Sask. auditor calls for improved budgeting after $350M wildfire response in 2025

Provincial Auditor Tara Clemett outlined several ways in which the SPSA could improve its wildfire response. June 23, 2026. (Wayne Mantyka/CTV News)

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency needs to be better prepared for wildfire season, according to the provincial auditor.

In her report released Tuesday, Tara Clemett found significant gaps in the province’s $350 million response to last year’s wildfire season, recommending 11 different ways to improve.

Among them include calls for more robust staffing, asset renewal and budgeting.

• SPSA vice-president stepping down following wildfire review

“Actual variable costs related to wildfire response exceeded the Agency’s initial budget by more than $70 million a year since 2023, showing budgets do not reasonably reflect expected costs of wildfire response each year,” the report read.

The auditor’s report further criticized the province’s reliance on contracted firefighters and short-term helicopters.

The SPSA contracted 916 extra wildfire personnel last year, which costed two-to-five times more than its own agency firefighters, according to the report.

In 2025, the province spent $26.3 million on contracted resources obtained through mutual agreements. It spent just $1.9 million on such resources in 2024.

“The Agency neither assesses costs nor consistently tracks when contracted resources are requested and received — we found it took an average of 15 days for contracted personnel (e.g., firefighters) to arrive and deploy to fires in 2025,” the report read.

The report also says the use of short-term helicopters cost about 35 per cent more than the eight long-term contracts, saying the province could have saved roughly $500,000 by using an extra long-term helicopter.

The short-term helicopters contracts averaged out to $3,400 per hour.

To fight wildfires more effectively, the auditor recommends setting and monitoring an initial-attack success measure, which would show how many wildfires are kept to under 10 hectares.

Another recommendation is working with communities that have been marked as higher risk.

The auditor found that 21 of 89 high-risk communities haven’t completed a wildfire preparedness plan.

Lastly, the auditor said the SPSA needs to work with the Ministry of Finance to revisit the funding model for wildfire operations.

The report added that the two entities need to formally monitor and report to the SPSA’s board on the implementation of recommendations from annual wildfire season reviews and centrally track training completion.

“Effective response requires having the right personnel, equipment, and supplies available in the right place at the right time,” the report said.

The SPSA’s 2025 wildfire response was also called into question in an independent report from MNP.

More than 10,000 people were forced to flee from their homes last summer due to the record-breaking wildfire season.