A look at the hundreds of wildfires burning from coast to coast in Canada

More than 950 wildfires are scorching Canada from coast to coast, the national wildland fire summary says. Roughly 241 blazes are out of control.

The fires have prompted Environment Canada to issue air quality warnings from B.C. to Quebec, as well as the Northwest Territories.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires is also hovering over major cities in the United States, including New York, Chicago and Detroit.

Here’s a look at what is happening:

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Nearly 115 wildfires are burning in British Columbia. BC Wildfire Service says a majority were sparked by lightning.

Two-thirds of the fires are out of control and most new blazes, orders and alerts are in the southern B.C. Interior.

The latest evacuation order was issued Friday for roughly 140 properties near Big Bar Lake and Meadow Lake in B.C.’s southern Cariboo region, north of Vancouver.

BC Wildfire says a nearby blaze was burning across 40 square kilometres.

Two wildfires that make up the Brunswick Complex are also still out of control in the province’s Fraser Canyon region.

Multiple air quality warnings have been issued. More than 500 firefighters have been called to tackle the blazes.

MANITOBA

Multiple out-of-control wildfires are burning in Manitoba’s north.

One of them forced about 600 people from the remote community of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation to leave on June 26.

That wildfire was burning across 172 square kilometres.

The blazes have prompted air quality warnings from Environment Canada.

The agency says smoke is causing low air quality and reduced visibility in the province and is asking locals to check in on vulnerable people.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Fires forced about 1,300 residents of Fort Simpson, a village west of Yellowknife, and 130 people from Wrigley to leave their communities in late June. They remain out, with many staying in the territory’s capital.

Officials say the fire north of Wrigley, a community north of Fort Simpson, has moved closer to the community, but cooler temperatures are expected to help. The fire near Fort Simpson remains out of control.

ONTARIO

Nearly 200 wildfires are blazing across the province, already scorching more land than all of last year’s fires. 

Premier Doug Ford is in Thunder Bay, where many evacuees fleeing northern Ontario wildfires have sought shelter, filling the city’s hotels to near capacity. 

Ford has said more than 150 fire crews and over 80 water bombers are fighting the blazes.

Ford warned evacuees not to return to their homes.

The province has opened reception centres, including one in Thunder Bay, to help connect evacuees to shelter, food and medical services. 

An expanded evacuation alert has been issued for 29 townships threatened by a 550-square-kilometre fire raging south of Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation.

Residents of towns including Ames, Blackwell, Goldie, Lamport, Michener, Savanne and Upsala are asked to be prepared to evacuate on short notice.

Multiple northern communities have already been evacuated or have evacuations underway.

Widespread air quality alerts remain in place as the fires send smoke across the province.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in front of a live map of smoke movement during a press conference updating media on ongoing forest fires in Ontario, in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

NOVA SCOTIA

Crews in Nova Scotia are fighting an out-of-control wildfire northeast of Halifax.

The province’s Natural Resources Department says the fire on Mooseland Road is now estimated to be nearly 14 square kilometres.

Two fixed-wing water bombers from Newfoundland and Labrador are responding to the fire alongside two of Nova Scotia’s helicopters and four water bombers.

Smoke from the Mooseland Road wildfire, about 100km northeast of Halifax, is shown in this handout photo on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout – N.S. Department of Natural Resources (Mandatory Credit)

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency issued a mandatory evacuation order for part of the rural area of Mooseland Road on Thursday, affecting between 100 to 150 people.


This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2026.

Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.