It is the middle of January 2026. You’d think the snow piling up in the Rockies or the biting wind in Winnipeg would mean the fire season is a distant memory. Honestly, that’s what most people assume. We picture wildfires in Canada today as a summer nightmare—orange skies in June or evacuations in August. But if you look at the latest data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), there is still activity on the map.
Right now, as of January 18, 2026, there are 26 active wildfires being tracked across the country.
Most of these are "under control" or being "monitored." They aren't the raging infernos that make the evening news. But they are there. In British Columbia alone, 15 fires are technically still active. Alberta has 16 fires under "monitored" status. These are often what we call zombie fires. They smoulder deep in the peat and duff, surviving under a thick blanket of snow, waiting for the spring thaw to find oxygen again.
What Wildfires In Canada Today Actually Look Like
The current situation is weirdly quiet but technically active. We aren't seeing new ignitions from lightning or careless campers. Instead, we're dealing with the leftovers of the 2025 season.
Last year was brutal. We saw over 8.9 million hectares burned by late November. To put that in perspective, that’s an area larger than the entire country of Austria. Because the burn was so deep in places like the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, the heat is still trapped in the ground.
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- British Columbia: 15 fires under control, mostly holdovers from the interior.
- Alberta: 16 fires being monitored; mostly in the northern boreal regions.
- New Brunswick: 1 fire currently listed as out of control, which is rare for mid-winter.
The "out of control" status in the Maritimes usually refers to smaller localized brush or structure-adjacent fires that haven't been fully extinguished by local crews, rather than a massive forest fire. Still, it’s a reminder that fire doesn’t just "stop" because the calendar says it’s January.
The La Niña Effect on 2026
We are currently sitting in a weak La Niña phase. For most of Canada, that’s actually good news for the immediate future. La Niña typically brings cooler temperatures and more moisture to Western Canada. Parts of northern BC and the Yukon have already seen snowfall levels hit 300% to 500% of their December normals. Places like Chetwynd and Fort St. John are buried.
This moisture is a godsend. It helps recharge the soil moisture that was sucked dry during the previous droughts. However, there is a catch.
While the West is getting dumped on, Eastern Canada—specifically Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island—is facing moderate to extreme drought conditions. The North American Seasonal Fire Assessment shows that while the snow is helping in the Rockies, the lack of precipitation in the East could lead to a very early and very volatile spring fire season.
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Why the "Winter Burn" Matters
You might wonder why fire crews don't just put these 26 fires out. Often, it's a matter of logistics and ecology. Trying to drag heavy equipment into a remote, frozen bog to douse a smouldering patch of peat is expensive and dangerous.
Nature usually handles it. But when it doesn't, those zombie fires become the "holdover ignitions" that jump-start the 2026 season in April.
The Reality of Risk in 2026
Expert analysts at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) are noticing a shift. The fire season is getting longer. It’s starting earlier in the spring and lingering way past the first frost. In 2025, we saw evacuations as early as March.
Basically, the "off-season" is shrinking.
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There is also the human element. While lightning starts the big, remote fires, humans are responsible for many of the fires that threaten communities. Even in winter, discarded embers from wood stoves or poorly managed debris burns can spark.
What You Can Do Right Now
Since we aren't in a state of emergency today, this is the "golden hour" for preparation. You shouldn't wait for the smoke to start smelling your clothes before you act.
- Check the FireSmoke.ca forecast: Even in winter, smoke from smouldering holdover fires or prescribed burns can impact air quality.
- Audit your property: If you live near a wooded area, use the winter months to identify "ladder fuels"—low-hanging branches that allow a ground fire to climb into the canopy.
- Understand the labels: When you see "Being Held" on a CIFFC report, it means the fire isn't expected to grow under current conditions, but it isn't "Out" yet.
- Watch the East: If you are in the Maritimes, keep an eye on drought maps. The lack of snow cover there right now is a major red flag for April.
The story of wildfires in Canada today isn't one of immediate panic. It's a story of a landscape that is slowly changing. We are moving from a world where fire was a "summer problem" to one where it's a year-round management challenge. The snow is falling, but underneath it, the ground is still holding onto the heat of last year.
As we transition toward ENSO-neutral conditions by March, the weather will become less predictable. If the La Niña moisture holds, the West might get a breather. If the Eastern drought continues, the 2026 season could kick off with a bang before the tulips even bloom.
Stay informed by checking the National Wildland Fire Situation Report when it resumes weekly updates this spring. For now, enjoy the cold, but don't assume the fire is gone just because you can't see the smoke.