'' concluded that the June–September 2023 Canadian wildfires caused
carbon emissions that exceeded annual fossil fuel emissions of all nations except India, China and the US.
Alberta In May,
Alberta was the province most impacted by wildfires. Most large wildfires in Alberta in 2023 were triggered by lightning. By May 7, 108 active fires were burning in the province. The provincial state of emergency ended on June 3. At the end of the fire season, the province recorded 1088 fires totalling burned.
High Level Forest Area Two fires that were out of control in the High Level Forest Area were active on 15 May. They deployed 83 firefighters, four helicopters and other heavy equipment by May 15. HWF-030, named the Paskwa Fire, was another out-of-control fire that spread eastward due to extreme conditions. It reached an active burning area of . It was within the community of
Fox Lake, and was 13 kilometres from the community of
Garden River. The fire remained south of the Peace River. The extreme weather conditions made it hard for firefighters and aircraft to assist the fire. 76 firefighters and 13 helicopters were deployed as well as heavy equipment. A state of local emergency was declared for Fox Lake, followed by an evacuation order on May 3. An evacuation alert for Garden River was issued on May 13. Twelve firefighters and seven helicopters, heavy equipment and airtankers worked to prevent the fire from spreading further.
British Columbia wildfire in British Columbia (June 2023)
British Columbia saw an unusual lack of rain in May and early June, leading to increased wildfire conditions in the province. In British Columbia, 72% of wildfires in 2023 were triggered by natural causes, while the remainder were due to human activity. In a study of British Columbia's 2017 fire season, researchers found that human-caused climate change had a strong influence on the amount of area burned. The final tally of wildfires in British Columbia for 2023 was 2293 fires and burned. In early June, the province saw multiple wildfires in or near
Peachland and on
Vancouver Island near both
Port Alberni and
Sayward. As of June 2, there were 54 active fires in the region. In northeastern British Columbia, the
Donnie Creek wildfire became the single largest wildfire in BC history. It attained this status on June 18. By June 24, the fire was burning over an area of greater than 5,648 square kilometres (2,180 square miles). There were 377 active wildfires in British Columbia as of July 15, including 20 that were classified as "highly visible, threatening or potentially damaging 'wildfires of note'". Unruly blazes destroyed properties and closed parts of the
Trans-Canada highway . August saw several very destructive wildfires in the southern Interior region. Two fires, the
Bush Creek East wildfire in the
Shuswap area, and the
McDougall Creek wildfire, south of
Kelowna, caused heavy damage to structures and forced major evacuations. The two fires, which burned concurrently, caused 730 million CAD in insured damages, ranking as the most costly extreme weather event in the province's history. Between July and October 21, much of BC had seen less than a quarter of usual rainfall, with
Vancouver at 10% and
Victoria recording only 2 millimetres of rain instead of its normal average of 132 mm. As of October 21, there were still 202 active wildfires. Many of the BC wildfires of note from the 2023 wildfire season were featured in a five-part documentary series entitled
Wildfire (2025 TV series) that aired on
Knowledge Network throughout April and May 2025. This includes the Donnie Creek wildfire and McDougall Creek wildfire.
Manitoba As of June 6, there had been 70 fires in
Manitoba, below the province's average number for that point in the season. Compared to past years, human caused fires were less frequent, with lightning causing the majority. On June 2, Manitoba only had three wildfires active in the province. Lightning over June 3 and 4 raised the total fire count to 12 by June 5, and to 14 by June 6. Of those, four were considered out of control. A fire near
Saint Andrews, which had started on May 28, was brought under control on June 5.
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador saw 34 wildfires before May 1, far outpacing the 2022 season, which saw only 2 fires in that same period. This was attributed to dry conditions. On June 8, there were 72 active wildfires in the province. By August 17, they were within of the capital city,
Yellowknife, leading to an evacuation order. The wildfires caused telecommunication and internet signals to be cut off throughout the
South Slave Region, which led to concerns about the feasibility of a safe evacuation. By August 23, wildfires in the territory had produced 97 megatonnes of carbon, accounting for roughly a fourth of the total 327 megatonnes produced by Canada's wildfires in 2023. On average, in Nova Scotia, only about 3% of wildfires are caused by lightning, with the remaining being caused by human activity. Of those caused by human activity, about a third of Nova Scotia's fires are caused by people on or near their own property, and about a quarter are caused by
arson. The
Barrington Lake fire in
Shelburne County, which started May 27, covered at its largest. On June 7, officials announced it was successfully contained. As of June 7, the fire had destroyed 60 residences and 150 other structures. The fire burned around and between 30 and 40 structures were destroyed. The response to the fire included widespread evacuation orders of the surrounding area, displacing around 5000 people. Efforts to stop the fire includes the use of American
water bombers and additional firefighters from the U.S. and
Costa Rica.
Halifax mayor
Mike Savage described the response to the fire as "unprecedented" in the area. Approximately 16,400 people were placed under mandatory evacuation orders in the surrounding areas. Preliminary reports stated that approximately 151 houses were destroyed and 50 other structures were damaged or destroyed. As of June 3 the fire was declared "largely contained" with help from the Canadian military and a heavy rainstorm.
Ontario Smoke from the fires caused air quality in
Ottawa,
Toronto, as well as most of
Southern Ontario on June 5–7 to hit the highest level on
Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index, the worst in the province of Ontario. Air quality also hit the highest level in
Kingston and
Belleville, Ontario. Smoke from the fires descended on Ottawa once again on June 25–26, reaching the maximum level by 11am. This forced the city of Ottawa to cancel outdoor programs, races at the
Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival were cancelled, as were activities at the Ottawa Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival. On June 28, the air quality in Toronto ranked among the worst in the world and once again reached the highest level on Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index. This forced a number of city-run outdoor recreation programs to move indoors.
Quebec in
Quebec City covered in wildfire smoke (25 June 2023)
Quebec was particularly hard hit during the 2023 wildfire season, with more frequent wildfires than in the past, and fewer resources and experience with which to fight them. It saw the most area burned of any province with . As of June 10, the province had reported 446 fires, compared to the average of 212 for the same date. On June 8, 137 fires were active in Quebec and 54 in Ontario. On the afternoon of June 25, Montreal had the worst air quality in the world due to wildfire smoke in the region; several cultural and sporting events were cancelled or postponed in response.
Saskatchewan Like other regions,
Saskatchewan had a dry spring, leading to increased risk for wildfires. By May 25, the province had seen 187 fires; the five-year average for that point in the season is 111. Some communities, although not directly in the path of any fires, lost power due to fires in the region, particularly from May 14 to 17. == Domestic impacts ==