Region Archives: Canada West

Special Feature

International Pulp Week Kicks Off in Vancouver BC

Tree Frog Forestry News
June 1, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, Canada West

International Pulp Week kicked off today at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, BC. This annual three-day conference organized by the Pulp and Paper Products Council brings together the world’s leading producers of market pulp, suppliers, financial analysts, logistic companies, and their customers for a first-class informational and networking opportunity. The goal of the event is to provide knowledge, data, and in-depth analysis on the latest market developments and trends in the market pulp industry worldwide as well as to serve the market pulp industry by allowing for a multitude of business meetings and networking opportunities that would otherwise require travel to several continents. Stay tuned all week for Tree Frog News coverage of the event. Here are a few of the attendees gathered at the opening reception.

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Business & Politics

Sinclar Group Forest Products founders recognized with lifetime achievement award

By Ted Clarke
The Prince George Citizen
June 7, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bob Stewart & Ivan Andersen

 In 1962, Bob Stewart and Ivan Andersen became business partners as lumber wholesalers after years of working in the Sinclair Mills planer mill northeast of Prince George. …In the late 1960s Stewart and Andersen expanded their operations to lumber manufacturing when they teamed up with Apollo Forest Products in Fort St. James and the L&M Lumber in Vanderhoof, and in 1971 they opened the Nechako Lumber planer mill in Vanderhoof. Their continued success led to purchases of two Prince George sawmills — Lakeland Mills in 1973 and The Pas Lumber Company in 1987. …Stewart died in 2003, followed by Andersen in 2011 and on May 5, 2025 in a ceremony in Vancouver they were inducted into the Business Laureate BC Hall of Fame. The award recognizes the lifetime achievements of outstanding BC business leaders whose efforts have shaped our province and country. Sinclar president Greg Stewart says the principles of running a third-generation family business established by his grandfather Bob and Ivan Andersen continue to guide the company’s daily operations. 

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Yu wants Prince George to factor into provincial, federal economic plans

By Colin Slark
The Prince George Citizen
June 5, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

Simon Yu

With BC Premier David Eby currently on a trade mission to Asia and Prime Minister Mark Carney looking to establish an east-west energy corridor, Prince George Mayor Simon Yu has hopes that his city will be part of the provincial and federal government’s plans to diversify the Canadian economy. Yu said it was great to see the premier head to Asia to visit some of the province’s biggest customers. …“We are looking forward to the premier perhaps re-establishing a BC trade mission in Asia in a much broader, prominent way,” he said. The mayor said he was also hoping that the premier promotes BC’s timber industry while in Asia. While the US will always be one of our biggest customers despite the ongoing trade disputes with the Trump Administration, Yu said having secondary customers in Asia would help stabilize the supply chain.

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As Liberals push prefab, B.C. researcher touts new construction methods

By Jami Makan
Business in Vancouver
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, Canada West

As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government plans billions in financing for builders of prefabricated homes, one expert says it’s a “significant amount of money” and “a very healthy kick-start” for the industry. The federal government’s Build Canada Homes (BCH) plan promises, among other things, more than $25 billion in financing to “innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada,” according to the Liberals’ website. Ramping up prefabrication could result in cheaper, faster and better-quality homes, said Tony Yang, professor of structural and earthquake engineering at University of British Columbia. “We are building too slowly right now,” he said. “We are lacking skilled workers on site.” The goal of prefab is to shift manufacturing from construction sites, which he called relatively inefficient, onto production lines that operate more quickly through repetition. 

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B.C. port foremen’s union and employers ratify 4-year deal

By Chuck Chiang
The Canadian Press in CBC News
June 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Maritime employers in British Columbia and the union representing port foremen say they have ratified a new four-year collective agreement, after a dispute that saw workers locked out of container terminals last year. The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship and Dock Foremen Local 514 said in a joint statement that the new collective agreement extends from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2027. …It is the second major labour deal for Canada’s West Coast ports that will be in place until March 2027, after an earlier agreement with thousands of port workers that was signed in August 2023 following a strike. The details of the new deal with supervisors have not been released, and neither the employers association nor the union representing roughly 700 supervisors immediately responded to requests for comment. They had been without a deal since the last accord expired in March 2023.

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Province, First Nations take next step to grow economy through partnerships, planning, conservation in northwestern B.C.

By Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Government of British Columbia
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

In partnership with the Province, the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations are kicking off land-use planning in the northwestern corner of B.C., engaging with industry, community and other partners to implement world-leading land-use plans that will provide greater certainty for investors, First Nations and communities alike. Last week, Premier David Eby outlined government’s vision for building prosperity centred on the pillars of economic growth, reconciliation and conservation in northwestern B.C. The vision includes partnering with First Nations to achieve large-scale conservation and strengthen reconciliation envisioned by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). …To that end, over the next year, the Province, Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga’a Nations will undertake expedited, inclusive land-use planning and essential stakeholder and public engagement. 

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KPMG buys assets of insolvent Victoria tech firm Llamazoo for $1.45M

By Michael John Lo
Sunshine Coast Reporter
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

KPMG in Canada has acquired the assets and remaining workers of a Victoria tech firm that went bankrupt and laid off most of its staff last year following a downturn in the tech market. B.C. Supreme Court approved the accounting firm’s $1.45-million purchase of LlamaZOO on May 20. Founded by Charles Lavigne and Kevin Oke in 2014, LlamaZOO provided real-time 3D visualizations for the forestry, mining, and oil and gas industry to map out their projects, cutting down on the amount of travel needed to maintain remote work sites. One of their flagship products, Timberops, was used to plan forest cut blocks and road-survey operations through topographic visualizations. The software, based on a century’s worth of logging operation data, allows users to see what a mountain might look like if the trees on its slopes were logged or kept growing.

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Local MLAs, Teegee weigh in on premier’s trade mission

By Colin Slark
Prince George Citizen
June 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

As Premier David Eby and a British Columbia delegation tours Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, Prince George’s opposition MLAs say the trip is “damage control” for his government’s previous policies as well as the reception to the recently passed bills 14 and 15. Eby and a delegation left for a 10-day trip to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia on Saturday, May 31. One notable absence from the trip is British Columbia Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee, who said in a Friday, May 30 media release that he could not participate in a mission launched by a government that passed legislation trampling First Nations’ rights. Reached by phone on Monday, June 2, Prince George-North Cariboo, Prince George-Valemount and Prince George-Mackenzie Conservative MLAs Sheldon Clare, Rosalyn Bird and Kiel Giddens said the NDP are trying to make up for having closed British Columbia’s independent trade offices in Asia over the last eight years.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Kalesnikoff Opens North America’s First Mass Timber Pre-Fabrication and Modular Facility

Kalesnikoff Mass Timber
June 5, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Castlegar, B.C. — Kalesnikoff Mass Timber formally opened their new 100,000 sq. ft. modular mass timber facility in Castlegar, B.C. today near the West Kootenay Regional Airport to expand their mass timber products for use in multi-story affordable and market housing, schools, workforce housing and other much-needed infrastructure. …The new facility complements Kalesnikoff’s existing Mass Timber operation in nearby South Slocan, adding new products and services including prefabricated wall panels, mass timber modules, trusses and other products designed and manufactured for clients’ unique needs and construction efficiency. “Our expanding line of mass timber products and expertise will help our current and future clients meet the need for cost-effective, efficient building design and construction that will create sustainable, comfortable, climate-resilient homes and buildings”, said Chris Kalesnikoff, Chief Operating Officer of Kalesnikoff Mass Timber.

Additional coverage in My Kootenay Now: Kalesnikoff opens North America’s first mass timber prefab facility

Castlegar News: Kalesnikoff officially opens $30M mass timber facility in Castlegar

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Vancouver Island mass timber home shows potential of green building tech

By Marc Kitteringham
Oak Bay News
June 3, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, Canada West

Tom Grimmer

Just over a month ago, the spot where Tom Grimmer is standing was little more than an empty lot. Construction crews had cleared the land, built the foundation and laid the groundwork for what was to come, but for the most part, it was empty; he explained this as he went up the stairs onto the second floor. …The house, since there is indeed most of a house there now, was dropped off in six containers in late April and has been subsequently assembled into what it is now. “The first panels landed a month ago,” he said. “It’ll be done pretty soon.” …This, according to Grimmer, is the only mass timber passive house on Vancouver Island. Grimmer isn’t new to passive homes. …While there are mass timber facilities in Canada and B.C., they are more geared towards institutional and commercial buildings.

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Forestry

B.C. First Nations return to traditional practices to reduce wildfire risk

By Ben Miljure
CTV News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

As wildfire seasons seem to grow longer and more intense year after year, many B.C. First Nations are looking to the past for solutions to make their communities more fire resilient. In the northwest corner of the province, the Cheslatta First Nation has come under threat multiple times in recent years. “Almost half of Cheslatta’s territory has been burnt since 2010,” said Cheslatta forestry manager Logan Wilson. …Many First Nations utilizing cultural burns are working in collaboration with researchers at UBC’s Faculty of Forestry, who received a USD$780,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study Indigenous practices of wildfire management and forest restoration. …The BCWS said it participated in 48 prescribed burns in 2024, altering more than 3,400 hectares of land, an area more than eight times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park. Twenty-three of those burns were conducted in collaboration with First Nations.

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Stopping wildfires with trees: How thousands of aspen seedlings could help protect Whitehorse

By Andrew Hynes
CBC News
June 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Crystal To… is part of a small crew of tree planters who are slowly filling the Whitehorse South fuel break with aspen. It’s her first time doing the job. …The goal of the fuel break is to protect the capital city from wildfires by creating a natural barrier, removing all the highly flammable conifers in an 800-hectare area and replacing them with more fire-resistant aspens. The Yukon government began work on the fuel break in 2020, near the Mary Lake subdivision. It’s one of the first such projects in Canada, and the goal is to have it finished by 2032. The aspens are being planted by the thousands every summer. This year, 232,000 seedlings will be planted.

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B.C. cedes much of Nuchatlitz provincial park to Nuchatlaht First Nation

By Justine Hunter
Globe and Mail
June 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The B.C. government has quietly ceded control of a large portion of a provincial park off the west coast of Vancouver Island, in response to a precedent-setting court ruling on an Indigenous land claim. Public access to parts of Nuchatlitz Park is no longer assured, after the B.C. Supreme Court declared last year that the Nuchatlaht, a First Nation with 180 members, has proved Aboriginal title to 1,140 hectares of land on the north end of Nootka Island. …The lawyer for the Nuchatlaht says it is the first time parkland has been included in a title ruling from the courts. …The title lands include 320 hectares of old-growth forest in Nuchatlitz Park. …Tamara Davidson, B.C.’s Minister of Environment and Parks, declined to comment on the Nuchatlaht case. …Jack Woodward, the lawyer who represented the Nuchatlaht, said that the courts have set a precedent establishing that Aboriginal title can supersede park protections on Crown land. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required for full story access]

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West Fraser donates 1,200 trees to 108 Mile Ranch Greenbelt Commission

By Patrick Davies
Coast Mountain News
June 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Following fire mitigation efforts in and around the 108 Mile Ranch, a new generation of trees have been planted to restore the land. West Fraser 100 Mile donated 1,200 trees that were planted by treeplanters from Zanzibar Holdings Ltd. on behalf of the 108 Mile Ranch Greenbelt Commission. Greenbelt commissioner Chris Betuzzi said it’s all part of the commission’s work to secure the 108 Mile Ranch against future fire seasons and avoid a repeat of the 2017 Gustafsen fire, which burned parts of Walker Valley. As a registered forest technologist, he said helping manage the forest is a responsibility close to his heart. In May of 2024, Betuzzi said they carried out fire mitigation efforts in three areas along the Greenbelt, including Donsleequa Road, Qua Place and Gloinnzum Drive to reduce forest fuel in the event of a wildfire. Betuzzi said they had Tsi Del Del Enterprises Ltd come up to process the slash piles and fibre.

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Forest Practices Board to audit Interfor’s forestry operations near Castlegar

BC Forest Practices Board
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forestry planning and practices of Interfor Corporation on Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 3, starting Monday, June 9, 2025. TFL 3 is located within the Selkirk Natural Resource District, about 40 kilometres north of Castlegar, near Slocan. The licence area covers approximately 78,000 hectares of public land, with an annual allowable cut of approximately 80,000 cubic metres, and is managed by Interfor’s Castlegar division. …The audit will examine whether forestry activities carried out between June 1, 2023, and June 13, 2025, comply with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act. Activities subject to audit include timber harvesting, road and bridge construction and maintenance, silviculture, wildfire protection and related operational planning. …Once the audit is complete, a report will be prepared. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations will be released to the public and provincial government.

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Edmonton braces for pest that has decimated ash tree populations to east, west

By Jackie Carmichael
Edmonton Journal
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Traps are expected to go up around Edmonton this week to capture the emerald ash borer. The shining and dangerous pest is poised to wreak havoc on Edmonton’s $400-million population of ash trees, and the city has two staffers working full time to detect any advance here as the invasive bug closes in from the west or east into Alberta. “We have the largest percentage of our urban forest canopy in green ash of almost any city in North America,” said Michael Jenkins, senior scientist with the City of Edmonton. Ranging from 8.5 mm to 14 mm long and 3.1 mm to 3.4 mm wide, the beetle is difficult to spot. “A single piece of firewood can destroy millions of trees,” warns a poster depicting a stack of ash firewood as dynamite sticks with an emerald ash borer at the tip of the fuse.

Related content:

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Launching Your Community Fireguard Project

Silvacom Ltd.
June 3, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Is your community prepared for the rising risk of wildfires? Join wildfire mitigation experts from Silvacom for an insightful webinar on launching effective Community Fireguard projects. This session is designed to equip you with the knowledge to protect people, infrastructure, and vital ecosystems. Learn how Fireguards serve as a critical front-line defense and understand the comprehensive process from initial concept to successful construction. Municipal Leaders, First Nations Representatives, Planners and Land Managers, and people involved in community wildfire preparedness and mitigation in Alberta are encouraged to attend. Highlights: 

  • Understanding fireguards and their effectiveness in reducing wildfire spread. 
  • Comprehensive guidance on planning, permitting, and constructing a fireguard. 
  • Strategies for addressing regulatory processes and fostering community engagement. 
  • Real-world case studies from municipalities and First Nations across Alberta. 
  • How Silvacom can assist your organization at every stage – from planning to implementation. 
  • Engage directly with environmental professionals and get your questions answered. 

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The fight for B.C.’s old growth comes to Victoria’s silver screens

By Evan Lindsay
Victoria News
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

From the front lines of Fairy Creek to the silver screen comes a new documentary capturing the fight for B.C.’s old-growth. Fairy Creek is a new documentary from Jen Muranetz, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and visual storyteller based out of Vancouver, B.C. The film tells the story of the Fairy Creek blockade protests, which made headlines nationwide as one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in Canadian History. “With unique insider access and use of in-the-trenches cinema vérité, Fairy Creek offers an intimate, fly-on-the-wall view of collective resistance,” said Nicole Trask, of Pender PR.  “Viewers are brought into the throes of this complex standoff, where blockaders form barriers with their bodies and tree-sitters’ forest canopies are assailed by police officers deployed from helicopters.” Murantez tells the story from the frontlines, presenting an “intimate, fly-on-the-wall” view of the resistance – from the retaliation of forestry workers, to rising tensions and arrests.

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Quesnel hosts Future of Forestry Think Tank

Quesnel Cariboo Observer
May 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

After two devastating wildfire seasons in a row, 2017 and 2018, the Quesnel Future of Forestry Thank Tank was created as a community-led opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities in the area’s forest landscape, manufacturing sector and workforce. The think tank’s goal is to rethink the regional forest sector and revitalize the region’s ecosystems and economy linked to forests. The 2025 theme was “accelerating change” and saw over 50 delegates from the city, First Nations, academia, the industry and more  to discuss forestry. …The Quesnel Future of Forestry Think Tank investigates: How to restore regional forest ecosystem to a state of resiliency and adaptability that will stop large scale pest infestations and wildfires from recurring? How to reinvent manufacturing facilities in the region be to address the decline in sawlog availability and non-sawlog commercial forest fibre? Training to ensure the local workforce is employed in good paying jobs in the City and in the surrounding forests?

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BC community forest group gathers in Nanaimo

CHLY 101.7FM
May 30, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

Jennifer Gunter

The British Columbia Community Forest Association gathered in Nanaimo for a three day conference this week, Midcoast Morning explores the state of community forests in the province with the group’s executive director, Jennifer Gunter. Fast forward to the 13:20 minute mark for the interview with Jennifer.

In related coverage, in the Sunshine Coast Reporter: Sunshine Coast Community Forest wins provincial excellence award

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‘No end in sight’ for systematic killing of BC wolves to save caribou

By Rochelle Baker
The National Observer
June 2, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

The BC government spent a decade killing wolves to protect caribou. Now, critics warn that despite questions about its effectiveness, ethics and impact on the rest of the environment, the government is moving to make the wolf cull a permanent part of its strategy. Launched as a short-term emergency measure in 2015, the decade-long wolf cull is a morally outrageous tactic to divert public attention from the root cause of caribou declines — the province’s failure to significantly address habitat destruction — said Pacific Wild co-founder Ian McAllister. …The future for caribou and wolves is looking even more dire given the federal and provincial plans to fast-track permitting and reduce environmental assessments for development, McAllister said. …The province is looking to make its “short-term emergency” measure of shooting wolves to protect caribou a permanent practice in lieu of protecting habitat, critics warn.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

BC climate action has reduced emissions, with economic success

By Mark Zacharias (SFU) & Rachel Doran (Clean Energy Canada)
Business in Vancouver
June 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Seventeen years on and the evidence is clear: B.C. has moved the needle on emissions. While the province’s population has grown 25% over this period, carbon emissions between 2008 and 2023 are down almost 5% — or nearly 7% if you measure from 2018, when CleanBC was announced. …BC’s industrial sectors, spurred by provincial regulation and investments, have done much of the heavy lifting. Heavy industries, including mining, smelting, pulp and paper, cement, steel, gypsum, and chemicals and fertilizers have seen emission declines of 16% over this period, while oil and gas production emissions are down 30%. …Admittedly, not everything is good news. The province is not on track to meet its 2030 climate target, and many CleanBC policies — including the oil and gas emissions cap, capping emissions from natural gas utilities and the clean transportation action plan — remain incomplete. …BC has announced a review of its CleanBC plan to be completed this fall. 

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Most of Western Canada’s glaciers ‘doomed’ to disappear, researchers find

By Stefan Labbe
Business in Vancouver
May 31, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West, International

Climate change has put Western Canada’s glaciers on track for devastating loss over the coming decades, with the southern half of BC expected to lose nearly 75% of the alpine ice — even if warming stops today, a new study has found. The planet has so far warmed an average of about 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. If that increase climbs to 1.5 degrees C, 81% of Western Canadian and US glacier mass would melt, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science. …Harry Zekollari, the study’s lead author and a glaciologist at Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel, said the international research team used eight glacier computer models to analyze the potential long-term evolution of the year-round ice. The results painted a dire picture for the world’s glaciers, as the planet has already locked in enough warming to melt 40% of the Earth’s year-round ice by the end of the century.

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Health & Safety

Huge, self-driving trucks roll onto Canada’s most treacherous roads

By Anita Balakrishnan
The Logic
June 6, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Deep in the wilderness, a semi truck cab carves a path through the snow, slowing as it approaches a one-lane bridge. …The situation would be anxiety-inducing for a human, but this truck cab is driving itself. It’s using a system developed by NuPort Robotics, a Toronto-based autonomous-driving startup. It’s just a test run—but one day, Canada’s north could be criss-crossed with self-driving trucks hauling huge loads on dangerous roads. …Seasonal logging firms struggle to compete with oil and mining companies for trained drivers. …The company has been in talks with several forestry companies to try and drum up more business. They’re looking for help, he said, to relieve driver fatigue, determine which complicated maneuvers can be automated, and which, like strapping logs to trucks, must be done by humans. NuPort is also testing how the technology reacts to unexpected issues like a log falling into the road.

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BC Wildfire Service working to address mental health toll on firefighters

By Sarah Adrian
The Trail Times
June 5, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada, Canada West

Fighting forest fires has always been a physically demanding and dangerous job. But it can take a toll on firefighters’ mental health as well. In 2023, the deaths of six wildland firefighters in B.C. highlighted the importance of mental health, both for frontline responders and support staff. Wildland firefighters are challenged with stress and exhaustion, but the loss of colleagues heavily contributed to the mental toll on firefighters during the 2023 wildfire season, said Jessa Barber, a former wildland firefighter who is now a safety officer with the BC Wildfire Service. …BC Wildfire said it is being proactive, implementing policies and practices to support the mental health of its staff. …One of these practices is the New Recruit Boot Camp, which prioritizes educating recruits about the risks and dangers of being a wildland firefighter both physically and mentally. Ongoing support is provided to recruits.

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Man drowns after machinery falls into ocean at Crofton pulp mill

By Jeff Bell
Victoria Times Colonist
June 5, 2025
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada West

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP are investigating the drowning of a machinery operator in an industrial incident at the Crofton pulp mill on Wednesday. Police responded about noon to the Catalyst Pulp and Paper Mill after receiving a report that a piece of heavy equipment had fallen into the ocean with its operator trapped inside. Canadian Coast Guard divers attempted a rescue, but the 30-year-old man could not be revived. RCMP spokesperson Alex Bérubé said the B.C. Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC are both investigating what led to “this tragic outcome.”

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Forest Fires

Crews responding to out-of-control wildfire on Vancouver Island

By Ethan Morneau
Chek News
June 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

BC Wildfire Service crews are responding to an out-of-control, 10-hectare blaze south of Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island and say it’s expected to spread. Gordon Robinson, Coastal Fire Centre information officer, tells CHEK News 18 firefighters, three helicopters and a response officer are on scene in the Beverly Main area, west of Port Alberni. The fire currently measures 10 hectares, reads information online. The blaze was discovered on Sunday – and as of around 2 p.m., it’s listed as “out-of-control,” meaning it’s “anticipated to spread beyond the current perimeter or control line. Robinson says the fire is believed to be human-caused because there hasn’t been any lightning in the area. Crews are trying to determine the cause, the BC Wildfire website says, adding that such investigations “often take time and can be very complex.”

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Drizzle in northern Manitoba not enough to quench wildfires as community leaders hope for downpour

By Lauren Scott
CBC News
June 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

©Canadian Armed Forces

As evacuees fleeing wildfires in northern Manitoba watched rainfall in parts of the province on Sunday, community leaders are warning the north needs heavier downpour to help firefighters on the ground. Lori Forbes, emergency co-ordinator for the Rural Municipality of Kelsey, said Sunday’s rain didn’t fall where it was needed most. “We did get the rain in The Pas but we need the rain in the north. We need the rain where the fires are to help the firefighters,” Forbes said. She said The Pas was about 100 kilometres away from the fire on Sunday afternoon. According to the province’s most recent fire bulletin on Sunday, the wildfire near Sherridon is more than 300,000 hectares in size and is still out of control. “The further north you went, the less rain there was,” Forbes said. The eight-degree temperatures are helping fire crews, she said, but it’s windy and the weather is “changing very quickly.”

Related coverage in Steinbach Online by Judy Peters: Eastern Manitoba wildfire remains largest in province as evacuation orders continue

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Rainfall dampens wildfire expansion in northern Saskatchewan, some evacuees returning home

By David Prisciak
CTV News
June 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

Officials with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) say widespread rainfall has allowed a short reprieve for those fighting fires across the province’s north. In its daily briefing on Sunday, the SPSA reported minimal growth across its wildfires of note. “This rain was very much appreciated and needed. But we cannot slow down, and we’re not going to slow down,” SPSA President Marlo Pritchard explained. “This is the time where we can take advantage of this small window of opportunity. Gives us and our firefighter partners a small window of taking the fight directly to these fires while their intensity is lower.” As of Sunday afternoon, 24 wildfires in Saskatchewan were considered active. Of that total, three are considered contained, 12 are ongoing assessment, protecting values are the priority of three fires and six are considered not contained.

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B.C. wildfire fighters experience slight reprieve, but more wind on horizon

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
June 7, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

©BC Wildfire Service

The B.C. Wildfire Service said that firefighters experienced a slight reprieve battling one of its most concerning blazes on Saturday, and it was seeing stable skies in the parched northeast corner of the province. However, another cold front is expected to bring high winds starting Sunday night into Monday, and conditions remain hot and dry across B.C. In addition…the Alaska Highway (Highway 97) continues to be threatened by a raging wildfire. For the Kiskatinaw River wildfire in the northeast on the B.C.-Alberta border, however, firefighters say that forecasted high winds overnight on Friday did not materialize. “We had calmer winds overnight than we expected and there was very minimal fire behaviour,” fire information officer Karley Desrosiers said Saturday morning. “So limited growth [is] expected.” The blaze covered an area of 130.6 square kilometres as of Saturday afternoon, and it has resulted in evacuation orders in the community of Kelly Lake.

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Nearly half of northern Alberta community destroyed as wildfires flare

By Wallis Snowdon
CBC News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

As Albertans forced out by wildfires are being allowed to return home, other evacuees are learning their homes have been lost to the flames. During what has proven to be a devastating wildfire season across western Canada, the remote community of Chipewyan Lake has been among the hardest hit in Alberta in terms of damage to infrastructure. Close to half of the buildings in the small community, nestled in the boreal forests of northern Alberta about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton, have been destroyed. A wildfire swept through the remote community last week, hours after it was evacuated. Questions remain about how and when the community can rebuild, and where its 100 residents will live during the long recovery ahead. Chipewyan Lake lost some of its most critical community buildings, local emergency management officials with Bigstone Cree Nation and the MD of Opportunity No. 17 said Tuesday.

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Saskatchewan wildfires have already burned 900K hectares of forest so far this year

By Colleen Silverthorn and Hannah Spray
CBC News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

Wildfires continue to rage out of control in northern Saskatchewan, and have now burned almost 1,000,000 hectares of the province’s forest so far this year and forced thousands of people from their homes. “Based on the estimates we’re looking at over 900,000 hectares in the province so far this year,” Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), said in an update Thursday when asked how much forest had burned this year so far. For context, the entire province of Prince Edward Island is about 568,000 hectares. New fires are starting daily, according to the SPSA. Three new fires started Thursday alone, and the massive Shoe fire in the Narrow Hills was estimated to be about 471,000 hectares in size as of late Thursday morning. As of Thursday afternoon, there were 27 fires burning in Saskatchewan, six of them not contained, according to the SPSA.  The fires continue to pose new threats daily.

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Hundreds from Manitoba First Nations evacuate to Niagara Falls amid blazing wildfires

By Alex Arsenych and Aarjavee Raaj
CTV News
June 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Hundreds of Manitoba First Nations are seeking refuge in Niagara Falls, hundreds of kilometres away from home, as fires continue to ravage the Prairies. Though thecentral province is expecting some precipitation across northern Manitoba, the provincial government said it will be insufficient to supress the wildfires, as the forecasted rain comes with a risk of lightning. The Canadian Red Cross registered thousands of evacuees—more than 14,300—having to flee their homes because of the active fires, a figure that includes roughly 2,400 households forced to leave First Nations lands. The Manitoba Keewainowi Okimaknak (MKO) said on May 28 that around 17,500 people across six First Nations communities were trying to get to safety. With the province declaring a national emergency, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced 1,000 rooms have been made available to those who have been displaced from their homes after First Nations leaders asked for more space to be made available.

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About 15,000 have fled Saskatchewan wildfires and more coming: Premier Moe

Canadian Press in Global News
June 3, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

PRINCE ALBERT – As Manitoba grapples with wildfires that have forced more than 17,000 people from their homes, the premier of Saskatchewan said Tuesday the situation is becoming just as dire in his province. Scott Moe said upwards of 15,000 people have had to leave their communities and more are likely in the coming days. “We didn’t have a very good day yesterday,” he told reporters in Prince Albert, Sask. …Moe said the biggest destruction has been in places like the northern village of Denare Beach, near the Manitoba boundary, where some family homes have been lost. There will likely be challenging days ahead due to a lack of rain in the forecast, the premier added. …Marlo Pritchard from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said about 400 structures have been lost. Many firefighters had to stand down in some areas Monday due to “extreme fire behaviour,” he said.

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Evacuation orders issued as winds fan flames of wildfire near B.C.-Alberta border

By Akshay Kulkarni
CBC News
June 3, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

New evacuation orders have been issued due to the Kiskatinaw River wildfire near the B.C.-Alberta border in northeastern B.C. on Tuesday, in addition to previous orders for 55 properties issued late last week. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire covered an area of just under 40 square kilometres, and is one of B.C.’s two “wildfires of note” — those that are particularly visible or pose a threat to public safety — the other being the Summit Lake wildfire in the far north. Highway 52 East remains closed in the area due to the blaze, which is burning close to the Pembina Steeprock gas processing facility. The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) says that the wildfire is set to experience “significant growth in the coming days”, with winds up to 60 km/h pushing the fire north, south and east towards Kelly Lake and the B.C.-Alta. border by Friday.

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No relief in sight from wildfires as 20 Saskatchewan communities under evacuation orders

By Aishwarya Dudha
CBC News
June 1, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Wildfires in Saskatchewan are expected to continue to grow aggressively during the next few days, fuelled by high temperatures, winds and dry conditions. And there’s no sign of relief in sight, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. “This will drastically impact our ability to contain some of these fires and will actually cause some of these fires to grow in size over the next period of time,” Steve Roberts, SPSA vice-president of operations, said Sunday. As of Sunday afternoon, 15 fires were burning in the province, down from 17 because two fires have merged and some small fires have been contained, the SPSA said. Roberts said 20 communities are under an evacuation order as of  Sunday. The latest evacuation orders have been in Sturgeon Landing and Timber Bay. Thousands of people have already been displaced from their homes in communities including Hall Lake, Pelican Narrows, Creighton, Denare Beach and Weyakwin.

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There’s a wildfire crisis in Western Canada. Why is this happening so early in the season?

By Tiffany Crawford
Vancouver Sun
May 31, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

It’s not yet summer, but out-of-control wildfires are raging across Western Canada, fuelled by drought, warmer temperatures and lack of rainfall. Residents in northeastern BC, near Kelly Lake, have fled their homes, as Manitoba and Saskatchewan declared provincial emergencies this week. As of Friday, wildfires in Manitoba had displaced more than 17,000 people. Thousands more have been given evacuation orders because of wildfires in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including 1,300 residents of Swan Hills, a community northwest of Edmonton. …“We did see similar early-season activity like this in the far northeast in 2023 and in 2024 in BC,” said Budd. “That’s really the result of prolonged drought in the region that goes back as early as 2022.” …Manitoba is also facing a dire situation. The Flin Flon fire, located on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border near Creighton, started at a landfill before crossing over the Manitoba border. It has grown to more than 200 square kilometres.

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Wildfire contained near Flin Flon, Man.; Saskatchewan hamlet ordered to evacuate

Canadian Press
June 1, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Fire crews in northern Manitoba have so far been able to contain an encroaching wildfire that forced thousands from their homes, while more residents in Saskatchewan have been told to leave due to a fast-moving blaze. The Saskatchewan government issued an evacuation alert Sunday morning for the dozens of residents that live in the hamlet of Timber Bay. Residents were told to leave the community on their own and head south to a hotel in Regina, about 484 kilometres away, to receive further support. …Approximately 80 people from Timber Bay are the latest to be forced from their homes. In Manitoba, some 17,000 Manitobans have had to leave their homes due to fires. Officials in Flin Flon, Man., where a nearby out-of-control wildfire crews have been trying to keep a nearby blaze at bay, said the fire burning near the mining city has been contained to outside its perimeter highway…

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Cool temperatures, chance of rain as crews battle wildfires near Flin Flon, Man.

The Canadian Press
June 2, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

FLIN FLON, Manitoba – Cooler temperatures and a chance of rain this week is expected in a northwestern Manitoba city that’s had to evacuate thousands of people due to wildfire. Environment Canada says temperatures in the mid teens to mid 20s are forecasted this week, with a good chance of rain coming Saturday in Flin Flon. Fire crews have been trying to keep a blaze near Flin Flon at bay, and have said the fire has been contained to outside its perimeter highway. Crews say there have been no structures lost due to the wildfire. More than 17,000 people have been displaced by wildfires in Manitoba, including 5,000 from Flin Flon. Thousands have been affected by wildfires across the Prairie provinces, with Saskatchewan issuing an evacuation alert Sunday morning for dozens of residents in the small northern community of Timber Bay, located about 260 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. [END]

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‘This is classic climate change’: Sask. faces worst wildfire season in decades

By Aliyah Marko-Omene
CBC News
June 1, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada West

Saskatchewan is battling the worst wildfire it’s seen in decades — including the 300,000-hectare Shoe Fire in northern Saskatchewan — and experts say it’s largely caused by climate change. “This is classic climate change,” said Colin Laroque, head of soil science and professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Laroque said climatology is studied using 30-year timeframes of weather patterns, which “weren’t that different” until recently. …”These are things that we traditionally saw more in June, July and later summer, when everything dried out and then the fires took off,” Laroque said. Saskatchewan is making its way out of a relatively dry period. Few places had snow for long periods of time over winter. In the past, “snowpacks” would take time to fully melt and trickle into the ground as it warmed up. This would recharge the moisture of the soil.

In related coverage: In the CBC No relief in sight as 20 Sask. communities under evacuation orders

Brandon Sun, by Tom Brodbeck: Climate change a ‘right now’ problem

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