Canada’s new government is taking action to strengthen Canada’s ability to respond to increasingly severe wildfire seasons and protect communities across the country. Delivering on its Budget 2025 commitment, the government is investing $316.7 million over five years to establish new federal aerial firefighting surge capacity.
This week, Minister Olszewski, PS Housefather, and PS Hogan announced that 10 new aerial firefighting aircraft will be available to provinces and territories through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), starting in the 2026 wildfire season. The new fleet includes four air tankers, one birddog aircraft, and five heavy-lift helicopters secured through leases with Conair Group Inc., Coldstream Helicopters, and VIH Helicopters—three Canadian companies based in British Columbia.
As wildfires become more frequent, severe, and costly, rapid response is critical to protect lives, homes, and critical infrastructure. The new fleet will provide additional support when wildfire conditions overwhelm local capacity, helping provinces and territories access critical equipment during periods of peak demand. This investment represents clear federal leadership by ensuring a more consistent and reliable response to wildfire emergencies across the country.
Emergency management in Canada is a shared responsibility across all orders of government, Indigenous communities, and non-governmental organizations. By enhancing coordination and investing in frontline response capacity, the Government of Canada is strengthening national readiness and helping ensure that communities receive timely support when it matters most.
Quick Facts
CIFFC is a not-for-profit corporation owned and operated by federal, provincial, and territorial governments. It coordinates the sharing of firefighting resources for wildland fire management agencies in Canada. These resources include personnel, equipment, aircraft, information, and expertise.
Aerial firefighting is a critical tool among many that underpins wildfire response. This investment improves response capability and is intended to support ground crews and those who help protect lives, property, and communities during wildfires.
The aircraft will be prepositioned within Canada based on expected fire activity, highest level of need, and preparedness level. Aircraft will be repositioned at any time as the wildfire situation across the country changes.
To access and deploy the aircraft, provincial and territorial wildfire agencies will follow CIFFC’s resource request processes. This is the same process used to request firefighting assets from other provinces and territories via CIFFC.
Key Messages
As wildfires become more frequent, severe, and costly, Canadians expect all levels of government to be ready.
That’s why Canada’s new government is acting now to support provinces and territories during the 2026 wildfire season by increasing national surge capacity.
Delivering on a Budget 2025 commitment, 10 new leased wildfire fighting aircraft will be deployed to provinces and territories through CIFFC—a non-profit jointly governed by the federal government and PT agencies responsible for wildland firefighting—based on operational need throughout the wildfire season.
This additional capacity will help support first responders on the front lines, protect homes, safeguard communities, and keep Canadians safe.
But we’re just getting started—we will continue to strengthen federal emergency management capacity, so Canadians have the support they need, when they need it most.
