urgent need for improved wildfire management strategies. Equipping Indigenous communities with the resources to rebuild and enhance local capacity to mitigate and manage wildfires is a necessary and cost-effective solution to protect communities and build resilience in the economy and environment.