The Government of Canada has shared it is taking direct action to strengthen Canada’s wildfire response capacity and better protect communities across the country from the increasing threat of wildfires.
This announcement comes following the second worst wildfire season in Canada’s history in 2025 and the prospect of increasingly challenging wildfires in the years to come.
On the 20 February 2026, the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced that the Government of Canada is investing $316.7 million over the next 5 years to increase Canada’s aerial wildfire firefighting capacity.
The Honourable Eleanor Olszewski explained: “Following the second worst wildfire season in our history, our government is showing leadership and making bold investments that will provide critical support to provinces and territories.
“The aircraft leased by CIFFC using this funding will help frontline firefighters respond faster, slow the spread and minimize the impact of wildfires on communities across Canada for 2026 and future wildfire seasons.”
This investment, stemming from the Budget 2025 commitment to bolster provincial and territorial aerial firefighting capacity, will be directed to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
CIFFC coordinates wildfire resources among federal, provincial and territorial governments.
Over the next five years, CIFFC will use this funding to lease and manage the deployment of federally funded wildfire fighting aircraft to provinces and territories to boost their capacity during periods of intense wildfire activity.
CIFFC has launched a request for proposals (RFP) to ensure that aircraft are available for use in the 2026 wildfire season.
Aerial firefighting is an important tool for fighting wildfires that protects lives and property by delivering water or fire retardant drops in hard-to-reach areas, slowing wildfire spread and supporting ground crews with surveillance.
These additional aircraft aims to strengthen wildfire response operations across Canada and improve safety for communities and frontline personnel.
