Question Period Note: Wildfire Resources

To inform on the current situation on wildfire resources across the country

•Our thoughts continue to be with those displaced from the wildfires, as well as with the first responders who continue to keep residents safe throughout the country.
•The Government of Canada is committed to supporting Canadians as all orders of government work together during the 2023 wildfire season.
•The Government Operations Centre (GOC), on behalf of the Government of Canada, is the lead for federal response to the wildfire situation across the country and works in close collaboration with federal organizations, non-governmental organizations and provincial emergency management partners.
•On June 16, President Biden announced additional US support through the American FireGuard program, which will establish information sharing between NRCan, CIFFC and US partners, providing near real-time information on fires, including early detection.
•In addition to the wildfires in Quebec and Ontario, the GOC is maintaining situational awareness of the wildfire situation, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories.
•I am happy to announce that the situation in Nova Scotia has improved and the wildfires in the county of Shelburne are under control. Recovery discussions are underway with Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada will continue to be there to support the Province.
•We are deeply grateful to the first responders, fire fighters and all those working around the clock hard to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Our provinces embroiled in wildfires have been doing an exemplary job with their provincial firefighting resources.
•In addition to the CAF supports that have been deployed, there are 6,007 domestic firefighters engaged, supported by 1,703 international firefighters coordinated by CIFFC.
•Firefighters are coming from all over the world to support, with more arriving from Portugal, Spain, US, Chile, South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Discussions are ongoing with other countries who have offered further supports.
•We maintain continuous communication with our federal and provincial partners, including Indigenous Communities, and impacts on communities are monitored on a 24/7 basis.
•We are extremely thankful for the international firefighter support that Canada has received from other countries.
•The Canadian Armed Forces are providing support while several other federal departments, under their own mandates, are integrated into the overall. This includes the Public Health Agency of Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Transport Canada, and many others.
•The Government of Canada remains ready to support and is taking all possible steps to ensure resources are there to support provinces should the fire situation continue to worsen.

Responsive lines (if prompted)
•Emergencies are managed first at the local level. If municipal and local governments need assistance at the local level, they request it from the province or territory. If the emergency overwhelms Provincial/Territorial capacity, the province or territory may seek assistance from the federal government.
•Should a province or territory make an official Request for Federal Assistance (RFA), there is a well-established process in place for managing these requests through the GOC and includes interdepartmental consultation and coordination.

The Government Operations Centre (GOC) is mandated, on behalf of the Government of Canada, to lead and support response coordination of events affecting the national interest. It is an interdepartmental response-focused asset of the Government of Canada working in support of deputy heads, departments and agencies at the national (strategic) whole-of-government level. It brings all partners into a common environment to harmonize collective actions and abilities into efficient analysis and action.

Each year, in consultation with partners, the GOC completes a comprehensive risk assessment and planning process in advance of flooding and the wildland urban interface seasons. The intent is to increase federal preparedness to support provinces and territories for potential spring flooding and urban interface wildfires. The final outcomes include a national risk assessment and the Government of Canada Contingency Plan for each of these cyclical events. The objective of these Contingency Plans is to outline a coordinated structure for an integrated federal response to flooding or wildfire events, in support of the provinces and territories (PT), for regions of concern. The Contingency Plan also provides strategic guidance and orientation for planning and response personnel at the national level.

During the flooding and wildfire seasons, our government maintains continuous communication with our federal and provincial partners, including Indigenous Communities, while monitoring impacts on communities on a 24/7 basis.

Climate change is making natural disasters more severe, more frequent, more damaging and more expensive. In the past few years, the Minister of Public Safety, on behalf of the federal government, has accepted increasing numbers of Requests for Assistance (RFAs) for relief efforts from devastating events including the recent impacts from Hurricane Fiona, Atmospheric River events, and BC wildfires.

Current Situation

As of June 18, across the country, there are 437 (-10) wildfires burning; 207 (-) are out of control. There have been 2,661 fires to date; the ten-year average for this time of the year is 1,671 (+47) fires; an estimated 5.8M hectares (ha) have burned this year to date while the ten-year average to date is 263,118 (+8,689) ha burned.    

As of June 18, approximately 1,703 international resources are supporting the ongoing firefighting response across Canada.

There are at least 6,007 (-149) firefighting personnel (firefighters, incident management personnel, overhead specialists; including CAF) deployed in AB, NS, ON, and QC combatting wildfires. At least 3,770 (-3) are domestic firefighting personnel and 385 (35) are CAF.
•In QC: 775 (-) Domestic, 526 (-1) International, 310 (-5) CAF.  
•In ON: 1,163 (-) Domestic.  
•In AB: 1,743 (-3) Domestic, 1,135 (-30) International, 75 (-) CAF.  
•In NS: 89 (-) Domestic, 17 (-) International, 0 (-100) CAF.  
•PS, GAC and NRCan continue to work to support CIFFC through diplomatic channels as other countries offer more resources to Canada.          
•Some provinces also have Compact agreements tracked provincially with the US.        
•As of 18 Jun, approximately 1,703 (-41) international personnel are supporting fire suppression. These personnel are coordinated through CIFFC or Compact agreements between the provinces and US.

Firefighting resources continue to be shared across the country, supplemented by international deployments to Canada, and coordinated by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). CIFFC continues to work diligently with international partners to ensure the affected regions receive the resources they need to combat these fires.

Alberta (AB)
An RFA was approved on May 10 and extended on May 27. There are approximately 1,743 personnel and 173 aircraft from within AB responding to the wildfires. In addition, 1,135 out-of-province personnel (International, other P/Ts): 361 personnel from Australia, 25 from New Zealand, 220 from the United States, and 427 from South Africa, 41 from Costa Rica and 61 from Chile.  

Nova Scotia (NS)
NS has indicated that they will cease providing wildfire reports going forward.

The fires event in NS continues to transition the recovery phase.  

All CAF personnel have returned to 5 Cdn Div.

Quebec (QC)

An RFA was approved 03 Jun. CAF will support with fire turnover, mop up, hotspot dousing, planning, coordination support, airlift for mobility, reconnaissance, and logistical tasks. On 18 Jun, the province has requested an extension beyond 23 Jun. The request is being processed.

There are approx. 750 domestic firefighting resources including incident management teams, support staff, and volunteers responding to the wildfires. Aerial resources include 19 air tankers and 72 helicopters. International total resources supporting wildfires in QC: 106 firefighters from France, 140 firefighters from Portugal, 97 firefighters from Spain and 183 firefighters from the United States. CIFCC continues to coordinate additional resources for QC.

CIFFC

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) is at a National Preparedness Level (NPL) of 5 (Extreme fire danger and load, inadequate agency resource levels, and inadequate ability to respond to resource requests).

Requests for Assistance

When a PT makes an official RFA, there is a well-established process in place for managing RFAs, through the GOC at Public Safety Canada, that includes interdepartmental consultation and coordination of all departments as required. The GOC coordinates formal RFAs from the federal government and PTs and liaises with key organizations such as the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and non-governmental organizations like the Canadian Red Cross through the Humanitarian Work force program.

When the emergency involves a First Nation (FN) community, FN leadership, depending on relevant emergency management agreements, will work in collaboration with their PTs and/or Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) or regional officials, to assess the emergency and propose a response. If a resolution is not possible at the regional level, a request for assistance may be sought.

The GOC and provincial and territorial partners maintain continuous communication and share situational awareness. The GOC will continue to monitor activities in conjunction with its partners and be prepared to respond to any requests for federal assistance.

Federal Emergency Response Plan (FERP)

The FERP addresses domestic emergencies and international emergencies with a domestic impact, and is limited to near term response preparedness, immediate response efforts and early recovery arrangements. This plan includes both national and regional level components, which provide a framework for effective integration of efforts both horizontally and vertically throughout the federal government.

The FERP aligns on and operationalises the principles and content of the Emergency Management Act – S.C. 2007, the Federal Policy for Emergency Management (2012), the Emergency Management Framework for Canada (2017), and the Emergency Management Strategy for Canada (2019) by defining the approach, processes and requirements to support a coherent federal approach for response readiness and integrated response operations. This includes but is not limited to:
•enhancing whole of society collaboration and governance to strengthen resilience;
•explaining how federal institutions should define and document their roles responsibilities and capabilities;
•identifying core governance structures for both regular business and for an integrated federal response;
•defining the response coordination function, including the mandate of the Government Operations Centre; and
•defining the processes required to support coordinated federal emergency response operations with those of the provincial/territorial/governments, Indigenous communities, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector.

The FERP applies to all federal government institutions, and does not replace, but should be read in conjunction with, and as complimentary to, event-specific or departmental/agency plans or areas of responsibility.

Led by PS, a whole of government consultation process has seen engagement with 26 federal departments and agencies, as well as direct work with the ADMs responsible to review and, where necessary, renew the FERP, taking into account readiness for the future.

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