Northern Saskatchewan communities prepare for wildfire season

After last year's extreme wildfire season, some communities in the north have been planning ahead for future emergencies. Jasmine Pelletier has more.

Mayor Rick Laliberte of the northern Saskatchewan village of Beauval says the community is already planning for wildfire season.

“We gotta work together,” he said. “Got to be a collaborative effort between the province, the federal government, our northern municipalities, our First Nations, industry and our Métis communities.”

Laliberte wants to work with all levels of government to better prepare the region to respond to future emergencies, including training for local responders.

“Each municipality and each community, we’re too small to equip ourselves to handle these major impacts. But as a region, we could do it.”

On Friday, the NDP raised concerns about whether some firefighting aircraft may not be ready for the start of wildfire season.

Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said it is ready, and in a statement, outlined that it operates one of the largest and most capable aerial firefighting fleets in Canada, saying it has 17 aircraft strategically positioned across the province, including four land-based and six water-scooping air tankers.

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Michael Weger, minister responsible for the SPSA, confirmed two air tankers are still going through maintenance.

“There’s some supply chain issues, and then again, having to bring in a third-party contractor just to assist to make sure that we hit that deadline of having these two 215s ready when they are due to be rolled into the process,” said Weger on Thursday.

The SPSA said it organizes aircraft into operational groups and brings them into service in phases. It shared a statement saying “this approach ensures aircraft are available throughout the entire wildfire season, while maintaining flexibility to address fleet readiness and maintenance requirements.”

Laliberte said Beauval and its neighbouring communities are hoping for government support to establish a prevention and response system that goes beyond wildfire to address flooding and other emergencies.

Beauval is located about 340 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, near Lac La Plonge, and has a population of about 700.

The community came under threat during the 2025 wildfire season, when the massive Muskeg fire surrounded Beauval and forced residents to evacuate for nearly a month.