Although the wildfire season has not yet ended in Canada, the British Columbia Wildfire Service estimates that more than $585 million has been spent since April 1 to control wildfires in that province located in western Canada, while the entire country is experiencing its worst fire season.

Jane Strong, the chief information officer at the British Columbia Wildfire Service, stated in writing that the situation is volatile and that the current total is just an estimate.

In comparison, wildfires in 2022 cost the province nearly $412 million, while wildfires in 2021 cost the province more than $718 million.

Cliff Chapman, the operations director at the British Columbia Wildfire Service, also provided details about the costs that he considers significant. He explained that overall, due to the way the budget is managed in response to wildfires, 40% of these expenses are allocated to aviation and 60% to everything else, such as personnel and equipment.

Cliff Chapman clarified that the British Columbia Wildfire Service has contracts to procure 35 tankers and 130 helicopters this year, which quickly increases the bill.

This amount includes only the expenses directly related to combating wildfires and does not include other government expenses such as sheltering evacuated individuals and funds invested by other departments in response to the fires, like investments from the Ministry of Agriculture.

For his part, Bruce Ralston, the regional forestry minister, explained that there are no financial barriers to dealing with this type of situation, as the money is available when needed, regardless of the cost, to protect people and their properties.

The British Columbia Wildfire Service has been able to take advantage of a significant budget increase thanks to the province's 2022 budget, which announced an additional amount of $359 million, including more funding for prevention services such as FireSmart and community resilience programs.

The government of British Columbia also pointed to the effects of climate change as one of the reasons for spending more on combating wildfires on the ground and preventing them in the long term.