Saskatchewan ‘not fully prepared’ for worst wildfire season on record, review finds

An independent review found that Saskatchewan was not fully prepared for last year's historic wildfire season. Laura Woodward reports.

Saskatchewan’s emergency management system fell short during the province’s worst wildfire season on record, according to an independent review that found gaps in preparedness, coordination and long-term planning.

The report, commissioned by the provincial government and conducted by MNP, examined the 2025 record-breaking wildfire season that saw 514 fires burn roughly 2.9 million hectares and force more than 10,000 people from their homes.

“After reading this 107-page review, it is clear: the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) must do better,” Michael Weger, minister responsible for the SPSA told reporters on the release of the report.

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“Lives were disrupted and livelihoods were impacted. It left extensive destruction to a number of our communities. Hunting grounds and trap lines were impacted, and timber was lost,” he said.

MNP found key parts of the province’s response fell short, and that “core elements of the province’s emergency management system were not effectively executed.”

Preparedness gaps

MNP’s review found the SPSA was caught off guard by the scale of the wildfires, and only a minority of staff surveyed reported a strong familiarity with the provincial emergency plan, citing limited pre-season planning and a lack of emergency exercises.

“SPSA was not fully prepared for the scale and complexity of the 2025 wildfire season,” the report said.

MNP pointed to unclear and overlapping mandates within the SPSA that contributed to confusion during the response.

The review found the province’s wildfire mitigation efforts — including removing dry fuel from the forests — are not keeping up with growing wildfire threats.

It found the government’s targets were not aligned with current wildfire science or risk assessments, and staffing remained limited.

After the fires, MNP found recovery efforts were inconsistent and uncoordinated because the province did not have a pre-existing recovery strategy.

“Recovery activities across the province are ad hoc, inconsistent, and lacking strategic coordination,” the report said.

In a scrum with reporters Friday morning, Weger said his ministry would move swiftly to implement the report’s 11 recommendations to improve provincial wildfire preparedness and defence.

Weger highlighted two immediate action items for the province: create a Future Preparedness and Implementation Unit within the SPSA, and the development of a community grant program to cover the cost of fire mitigation efforts.

Wadin Bay will be the first community to benefit from the program, in the form of a $40,000 grant.

As for next steps, Weger says he’s only just seen the report and needs a little more time to absorb the recommendations.

“Of course, I’m in constant communication with the Saskatchewan Safety Agency, but these 11 action items have just been reviewed with the president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency this morning,” he said.

“So, more meetings to come, and of course, (we’ll) set some set some goals, set some milestones, with each of these action items. What can we get done next week, next month, and be ready for next year?”