As this year's unprecedented wildfire season continues in many provinces and territories, the Government of Canada is continuing to support Canadians now while strengthening Canada's preparedness for years to come.
Today in North Vancouver, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, joined by the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, President of the King's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced that $400,000 through the first phase of the Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate - Training Fund will be provided to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) to fund a pilot project to help build wildfire fighting capacity and enhance training best practices.
This funding will be directed to the IAFF's Responding to the Interface (RTI) program, which will provide specialized training to structural firefighters, expanding their skills and capabilities. This training will help better prepare and equip firefighters to fight wildfires, with a focus on the wildland urban interface (WUI).
Through this pilot project, the IAFF will train 25 instructors on how to deliver consistent and effective wildfire response training through a Cadre Building training program in Kamloops, British Columbia. In addition, the IAFF will deliver 15 courses across five different locations in Western Canada, training up to 325 structural firefighting personnel on urban interface wildfire training.
Over 10 percent of Canadians live in interface areas comprising 32 million hectares across the country, where urban communities intermingle with flammable environments like forests. In our fight against wildfires, the interface is an urgent area of focus. Interface fires pose the greatest threats to lives and livelihoods and can have devastating impacts even when contained - like the spreading of thick smoke and evacuations that can cause immense stress on residents and families.
Complementing the Government of Canada's commitment to train 1,000 new wildland firefighters over five years, this pilot project will help to inform best practices and recommendations for the future delivery of wildland firefighter training in advance of phase 2 of the Training Fund set to launch next year.
This initiative also builds on important actions to date, including an announcement made by Minister Wilkinson for funding to train 300 Indigenous firefighters and 125 Indigenous fire guardians in connection with the Government of Canada's Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate program's Equipment Fund, which helps provinces and territories procure the equipment they need, and our long-term investment in the one-of-a-kind WildFireSat satellite mission, which will improve our ability to predict fire risk and protect Canadian communities.
Also today, Government of Canada officials provided an updated forecast for the remainder of the 2023 wildfire season. Most recent projections indicate a continued potential for higher-than-normal fire activity across most of the country throughout the 2023 wildland fire season. This activity is due to long-range forecasts for warm temperatures and ongoing drought, which are affecting parts of all provinces and territories and intensifying in some regions. For July, warm and dry conditions will increase wildfire risk from British Columbia and Yukon through to western Labrador. During August, the area at risk will stretch from British Columbia through western Quebec.
Keeping Canadians safe and healthy is the first priority of the Government of Canada. By working together with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and our international allies, we continue to fight wildfires while protecting homes, livelihoods and lives.
