The Government of Canada and all Canadians express their deep sadness at the devastating wildfires currently impacting southern California.
Canadians are grateful for the support and solidarity extended to Canada by the United States during our own challenging wildfire season last year. Team Canada stands ready to reciprocate that support during this time of need.
Canada has been working with the Provinces and Territories to ready its support. We have left no stone unturned and are exploring all avenues to offer our support to the people of California.
Canadian agencies, including the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard, Global Affairs Canada, and Natural Resources Canada, are actively engaged in discussions with the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and the City of Los Angeles to determine how best to assist in the response and recovery efforts.
Specific commitments currently under consideration include:
- Canadian Armed Forces (CAF): The CAF is standing by with air transport capabilities to deploy provincial/civilian firefighting personnel and equipment.
- Canadian Coast Guard (CCG): The CCG continues to work with our partners to offer support and to explore available resources that could be deployed to assist the response, if requested.
- Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan): CIFFC and NRCan are working closely with the NICC and provincial/territorial authorities to rapidly identify which resources can be deployed and the availability of Canadian firefighting resources, including aircraft, to support the response.
Provinces in Canada are assessing how they can help California's response; to date the following is also being mobilized, if requested:
- Ontario: Is prepared to deploy Incident Command System (ICS) personnel, two CL-415 waterbombers, wildland and urban firefighters, along with associated equipment; approximately 200 personnel and approximately 120 kg of equipment per personnel.
- Quebec: In addition to the two CL-415 water bombers sent in August 2024 to Los Angeles, the Québec government confirmed on January 10 the deployment of two other CL-415 skimmer airtankers to support firefighting efforts in California. It is considering providing additional water bombers and to having 60 Type 1 wildland firefighters available and on standby for deployment.
- Alberta: Is sending a trained and experienced crew of up to 40 Type 1 wildland firefighters. Additional Type 1 firefighters, Incident Command personnel, and qualified support staff will be ready to go when requested. Alberta is also preparing water bombers and contracted night vision helicopters to be ready as well when requested.
- British Columbia: Has a long-standing bilateral relationship with CAL Fire, and based on a request for support, is sending a team of senior technical staff to fill specialized incident command system functions.
