October 1, 2024 Halifax, Nova Scotia Natural Resources Canada
With wildfires increasing in frequency and severity across Canada - impacting our health, economies, communities and wildlife - the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia are supporting Canadians and Nova Scotians whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by wildfires.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, with the Honourable Tory Rushton, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables, announced a joint investment of nearly $30 million over five years under the Government of Canada's Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program (FMWCC) - Equipment Fund and the Resilient Communities through FireSmart (RCF) Program.
A joint investment of $25.6 million through the FMWCC - Equipment Fund is supporting Nova Scotia's efforts to purchase wildfire firefighting equipment such as helicopters, fire trucks, communication vehicles, incident command trailers, weather monitoring stations, technology upgrades, personal protective equipment and more. This investment increases Nova Scotia's response capacity by buying and upgrading specialized firefighting equipment and training more personnel to support surge capacity needs. This investment will further enhance safety for communities and firefighters and improve wildfire resource sharing across Canada.
This funding also builds on last year's contribution of $169,292 to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) to deliver wildfire firefighter training to Indigenous participants from several Mi'kmaq communities throughout Nova Scotia. The contribution came from Natural Resource Canada's (NRCan) FMWCC - Training Fund, which provides support primarily to Indigenous communities and organizations to train firefighters and increase NRCan's understanding of the needs and barriers in this space. Staff from the CIFFC and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables have delivered this training to 21 Mi'kmaw firefighters in 2023.
Through the RCF Program, Nova Scotia and NRCan will invest up to $3.9 million over five years aimed at preparing for wildfires, reducing risks before they occur and expanding the adoption of FireSmart principles and practices in Nova Scotia. With this funding, Nova Scotia will deliver educational and awareness activities related to wildfire prevention and community-based risk reduction. Nova Scotia is also using the funding to increase capacity to conduct wildfire risk assessments and develop tools to support wildfire prevention and mitigation. This initial investment is part of a series of joint investments aimed at supporting provincial and territorial efforts to advance FireSmart principles and practices to prevent wildfires and mitigate their impacts.
While reinforcing our country's ability to respond to wildfires when they occur is essential, proactive investment will also help reduce risks before a wildfire happens. The federal government has invested in both areas by supporting fire agencies across the country to better prepare for and respond to wildfires and by implementing community-level measures to prevent and reduce the impacts of wildfires.
Keeping Canadians safe and healthy is a top priority for the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia. By working with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and international allies, the federal government continues to address and support the fight against wildfires to protect Canadian lives, as well as the health, safety, homes and livelihoods of our communities across the country.
