FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s government kicked off wildfire season earlier than usual on Wednesday as it announced millions of dollars in spending to improve its preparedness ahead of what’s expected to be another dry summer.
The province will spend $6.7 million to increase the number of year-round firefighting forest rangers to 169, up from 95. It’s also allocated $3 million to secure availability for four Fire Boss specialized water-scooping aircraft.
Premier Susan Holt said the government learned from a “scary and stressful time” last year after hundreds of fires burned more than 30 square kilometres of land to give the province its worst wildfire season in decades, according to government figures.
As Holt announced the start to wildfire season, which typically begins in the third week of April, she said she wanted to calm public anxiety ahead of this summer.
“We committed to doing more to protect New Brunswickers, to protect our forest lands, our infrastructure, and our population’s health and well-being. Being prepared is our top priority,” she said.
“That’s why we are committing funds to support our personnel, their equipment and their training so that we are more prepared than ever for this next season.”
Holt announced a $6.4-million capital investment to build up an equipment warehouse and fire hose processing facility in Fredericton, relocate a fire retardant processing facility, and upgrade and add more reload bases that supply fire suppression chemicals and water.
She also said two dozen community wildfire resiliency plans of a total 50 are already completed ahead of this summer, funded by a $2.6-million provincial-federal partnership announced last December. The premier highlighted $484,000 invested in the North Shore, Holistic Way and Maui tribal councils for fire readiness.
She added that the province continues to roll out wildfire fighting equipment kits and training for volunteer firefighting departments through agreements with 16 communities.
Parts of southern, central and northern New Brunswick show “extreme drought” zones on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s drought monitor. The rest of the province is considered to be under severe drought.
“We have had one of the driest winters in decades with 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation,” said the province’s natural resources minister, John Herron.
“Compounding the seriousness of our current predicament, Environment and Climate Change Canada is projecting that the summer months in New Brunswick will be among the hottest years on record.”
Holt said converting 74 seasonal forest ranger positions into permanent all-year roles will allow for consistency and ongoing skills development. “These are people who spend their winter months increasing their readiness, preparing warehouses and equipment, doing robust training, deployment opportunities in future years and to other places,” she said.
Avery Fitzpatrick, one of the new year-round rangers, first gained on-the-ground experience fighting fires across the province last summer.
“I thought that it was going to be a lot longer of a wait to get a full-time position so I was super excited to get the news,” said Fitzpatrick, 20.
“I’m just excited to be here year-round because I feel like it’s going to give me a lot of opportunity to grow and learn more things faster.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2026.
Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press