2025 Canadian wildfires

The 2025 Canadian wildfire season began with over 160 wildfires across the country in mid-May 2025 primarily in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Two civilians died in the town of Lac du Bonnet located northeast of Winnipeg. Manitoba and Saskatchewan declared respective month-long states of emergency on May 28 and May 29, while fires formed or spread through the summer in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Manitoba declared a second state of emergency on July 10 as a second wave of fires hit the region. Atlantic Canada faced heat waves and extreme fire conditions in early August, and fires began breaking out in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the island of Newfoundland. In late August and early September, fires forced evacuations in the Northwest Territories and the interior of British Columbia. Over half of the area burned in 2025 was in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario all saw fires above annual averages.

The 2025 fires continued a series of severe wildfire season in Canada. Though wildfires are a natural part of the boreal forest life cycle, climate change driven by fossil fuel consumption led to higher temperatures, drier conditions, and longer fire seasons. The 2024 wildfires were among the worst in history, and the 2023 Canadian wildfires were unprecedented in their destruction, with some fires in 2025 starting as holdover "zombie" fires from 2023. By mid-June, the 2025 fires were on track to be the second-worst on record in terms of carbon emissions and area burned, and by August they had surpassed the 1989 season, trailing only 2023.

The fires forced the evacuations of 85,000 people, of whom 45,000 were from First Nations. The entire city of Flin Flon, Manitoba was evacuated in May, and in June much of the nearby village of Denare Beach, Saskatchewan was destroyed. The fires required the mobilization of the Canadian Armed Forces to aid in logistical and firefighting efforts, and hundreds of international firefighters joined efforts to combat the blazes. The fires damaged or destroyed large numbers of homes, cottages, and other structures, as well as critical infrastructure such as water treatment facilities. Smoke from the fires caused hazardous air quality across the continent, triggering air quality alerts in major metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States. Smoke traveled as far as Europe, causing hazy conditions and a red-orange hue during dawn and dusk.