Good morning. This summer has brought into focus an important question: How should Canada update its wildfire response in the face of longer, hotter fire seasons? More on that below, plus big bank earnings and a high-profile engagement. But first:

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Hello, I’m Andrea Woo and I’m a reporter in The Globe’s Vancouver bureau.

Canada’s wildfire seasons have changed. It’s apparent in the earlier starts and later finishes, fires threatening communities from early spring through to the fall. More than 30,000 people were displaced by wildfires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba alone this year, before even the start of summer.

It’s apparent also in the catastrophic damage fires now leave behind. In 2023, the country’s most destructive wildfire season to date, more than 173,400 square kilometres burned – more than double the previous record and six times more than the 10-year average.

And it’s apparent in the Herculean efforts to mobilize resources. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), which co-ordinates firefighting resources across the country and internationally, has operated at its most severe national preparedness level every day this year since late May, signalling that fire activity is significant, firefighters in every jurisdiction in Canada are in use and international help has been requested.

Considering all the changes we’re seeing, is it time for Canada’s wildfire strategy to change as well?

That’s the question reporter Matthew McClearn and I sought to answer, putting the question to experts across the country.

Currently, each province and territory is primarily responsible for its own wildfire management. When local resources are exhausted, they can formally request additional help through CIFFC, which then co-ordinates personnel and equipment from other provinces/territories, the U.S. and other countries. (You may have heard about firefighters flying in from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, tapped in part because their wildfire seasons peak at opposite times of the year.)

The federal government can provide further assistance by deploying the army, for example, to assist with evacuations or mop-up duties.

There’s broad consensus that this system worked well for many years – until it didn’t.

Climate change has brought hotter and drier conditions that are accelerating wildfire activity, pushing our response capabilities to the brink.

Provinces are seeing more fires they can respond to, top emergency officials have called the status quo unsustainable and firefighters are facing burnout and mounting mental health strains from longer and more challenging deployments.

Experts say the status quo is no longer sufficient and that our response must adapt.

There have been calls for a federal emergency management agency, a national firefighting service and a shared pool of firefighting resources. Former emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair has mused about a “NORAD-like” joint disaster response with the U.S., and a civil defence force similar to the U.S. National Guard.

Minister of Emergency Management Eleanor Olszewski said she’s heard the calls, and that her department is meeting with experts and stakeholders across the country, with plans to announce changes this fall.

In our story, Matt and I took a closer look at some of the options being considered. I hope you’ll give it a read.