Smoke from Canadian wildfires will make breathing outdoors difficult today for millions of people across the six largest provinces — and in some cases this bout of bad air is expected to last days.
Environment Canada has released air quality statements for parts of the Northwest Territories and every province outside Atlantic Canada, including huge swaths of Ontario and Quebec. Canada Post has suspended deliveries in several locations, including Windsor, Ont., some sports clubs in southern Ontario have cancelled activities for the day.
The air quality statement covers a large continuous area that stretches from Windsor, Ont., all the way to Northern Quebec, and includes a smog warning for several areas in Quebec, including Gatineau and Val-d’Or.
CBC News captured drone footage of smoke draping the skyline of Toronto’s St. James Town neighbourhood Wednesday as the city was listed as having among the worst air quality in the world. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)
That warning says “high concentrations of fine particulate matter” will return Wednesday and could continue for the next few days.
Some wet weather in Quebec gave firefighters a chance to get ahead of some of the flames, but there hasn’t been enough rain to extinguish the wildfires.
In Ontario, Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index is warning of a “high risk” for the entire corridor of southern Ontario from Windsor to Ottawa.
Environment Canada says wildfire pollution levels can fluctuate over time and can vary depending on the location, but air quality is only expected to improve for some areas in Ontario and Quebec on Thursday night.
Other parts of the country under air quality advisories include:
A swath of northeastern B.C. stretching from Prince George to the N.W.T. border.
Far northern Alberta, including Mackenzie County and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
An east-central swath of Saskatchewan including Nipawin and La Ronge.
An area of northwestern Manitoba, near the Saskatchewan border, including Flin Flon.
Much of northwestern Ontario as well as the area around Fort Albany.
Two sections of the Northwest Territories bordering B.C. and Alberta.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre’s website shows there are 487 active fires burning across the country as of Wednesday morning, with 253 of them classified as out of control.
The centre reported Monday that 76,129 square kilometres of land including forests has burned across Canada since Jan. 1. That exceeds the previous record set in 1989 of 75,596 square kilometres, according to the National Forestry Database.
The small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and can affect the heart and lungs, making it harder to breathe.
“Stop or reduce your activity level if breathing becomes uncomfortable or you or someone in your care feel unwell,” the weather agency says. “Contact your health-care provider or local health authority if you develop severe symptoms or need advice.”
WATCH | How risky is high risk when it comes to air quality?:
How risky is high risk when it comes to air quality?
2 days ago
Duration 2:42
When the air is murky and muggy, here’s what you need to know and what you should pay attention to.
People with lung disease, including asthma, or heart disease, older adults, children, pregnant people and people who work outdoors are at higher risk of smoke-caused health effects, the agency warns.
People should take precautions including avoiding strenuous outdoor activities, keeping windows shut and running air purifiers. Some residents may choose to wear an N95-type face mask while outdoors to filter smoke particles.
Smoke affecting the U.S., too
The unhealthy haze travelled south of the border, too, settling over most of the Great Lakes region and spreading as far as Missouri and Kentucky.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov site showed Detroit in the “hazardous” range and warned that “everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels.”
Fans watch a baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs as smoke from Canada’s ongoing wildfires shrouds Wrigley Field in a haze, in Chicago, on Tuesday. (Kim Johnson/The Associated Press)
Drifting smoke from the wildfires has lowered curtains of haze on broad swaths of the United States, pushing into southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, and moving into parts of West Virginia. The AirNow.gov site listed air quality Wednesday in Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh as “very unhealthy.” A wider circle of unhealthy air spread into St. Louis and Louisville, Ky.
Check the CBC News Climate Dashboard for information on air quality and live updates on active fires across the country. You can also set your location to find out how today’s temperatures compare to historical trends.
U.S. President Joe Biden could see the impact first-hand Wednesday during a visit to Chicago, where he was expected to promote his renewable energy policies during a major address on the economy. Biden has described the Canadian wildfires as clear evidence of climate change.
The smoke has even reached western Europe.
Earlier this week, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said satellite imagery showed smoke extending across the North Atlantic Ocean to the Iberian Peninsula and other parts of western Europe.
Air quality in Europe has not deteriorated to the extent seen in North America because of the height of the smoke in the atmosphere, NASA said.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
