As Alberta prepares for wildfire fight, union pushes recruitment efforts

With about two weeks left of winter, Alberta’s wildfire season – and funding for fire preparedness – have already begun.

The province’s wildfire season officially begins on March 1 and runs until Oct. 31. According to provincial numbers, Alberta kicked off the season with 10 active wildfires, down from 60 at the same time last year.

This week’s Alberta budget had $7.5 billion allocated over three years for municipal infrastructure support, which included $47 million for wildfire management for communities. Broken down, it includes $22 million for wildfire enhancements, $19 million for a facility upgrade program and $6 million for management readiness.

Budget 2025 also included $160 million in base funding for wildfire personnel, equipment, training and contracts.

Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) vice-president James Gault says most of the $160 million is going towards equipment, which poses a concern for workers.

“The money really needs to go into the human aspect of those resources to make sure that there’s people on the ground early,” said Gault, whose organization represents between 40 and 1,000 firefighters depending on the time of year.

Last year the province hired around 1,000 firefighters, 100 more than usual Gault says, but also had to bring in between 1,200 and 1,300 from across Canada and the world to help.

“It’s good to have the equipment that we need, and we should have done it years ago … But we still need to have people coming here and retaining them and keeping them for the depth of experience and knowledge.”

Gault says Alberta has had trouble recruiting firefighters due to a variety of factors, including other provinces’ offers of pre-cancer coverage and better benefits.

“Our hope is just that the government would understand and respect that (trained firefighters) are needed here in Alberta, where they can protect Albertans as well,” he said.

The province also doubled its contingency fund in the budget to $4 billion, up from $2 billion last year and $1.5 billion in 2023. The province says the additional costs are meant to cover “unforeseen implications of increased economic uncertainty” such as tariffs, and collective bargaining expenses.

In mid-February, Alberta Wildfire was cautiously optimistic about the conditions heading into this year’s wildfire season compared to the previous two seasons.

The 2023 season saw a record 2.2 million hectares of land burned. Last year’s season began in February and saw firefighters battle more than 1,150 wildfires that scorched 700,000 hectares, including the devasting flames in Jasper.

Wildland fire professor Mike Flannigan says ultimately the severity of the wildfire season will depend on the day-to-day weather and that May is traditionally the busiest season.

“That horrific fire season we had (in 2023) that survived last winter and now surviving this winter, especially in the north west corner, that’s where there’s a drought and there’s a bit of a drought all along western Alberta, and those areas are primed for an active fire season,” he said.

In a written statement, Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen said the province is focused on three main areas including wildfire prevention, mitigation and readiness to respond.

The province’s mitigation push includes controlled burns, creating firebreaks and managing forest vegetation to minimize fuel for fires, Loewen says.

“Fireguard projects are currently underway in the Bow Valley near Canmore, as well as Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Hinton, Whitecourt and Slave Lake,” the minister wrote.

Last year, the province also put $3.4 million towards 38 FireSmart projects through the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA).

“I have every confidence in our wildfire teams and their ability to meet the challenges ahead,” Loewen wrote.

He also stressed Albertans must do their part to uphold the province’s three pillars for wildfire preparedness.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.