The hundreds of wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories are lowering air quality for communities across Canada.
More than 200 fires are actively burning across the territory, prompting evacuations in some communities including Yellowknife where 20,000 people live.
To date, land four times the size of P.E.I. has burned in N.W.T. with smoke creating hazy and blackened skies in many communities.
Environment Canada issued special air quality statements for those provinces and for northwestern Ontario.
“Air quality due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour,” the statement from Environment Canada reads.
Later Thursday afternoon the smoke is expected to lessen in Saskatchewan and begin heavily polluting Manitoba, the map shows.
Communities around the southern portion of Lake Winnipeg could have the worst air quality by mid-afternoon. The surrounding areas can expect an air quality rating of about seven later today, according to Environment Canada’s forecast.
By late Thursday the smoke will have blanketed most of northern Ontario and continue to move eastward, the map shows.
Map from BlueSky Canada and firesmoke.ca shows smoke blanketing Canada. (Jesse Tahirali / CTVNews.ca)
Overnight some smoke will be concentrated around the Greater Toronto Area and be heaviest at dawn. Predictions from Environment Canada show the health risk to be low Friday for Toronto — which could change.
The smoke is set to stretch south towards New York City and eastward covering Canada’s capital by noon on Friday.
By Friday evening Ontario is expected to be covered by smoke from the Yellowknife fires. Most of Quebec, excluding the Montreal area, is likely to avoid the pollution.
Some smoke could seep into New Brunswick by early Saturday morning, however.
FIRES BURNING OUT WEST
Fires burning in the British Columbia interior and southern Alberta are also expected to pollute neighbouring provinces.
By late Thursday smoke will move into southern Saskatchewan again and continue towards southern Manitoba.
The air quality will be poor for Regina Friday evening as plumes dissipate into Saturday.
Smoke is likely to concentrate for the communities of Penticton, Vernon, Castlegar and Cranbrook, B.C. early Saturday raising levels above 10 on the air quality index.
MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.
Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.
One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”
Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.
The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.
He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.
They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.
In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.
The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
