As over 900 wildfires blaze across Canada, forcing evacuations and making Ontario's wildfire season the worst on record, officials are once again floating the idea of a national strategy - specifically, a federal agency to handle these things. Because apparently, being the only G7 country without one is a badge of honour nobody wanted.

After a catastrophic July that torched First Nations communities in northeastern Ontario and sent poisonous smoke wafting down to the US, Ontario Premier Doug Ford - a man not known for his love of federal intervention - called for a nationwide response. “We need a large national fire strategy. We seem to be going through this every single year,” he told reporters, as if discovering a new law of nature.

Let’s recap: 2023 was Canada’s worst wildfire season ever, burning 15 million hectares - an area larger than England - and prompting Justin Trudeau’s government to consider creating a national disaster agency. They didn’t. Then 2024 came in as the fourth worst. Now 2025 is shaping up to be the second worst, with 8.3 million hectares burned. “Never in our modern record have we had three bad fire years,” said Mike Flannigan, a wildfire professor at Thompson Rivers University, sounding like a man who has seen some bad fire years.

Flannigan blames climate change - caused by burning fossil fuels, if you’re keeping score - and says a national wildfire strategy would help Canada prepare. “We definitely need one, and not just for fires, but for floods, earthquakes, hurricanes,” he said, listing pretty much every disaster you can name.

Currently, provinces and territories handle their own wildfires, with the feds helping when asked. Contrast that with the US, which has FEMA - a model now under threat from the Trump administration, which has apparently been castigating the agency and politicizing disaster aid. So maybe not the best role model right now, but in principle, a FEMA-like group could help Canada coordinate resources faster.

A June report from the Canadian Senate recommended creating a federal coordinating office for wildfires. And on Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney convened an emergency committee to organize the federal response - but stopped short of creating a national strategy. Canada’s ministry of emergency management told the Guardian it’s “considering” a federal emergency management agency, as it reviews feedback from public sessions.

Flannigan argues the costs would be offset by savings from preventing community destruction and health impacts. “We’re going to see more fire, more smoke, and more impacts… that’s our new reality,” he said. “We’re going to have to adapt faster.” Or, you know, keep having the same conversation every year.