A man wears a face mask as he cycles by the skyline of Montreal, on June 25. A smog warning is in effect for Montreal and multiple regions of the province due to forest fires.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Millions in Canada and across the border in the United States remain blanketed by wildfire smoke from Quebec that has triggered low air quality warnings, forcing many indoors and cancelling a number of planned events. While there are signs of improvement, the smog is expected to persist for the next few days into the Canada Day long weekend.
Environment Canada warned of “high concentrations of fine particulate matter from the forest fires” on Thursday in the Greater Montreal area. However, the federal agency said concentrations will be “less significant” than last Sunday, when the air quality in Quebec’s biggest city was ranked worst in the world.
In Ottawa, Environment Canada said the forest fire smoke is expected to last possibly through Friday and into the weekend. While in and around Toronto, the air quality improved on Thursday, just a day after the city claimed the ignominious title of worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir, a Swiss pollution technology company that monitors global air quality.
With nearly eight million hectares of forest already burned this year, 2023 is the worst wildfire season on record, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Last week, Canada and the United States replaced an “ad hoc” approach to helping each other battle forest fires with a formal agreement, after wildfire smoke from Canada affected millions with polluted air on the U.S. East Coast earlier in June.
Detroit, Washington and Chicago were sitting on top of IQAir’s ranking for worst air quality in the world Thursday, with Minneapolis and New York also in the Top 10. Data from AirNow, a partnership of various U.S. agencies, showed that large swaths of the country, from the Midwest to the East Coast, were experiencing poor air quality owing to wildfire smoke from Canada.
There were about 500 active wildfires throughout Canada Thursday, CIFFC data showed, with more than 250 deemed out of control. Most of the fires were in Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Environment Canada meteorologist Peter Kimbell said Thursday that strong winds allowed the smoke to travel far from Canada in recent days, but that weaker winds mean smoke is now expected to linger into the weekend for Montreal and Southern Quebec, although concentrations of fine particulate matter are expected to decrease.
Poor air quality has led to the cancellation of cultural and sports events in recent days, including the Ironman triathlon of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Sunday and Toronto Jazz Festival shows Wednesday. The La Ronde amusement park in Montreal said in a statement Thursday that the opening act of L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, a fireworks competition, was cancelled based on a recommendation from public-health authorities owing to poor air quality. Also Thursday, organizers in Montreal said its Canada Day fireworks planned for Saturday night were cancelled, too.
More wildfire activity could be triggered over the next few days as hot weather is expected in Northeastern Ontario and Northern Quebec, Mr. Kimbell said.
In Quebec, about 2,500 people remained under evacuation orders, although some communities like Lebel-sur-Quévillon are expected to be able to return home on the weekend, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
In Western Canada, smoke lingered closer to the wildfires, with air quality statements affecting the territories and northern parts of the Prairies and Western Canada. “The southern parts of the provinces, where the population density is greatest, are not under air quality statements at this time, there’s no air quality issues,” Mr. Kimbell said.
Evacuation orders related to wildfires were issued earlier this week by B.C.’s Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Takla First Nation, and several other communities were under evacuation alert in the Peace River Regional District and the District of Tumbler Ridge.
At the peak of evacuations in May and June, tens of thousands were forced out of their homes mainly in Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Tuesday, the federal government launched its National Adaptation Strategy, saying it would help reduce risk and build climate-resilient communities facing direct consequences of worsening global warming, including increased wildfire risk.