More than 850 wildfires raging across Canada, with smoke afflicting country and beyond

More than 850 wildfires continue to rage across Canada as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, and the smoke is drifting over many areas inside the country and elsewhere, including Toronto, the country’s largest city with 2.8 million residents.

Toronto continues to have the world’s most polluted air, and the city and much of Southern Ontario have been issued Code Orange by Environment Canada, meaning residents should stay indoors due to the likelihood of suffering health problems. Wildfire smoke emits toxic gases that can go deep into the lungs and bloodstream, significantly increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes as well as asthma attacks.

Thousands have been evacuated from communities and more are under evacuation watch. Fires, some sparked by lightening hitting tinder dry trees and others caused by humans, have caused conflagrations particularly in Northern Ontario, where 136 wildfires are burning.

As of Thursday, there have been 483 wildfires in Ontario, up from 351 in 2025. The Ontario provincial government has asked that Ottawa be on standby with aircraft to aid in evacuations if the situation worsens.

But it is not just Canadians who are affected by the smoke.

Four Republican members of the US House of Representatives from Michigan have lambasted Canada’s federal and provincial governments for not doing enough to prevent wildfires as the smoke drifts across the border and results in poor air quality in the state.

In a letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the disgruntled politicians wrote that the U.S. “will look elsewhere and act on our own” unless more efforts to curtail the fires are not taken.

This marks the third year they have complained about the wildfire smoke to the Canadian government, the letter stated.