Our province is facing its most severe wildfire crisis in five years, prompting the Ford government to seek emergency help from Ottawa as flames tear through northern communities and smoke blankets southern Ontario.
Minister of Emergency Preparedness Jill Dunlop announced Thursday that she had formally requested federal assistance, including deployment of Canadian military personnel, to accelerate evacuations in affected regions.
"This is a fast-moving and evolving situation," Dunlop's office stated. "Impacted residents should follow the directions provided by local authorities and follow any evacuation orders. Our government's top priority is to keep people safe."
Multiple communities are under evacuation orders as fires advance, including Armstrong, Whitesand First Nation, Collins First Nation and Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation (Lac La Croix First Nation). Premier Doug Ford acknowledged the gravity of the situation while noting that no fatalities have been reported, calling that outcome "pretty remarkable."
The scale of this year's fire season is staggering. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Ontario has already recorded 482 fires so far in 2026 — a dramatic increase from 362 at this point last year and 170 during the same period in 2024. The province hasn't seen destruction on this scale since 2021, when massive blazes consumed large swaths of northern Ontario.
Alberta is sending dozens of firefighters and additional aircraft to bolster Ontario's response, but questions are mounting about whether the province entered this fire season adequately prepared.
Opposition critics point to a troubling pattern in provincial firefighting budgets. In 2024, Ontario allocated $135 million but ended up spending $171 million. The following year, despite that overrun, the budget remained unchanged — yet actual spending ballooned to $271 million. For 2026, the government raised its budget to $150 million, still well below what it spent in either of the previous two years.
"So the funding is set at about $150 million, but we know that they spent about twice that amount last year, and they're probably going to have to spend a lot more this year," Ontario NDP Lise Vaugeois told Peterborough. "The point is that they need the money up front, so the service has to basically requisition the money after the fact and play catch-up."
Vaugeois also raised concerns about grounded waterbombers, suggesting two aircraft cannot fly due to insufficient crew availability — an issue Ford has previously acknowledged publicly.
When asked repeatedly by Peterborough about how many helicopters and planes are currently unable to operate, the Ministry of Natural Resources declined to provide specific numbers. "All of our available aircraft are crewed and supporting wildfire suppression efforts," the ministry stated, without clarifying how many aircraft were unavailable.
Speaking at an unrelated event Thursday, Ford pushed back against criticism of provincial firefighting funding. "We'd never underfund our firefights — never, ever," he said. "While our base budget might be $150 million, every year we spend significantly more."
Beyond budget concerns, frontline firefighters have voiced frustrations for years about compensation, retention challenges, and the steady departure of experienced personnel from their ranks — issues that may compound the difficulties of managing an unprecedented fire season.
As smoke continues to drift southward and evacuation efforts intensify in the north, the coming weeks will test whether Ontario's firefighting infrastructure can meet the demands of a crisis that shows no signs of abating.
