As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs due to wildfire smoke moving into the U.S., Canadian fire specialists assert that significant forest fires are unavoidable.
In recent days, Trump has publicly criticized how Canada handles its wildfires, claiming the country is “poisoning” the air in the U.S. He indicated that Canada might need to compensate.
However, experts highlight that the increasing severity of fire seasons in Canada reveals a harsher truth: not all fires or the smoke they produce can be extinguished.
“Trying to extinguish massive fires like these is akin to attempting to halt a hurricane,” remarked Martin Girardin, a forest ecology researcher at Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service. “It’s simply not possible.”
As of Monday, Canada had over 900 active fires, with more than 3.7 million hectares affected in 2026, as reported by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System dashboard. The fires have caused significant destruction in Namaygoosisagagun and Whitewater Lake First Nations in northwestern Ontario, necessitating evacuations in several other communities.
Girardin noted that climate change exacerbates fire seasons by contributing to warmer temperatures and drier conditions, while many forests are accumulating fuel sources, including mature trees and other organic matter.
In response to a question about the diarrhea-causing parasite and comments about lettuce from Mexico making people sick, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to put a ‘big tariff’ on Canada in response to wildfire smoke crossing the border.
Mathew Conte, the fire chief in Jasper, Alberta, stated that wildfires are becoming more severe and spreading more rapidly as rural areas develop.
“As we expand into forested areas, naturally, these communities and properties will face greater risks from wildfires,” Conte explained.
Throughout Canada, researchers, fire management professionals, and Indigenous fire custodians are advocating for FireSmart practices to safeguard homes, create firebreaks to protect towns, and implement cultural burning to rejuvenate the land.
FireSmart emphasizes residential and community resilience
Ryan Moreside, wildfire mitigation program coordinator for FireSmart BC, stressed the need to shift focus from extinguishing fires to equipping communities for future preparedness.
“It’s about optimizing our resources, while ultimately, Mother Nature determines the outcome,” Moreside stated.
Established in 1993, FireSmart is a wildfire resilience framework that operates programs across all provinces and territories. It encourages practices like safe firewood storage, using fire-resistant building materials, and conducting home assessments.
FireSmart provides homeowners with guidance on fire-resistant plant options for their properties, among other fire-proofing methods. (Vernon Ramesar/CBC)
In 2024, approximately 30 percent of Jasper was affected by a wildfire. Conte mentioned that a crucial takeaway was the necessity of enhancing the resilience of homes and neighborhoods. The burned area had many houses situated close to coniferous vegetation, built closely together, and featuring flammable roofs.
“In a scenario like ours, even if you effectively FireSmart your property, if your neighbor doesn’t, it generally won’t be sufficient,” he remarked. “A neighborhood is only as resilient as its weakest member.”
In the rebuilding process, Conte indicated that Jasper is prioritizing public education, reinforcing protections for critical infrastructure, and incorporating tools like sprinkler systems.
Fireguards serve as protective barriers
Fireguards, also known as fuel breaks, are zones surrounding a community where trees and other vegetation are cleared or minimized through logging or controlled burns.
Whitehorse has been developing a fireguard since 2020, while the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta initiated a community fireguard program in 2023.
The Bow Valley Community Fireguard, funded by the Alberta association, is currently under construction outside Canmore, Alberta, near Banff National Park. Fire chief Shawn Polley mentioned that the fireguard is approximately halfway finished.
The Jasper wildfire in 2024 destroyed a third of the townsite, prompting other communities in the Rockies to take measures to prevent a similar disaster. As reported by CBC’s Jo Horwood, experts warn that extreme weather events are becoming more common, pushing residents in Canmore to implement strategies against wildfire damage.
Polley explained that fireguards assist in eliminating fuel sources, creating safer zones for firefighting efforts, and slowing down fires.
“Wildfires will occur, but these measures allow us to maintain less dense or mature forests, which helps to decelerate a fire,” he stated.
While fireguards are not intended to completely prevent wildfires, they aim to lessen the fire’s intensity as it nears a community and provide a safer environment for firefighting teams.
Cultural burning integrates Indigenous fire management practices
Amy Cardinal Christianson, director of fire stewardship for the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, emphasized the significance of Indigenous participation in fire management for aiding communities and ecosystems in coexisting with and recovering from fires.
Cultural burning, a practice where Indigenous peoples intentionally set fire to landscapes, is rooted in extensive traditional knowledge. Christianson noted that an additional advantage is the removal of aged vegetation and the reduction of fire hazards.
“Much of the burning we conducted was around communities or areas we valued,” she mentioned.
She observed that interest in cultural burns has surged following B.C.’s unprecedented fire seasons in 2017 and 2018, although long-term funding for stewardship initiatives remains scarce.
Tiffany Joseph leads Rematriate Stewardship, an initiative to reconnect Indigenous women to their lands. She has been learning about cultural burning to reduce the risk of wildfires and participated in two burns earlier this year.
Christianson stressed that FireSmart homes and fireguards require a comprehensive, long-term approach to land management.
“We must broaden our view, looking at this from a larger, more holistic landscape perspective, while acknowledging that vegetation will naturally regenerate,” she stated.
She highlighted the fire stewardship efforts of the Yunesit’in First Nation, which collaborates with the Gathering Voices Society at the University of British Columbia and has been conducting cultural burns every April and October since 2019.
Emissions are crucial for long-term solutions
Although these initiatives can mitigate damage and safeguard lives, experts caution that they cannot completely eliminate fire risks—especially as climate change intensifies fire seasons. For researchers like Girardin, the focus must be on reversing climate change trends.
“Our capacity to control lies only in our CO2 emissions, and we are not doing enough,” Girardin stated.
