Senate committee report calls for better co-ordination of wildfire response

Canada needs to create an office to co-ordinate responses to wildfire emergencies, says a Senate report.

The recommendation is one of 15 in a report released today by the Senate committee on agriculture and forestry.

Read more:

• Feds planning evacuation centres in advance of wildfire season
• Behind the fire lines: Inside Saskatchewan’s Lobstick fire base
• Provincial fire ban lifted as wildfire conditions improve: Sask. Public Safety Agency

Senators on the committee told a news conference in Ottawa today that one of the key concerns they heard while assembling the report was the need for a single national point of contact to co-ordinate wildfire response.

About six months ago, the federal government launched a new national centre to allow for better co-ordination of disaster response.

The Senate committee report also calls on Ottawa to create a national reforestation policy to plant more trees after wildfires.

In its last budget, Ottawa scrapped planned spending on tree planting as a cost-cutting measure.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.