Ten years ago, an out-of-control wildfire swept through the Fort McMurray community in northeast Alberta. As flames breached the town, more than 80,000 people were forced into a terrifying flight to safety. It was the largest evacuation in Canadian history.
Despite the bravery and heroics of firefighters, 2,400 structures were destroyed. Entire neighbourhoods were reduced to ash, with precious mementoes lost and insured damage that tallied billions of dollars. A community was forever changed, and many of those impacted developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
As we look back on that devastating event, it’s incumbent on all of us to ask what we have learned since the Fort McMurray wildfire. What must be done to prevent another large-scale wildfire?
Over the past 20 years, the wildfire season in Canada has started earlier and lasted longer, and the fires have become increasingly hard to contain. The statistics tell an ominous story.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, more than 46 million hectares were burned across Canada between 2016 and 2025, an 81-per-cent increase over the previous decade.
Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. reports that between 2016 and 2025, Canada saw 16 wildfires that exceeded $30 million in insured damage, categorized as a catastrophic wildfire event, while we saw only two in the previous decade — a 700-per-cent increase.
At the same time, insured damage from wildfires has increased more 1,000 per cent. Between 2016 and 2025, insurers supported more than $8.1 billion in total claims for support and rebuilding after wildfires, compared to only $734 million in the previous decade.
Simply put, we’ve seen a massive increase in the scale and size of wildfires across Canada.
In 2021, fire wiped out the entire community of Lytton, B.C. In 2023, wildfires caused significant damage in Tantallon, N.S., and the Okanagan and Shuswap areas of B.C.
An out-of-control wildfire in Jasper National Park in 2024 destroyed a third of the buildings in the Jasper community. And in 2025, wildfires ravaged multiple smaller communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
In each case, thousands of people were forced to flee for their lives, and a long recovery and rebuilding process displaced many from their homes for an extended period of time.
It’s too early to predict if 2026 will bring increased wildfire risk across the country. However, it’s clear that more must be done to prepare, mitigate and prevent more widespread losses in light of the undeniable data.
The Province of Alberta has taken some important steps in this regard, including recently releasing the Wildfire Mitigation Strategy, which identifies a clear path to making Alberta more resilient to wildfire risk.
The government has also expanded wildfire mitigation grants to ensure at-risk communities are better protected leading into wildfire season and has increased investment in wildfire-fighting resources, including adopting new technologies and expanding urban wildfire protection teams. Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) commends these important first steps, but moving forward, governments must do more to protect communities.
Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry has been a staunch advocate for increased investments in infrastructure to help keep homes and businesses safe from catastrophic weather events and ensure that insurance remains widely available and affordable.
In 2025, IBC published six recommendations on how Canada can build climate-resilient homes and safer communities. IBC followed this up with its Three-Point Resilience Plan, a comprehensive strategy to protect vulnerable communities, ensure the continued sustainability of the home insurance market, and reduce the financial and emotional tolls of natural disasters.
As part of its ongoing advocacy, IBC encourages sustained federal investment in programs such as the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund that enhance community resilience and deliver significant economy‑wide benefits. Every dollar invested in climate adaptation can return as much as $13 to $15 in benefits.
The warning signs — the storms, the devastation, and the growing threats to lives and property — are clear. IBC is encouraging governments to recognize these signs, implement the recommendations and make the necessary infrastructure investments, thereby making Canada more resilient and paying long-term dividends to communities.