Canada has been battered by wildfires this year, but labor shortages and hard work are making it difficult to recruit enough wildland firefighters across the country.
According to a Reuters report on the 24th, a survey conducted by it in 10 provinces and 3 regions across Canada showed that there were about 5,500 wildland firefighters in other regions except for the remote Yukon Territory, which did not respond. That’s about 2,500 fewer than needed, said Mike Flannigan, a wildfire expert at Canada’s Thompson Rivers University.
On June 3, firefighters put out a forest fire in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Recruiting and keeping wildland firefighters across Canada is becoming increasingly difficult due to the hard work of fighting wildfires. Wildland firefighters usually fight fires in remote wilderness areas, working 12 to 14 hours a day for up to two weeks in a smoky and stressful working environment. As Canada’s wildfire season gets longer, so do the seasonal jobs, which don’t pay as well. The hourly wages for wildland firefighters in various places range from 30 Canadian dollars to 74 Canadian dollars (approximately RMB 163 to 402 yuan).
In order to recruit enough wildland firefighters, Ontario this year extended recruitment deadlines, stepped up promotion efforts and paid for related training. British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Alberta took multiple rounds of recruitment to fill firefighter vacancies.
Entering this year’s wildfire season, Canada has experienced some of the worst wildfires on record. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, as saying on the 22nd that Canadian wildfires have burned more than 6 million hectares this year, and as of June 22, 416 wildfires are still burning. More than 1,800 firefighters from the United States, Australia and New Zealand were dispatched to Canada to help put out the fire.
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