The big news Monday on the Saskatchewan wildfire situation was a funding announcement by the federal government for wildfire training.
During their wildfire update on Monday, Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, announced an investment of over $540,000 in two wildland firefighter training programs to train nearly 100 new firefighters in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The investment includes $335,000 for the Yorkton Tribal Council in Saskatchewan to support the training of 35 volunteer firefighters in their community.
Also, $204,800 is going to the Rural Municipality of Piney, Man., to support training of up to 60 individuals from the R.M. of Piney and Buffalo Point First Nation in basic wildland firefighting and to strengthen local wildfire response capacity.
The federal government says this is part of a $28-million investment in training new wildland firefighters by 2028. They are now on track to train more than 2,800 — well above their original target of over 1,000.
During the media availability, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor Olszewski said this 2025 wildfire season is now Canada’s second-worst on record in terms of hectares burned, consuming an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.
She said as of Aug. 18, there are 707 wildfires currently burning in Canada, and the national wildland fire preparedness level is at level five, meaning firefighters and equipment are in use in every province and territory.
“I want to assure Canadians that we are working around the clock to support provinces and territories. And since our last update in June, I’ve approved additional requests for federal assistance, and they’ve come in from Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and this weekend, I approved a request for assistance from Nova Scotia with respect to wildfires,” said Olszewski.
Olszewski also pointed to her visit to Saskatchewan the previous week.
“You know, I had a chance last week in Saskatchewan, and then a few days ago in Edmonton, to personally thank members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and also local emergency teams for their service on behalf of all Canadians. Keeping Canadians safe is really a clear directive from the Prime Minister, and in his mandate better to me and to my colleagues, that was crystal clear, and that’s why building long-term resilience with respect to these wildfires and other emergencies is not just a government priority, it really is a personal commitment of mine. We’re working right now on a plan to better support provinces and territories in responding to immediate threats, and that really means looking at things like how we can strengthen coordination and capacity across jurisdictions, across provinces and territories, so that communities have the tools they need to respond, to recover, and to rebuild.”
More evacuees return home
As for the current situation in Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency reported 69 active wildfires as of 1:30 p.m. Monday, with 466 wildfires so far this year — ahead of the five-year average of 380. Of those, eight are contained, seven are not contained, 36 are under assessment and 18 are protecting values.
As of Aug. 18, La Plonge Indian Reserve was still under an active evacuation order. Three other communities saw residents return home: the Northern Hamlet of Jans Bay, the Northern Village of Beauval and Patuanak/English River First Nation.
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