Conflict · Wildfire crews short · ArchiveCanada's Wildfire System 34 Crews Short With No Federal AgencyAired August 8, 2026 at 12:39 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Canada does not have enough resources to0:01deal with [music] the current wildfire0:03situation as severe fire seasons become0:05annual. Professor of wildland fire Mike0:07Flanagan at Thompson Rivers University0:08says via CBC News. Flanagan says Canada0:11is the only G7 country without a federal0:13emergency management agency via CBC0:14News, leaving provinces to carry0:16coordination [music] without a permanent0:18federal counterpart.0:24Hundreds of firefighters from Mexico and0:26crews from New Zealand and Australia are0:28called into Canada year after year.0:30Flanagan says via CBC News because0:33domestic [music] capacity cannot meet0:34demand. That gap is concrete in Ontario.0:37The province's firefighter union says it0:39is authorized to operate with [music]0:41190 crews, but staffing shortages leave0:4434 crews short via CBC News. Flanagan0:47[music] says with training structural0:49firefighters could be used on wildland0:51fires [music] via CBC News, while the0:53Senate report Canada on fire recommends0:56creating and funding a national fleet of0:57modern firefighting aircraft that are in0:59good working order. Via [music] the1:01Senate report, via CBC News. The1:03unresolved hinge is Ottawa's clock.1:05[music] The federal government has 1801:07days to respond to that Senate report1:09Canada on fire via CBC News with no1:12verified commitment yet on whether it1:14will establish a federal [music]1:15emergency management agency, fund a1:17national air fleet, or close the crew1:19deficits that force communities to wait1:21for international crews each fire1:23season.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗