Weakness in British Columbia’s LCFS credit market reflects growing pains in the international biofuels industry, where many regulators are cracking down on imports to protect their nascent domestic markets from oversupply.

Low-carbon fuels are more expensive to produce than petroleum-based gasoline or diesel. LCFS programs help to bridge the gap by issuing credits to suppliers of fuels with lower emissions intensity, which can be sold to those with higher-carbon fuels that need to bring down their emissions.

Canada has lagged the U.S. in setting up domestic renewable diesel production. British Columbia is the only Canadian province with an LCFS credit market, which helped encourage Calgary-based Tidewater Renewables to open the country’s first standalone renewable diesel refinery last year. Others are also betting on the credits to support construction of more facilities in British Columbia and other provinces.

At the same time, the LCFS has also made Canada an attractive outlet for a glut of U.S. renewable diesel.

U.S. producers shipped at least 530 million litres of renewable diesel to Canada in the first six months of 2024, a jump from 151 million litres in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Will Faulkner, founder of industry analysis firm Carbon Acumen.

British Columbia’s LCFS credits fell to C$207 in July and C$350 in August, after trading above C$400 for more than two years previously, ringing alarm bells for Tidewater.

The company said in August that the slump hurt its ability to generate revenues, and blamed weakening prices on a surge in renewable diesel imports from the United States. Tidewater subsequently sold some assets and future credits to its majority stockholder to avoid financial distress.

British Columbia LCFS credit values rose to C$456 in September, but credit market transactions reported last month could have been completed before the price crash in July, Faulkner said. There has not been a significant slowdown in U.S. imports, he noted.

Tidewater only produces renewable fuel at its 3,000 barrel-per-day, or about 170 million liters-per-year, plant in British Columbia, so is highly exposed to low credit values there.

However, falling BC LCFS credits will also weigh on returns for diversified energy producers such as Imperial Oil and Parkland, said Sam Harrison, senior analyst at Navius Research.

Imperial is building a C$720 million ($518.25 million) 20,000-bpd renewable diesel facility in Alberta, the largest in Canada, that will be partly funded by LCFS credits granted by British Columbia.

“This correction downwards in the market will affect Imperial’s cash flow from the renewable diesel that they’re able to sell into the British Columbia market,” Harrison said.

Construction on Imperial’s project, which is expected to start production in 2025, is progressing and the project is highly attractive, a spokeswoman told Reuters when asked about the decline in credits.

Parkland declined to comment on how a renewable fuel producing unit at its 55,000-bpd Burnaby refinery would be impacted by declining LCFS credit values, but said a stable policy environment had helped incentivize low carbon fuel manufacturing in British Columbia.

Regulatory challenges

Biofuels are set to play a major role in global efforts to cut climate-warming emissions from transportation. The International Energy Agency forecasts global renewable diesel demand will grow to 26.4 billion litres per year by 2028 based on current policies, from an estimated 18.6 billion litres in 2023. More aggressive policies could see demand surpass 39 billion litres.

British Columbia aims to produce 1.5 billion litres of renewable fuels by 2030.

The provincial government told Reuters it is not currently considering changes to the program, as credit prices naturally fluctuate based on supply and demand dynamics.

In contrast, the European Union this year began levying anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese biofuels after complaints that Chinese producers benefit from artificially low output costs. The EU has also levied tariffs on U.S. and Canadian biodiesel imports since 2021 following similar complaints.

Some analysts expect British Columbia’s LCFS market to remain under pressure, with oversupply from the U.S. compounded by lower biofuel feedstock prices that make renewable diesel cheaper to produce.

Low-carbon fuel producers and importers can now also claim Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) credits for actions that earn them LCFS credits. Introduced last year, the CFR credits are adding to British Columbia’s attractiveness as an outlet for excess U.S. renewable diesel.

Higher government support for renewable diesel producers in the U.S. has the potential to limit Canadian industry growth, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report last year.

“At issue is the fact that U.S. producers can claim the $1/gallon U.S. federal Blenders Tax Credit which is issued for producing and blending biomass based diesel in the U.S., along with Canadian CFR credits, which are issued for selling renewable fuels in the market in Canada on top of B.C.’s LCFS credits,” Faulkner said.

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Last year, Canada experienced its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15 million hectares, an area roughly seven times the annual average.

Low snowfall throughout an abnormally warm winter and widespread drought prompted the government to warn in April that 2024 could potentially be another “catastrophic” year for fires.

Out-of-control forest fires in the western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta forced large-scale evacuations this spring, although cooler weather in late May and early June helped dampen down fire activity in recent weeks.

Rain across the prairies also helped improve drought conditions, although 45 per cent of the country is still classed as abnormally dry, according to Agriculture Canada.

Weather models suggest temperatures over the next three months will be warmer than normal across most of the country, except along the coast of British Columbia, said Jennifer Smith, a meteorologist with the Meteorological Service of Canada.

The models predicted less rain than usual in central Canada but were not able to make reliable predictions for much of the rest of the country, she added.

“Canadians need to be ready for a warmer summer that could be met with drier conditions across the country,” Smith told a media briefing, adding that would be conducive to wildfires and smoke.

So far, the 2024 fire season has been much quieter than last year, with 511,000 hectares burned year-to-date across Canada versus 4.7 million hectares at the same point in 2023, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. However, wildfire activity typically ramps up during July and August.

This year, in response to feedback received last summer, the federal Environment Ministry is introducing a new air quality advisory system and daily smoke forecast maps to better inform Canadians about the health risk from wildfire smoke, officials said.

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Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said water license holders had signed new memorandums of understanding covering four river basins in the southern half of the province.

Alberta, which produces most of Canada’s oil, natural gas and beef, plus big wheat and canola harvests, opened water-sharing negotiations among license-holders for the first time in two decades as it entered its fourth year of drought this year.

The province relies on melting snow and precipitation for most of its water supply and has allocated water since 1894.

Under the new agreements, municipalities will voluntarily reduce water consumption by 5-10 per cent, Schulz said, while industry will use the minimum amount of water needed for reliable operations.

Irrigation districts, which account for 46 per cent of Alberta’s water allocation, have also agreed to use less by allowing other water users to receive their share and then dividing up what is left.

The level of Alberta’s snowpack – the snow that accumulated over the past winter – in the last week of April will be key to determining when the water-sharing agreements will need to be activated, Schulz said.

“These agreements will only be implemented or activated if they are needed, and they will be regularly adjusted as drought conditions change,” she told a news conference.

Some municipalities had already begun proactively reducing water use, she added.

As of the end of March, 66 per cent of Canada was classed as abnormally dry or in drought, according to Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, a slight improvement from February.

Schulz said Alberta appeared to have more water available this year than in 2001, the last time water-sharing negotiations took place.

Alex Ostrop, chair of the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association who farms in the upper Oldman river basin in south-western Alberta, expects to receive roughly half the usual water allocation.

“(That) will have a significant operational and economic impact on each affected irrigation farmer and they have spent the spring making tough decisions with respect to cropping and rotation,” Ostrop told reporters.

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The severe conditions have prompted Alberta to open water-sharing negotiations among license-holders for the first time in two decades, hoping to salvage output from two of its biggest industries.

Alberta, which relies on melting snow and precipitation for most of its water supply, has allocated water since 1894. That system prioritizes those who have held licenses the longest, although holders rarely exercise that right.

Alberta’s water talks underline the difficult compromises facing resource-rich regions adapting to extreme weather. Hydrologists say the future will bring Alberta more rain instead of snow due to climate change, which will strain summer water supplies.

The province produces most of Canada’s oil, natural gas and beef, plus big wheat and canola harvests, much of which it exports.

Irrigation to grow crops in dry areas accounts for 46 per cent of Alberta’s water allocation, with oil and gas using 10 per cent.

Reuters spoke with more than a dozen farm, energy and government officials and found those industries preparing for the drought to potentially scale back production and raise costs.

Drought could cause double-digit declines in Alberta’s wheat yields, based on crop production data from the past two decades. Oil producers are making costly contingency plans to store more water on site and truck water across the province.

Brad Deleeuw, who manages the 5,500-head Delta Cattle feedlot near Coaldale, Alberta, said the impact of water scarcity “could be huge.”

Deleeuw will prioritize watering cattle over irrigating his wheat, corn and barley, but that shift will likely reduce yields.

“You’d go from a black situation to a red situation pretty quick,” Deleeuw said, referring to financial losses.

If he must import significantly more expensive cattle feed this summer from the U.S. to make up for smaller Canadian crops, Deleeuw said he would have to reduce how many cattle Delta fattens for slaughter by Cargill and JBS.

Drought contributed to Canada’s beef herd shrinking this year to its smallest on record, according to Statistics Canada.

Snow water equivalent, which measures water content of mountain snowpack, was down 40 per cent as of March 5 from a year earlier in southern Alberta’s St. Mary River basin. The nearby Waterton basin was down 27 per cent, according to provincial and federal government data.

Crop hit

Some 70 per cent of Canada is abnormally dry or in drought, according to the government, with the driest conditions in Alberta and British Columbia.

Alberta’s largest-ever water-sharing talks could result in major consumers agreeing in early April to share water voluntarily with others downstream, environment ministry spokesperson Ryan Fournier said. If conditions remain dire, the province could declare an emergency and is working on a plan involving additional steps, Fournier said.

In 2001, the last time water-sharing negotiations happened, Alberta’s durum wheat yield was 22 bushels per acre, down 37 per cent from the previous five-year average, according to Statistics Canada. In dry 2021, spring wheat yield fell 35 per cent while barley yield dropped 36 per cent year-over-year. The vast majority of Alberta’s grain grows on dry land, not irrigated land.

Alex Ostrop, who farms near Lethbridge, is bracing to make do with much less water to irrigate fields. In 2001, his district’s water allocation was eight inches per acre or 38 per cent less than what Ostrop used last year.

“Commodity prices are down generally – (this year) would be a double whammy of lower commodity prices and reduced yields,” Ostrop said.

Costly crude

For oil companies, dry conditions may elevate costs by forcing them to shift drilling to sites with water access or to truck water, said Tristan Goodman, CEO of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada. Companies will not drill if wells get too expensive, he said.

Oil producers are renting on-site water storage structures known as C-rings and other swimming pool-sized spaces, drilling company Trican Well Service said.

“You’re seeing customers start to really think about how they’re going to be managing water months in advance – they just haven’t had to worry about that before,” Trican CEO Bradley Fedora told analysts in February.

For now, parts of Alberta and British Columbia with the most conventional drilling and fracking have manageable water levels, Goodman said.

Drilled wells did not decline in the dry years 2001 and 2017, according to data from industry group Enserva.

Shell is putting water contingency plans in place for its Alberta wells, spokesperson Stephen Doolan told Reuters, declining to give details. Suncor Energy told analysts the drought has prompted it to plan a water-treatment plant in its oil sands operations for the end of this decade.

With Alberta possibly heading to a drier future, the province is spending C$933 million to expand irrigation. That means Alberta will spread limited water supply over 230,000 additional acres, but the upgrade will reduce evaporation by converting open canals to pipelines, Alberta Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson said.

Oil and gas producers are maximizing efforts to store and recycle water, with all eyes on the skies, said Ken Wagner, CEO of Fraction Energy Services, which rents water storage equipment.

“It’s definitely top of everybody’s mind. We need some more snow and we need big rain.”

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Western Canada is slowly emerging from a blast of arctic temperatures over the weekend, but the winter had otherwise been unusually mild.

Many cities experienced their warmest December ever recorded and British Columbia’s snowpack is on average 44 per cent below normal, according to provincial data. The dry winter follows Canada’s hottest summer on record, partly due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, and is raising concerns that 2024 could be another record-breaking wildfire year.

Despite plunging temperatures in recent days, the winter overall is likely to stick to a milder, drier pattern, said Weather Network meteorologist Doug Gillham.

Agriculture

As of Dec. 31, 70 per cent of the country was abnormally dry or in drought, according to Agriculture Canada, with the worst conditions in southern Alberta, western Saskatchewan and north-central British Columbia.

Virtually all of the Prairies have received less precipitation than normal during the past 60 days as of Jan. 8, with large stretches of each province collecting less than 40 per cent of usual precipitation.

In Alberta, three years of drought have raised the cost of feeding cattle and drained dugouts that the cattle drink from. This has forced some farmers to reduce their herds. Canada’s cattle inventory hit its lowest level on record in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

Farms in southern Alberta depend on irrigated river water to sustain crops of potato and sugar beet. Non-irrigated Prairie farms produce most of Canada’s wheat and canola, much of which are exported.

Oil and gas

Regulators in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada’s main oil and gas-producing provinces, have urged companies to cut back on water use because of drought. In December the Alberta Energy Regulator said it may restrict access to water due to extremely low levels in many parts of the province, especially the South Saskatchewan river basin.

Firms are taking steps to manage potential shortages although companies are not changing development plans yet, said Tristan Goodman, CEO of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada.

Companies that usually take their water from tributaries are looking for larger sources within the same basin, while others are building more permanent and temporary water storage facilities or planning drilling programs to coincide with the peak of the spring snowmelt, Goodman added.

Hydro power

BC Hydro’s largest water reservoirs in British Columbia’s north and southeast are below normal levels, a spokesperson for the province’s electric utility said. BC Hydro imported 10,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2023, about one-fifth of its total energy needs, the spokesperson said.

Forestry and wildfires

Alberta still has 60 active wildfires burning and British Columbia more than 100, illustrating the dry and mild state of conditions.

Reduced snowpack means snow will likely melt faster in the spring, prolonging fire season and stretching firefighting resources, said Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildfire science at Thompson Rivers University.

Widespread wildfires could reduce the areas forestry companies are allowed to harvest, while prolonged drought weakens trees by making them more susceptible to disease, he added.

Winter sports

Western Canada’s 92 ski areas typically receive around 9 million skier visits every year, according to the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA), and the sport contributes CAD $2 billion a year to British Columbia’s economy.

This year a number of ski hills including Red Mountain in Rossland and Big White near Kelowna delayed their opening dates due to warm temperatures and lack of snow.

Conditions are improving but CWSAA CEO Christopher Nicolson said reports from a number of ski hills suggested visitor numbers were lower than usual over the Christmas period.

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Trudeau’s Liberal government has implemented a price on carbon to combat climate change, but some lawmakers in his own party have called for changes to the scheme, in particular in Atlantic Canada where a disproportionate number of households use oil to heat their homes.

Trudeau, noting the impact of high inflation, said fighting climate change must be done while supporting all Canadians.

“This is an important moment where we’re adjusting policies so that they have the right outcome,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “We are doubling down on our fight against climate change … (while) we are supporting Canadians.”

The pause on the carbon tax on heating oil will begin in 14 days in provinces where the federal fuel charge applies, while the higher rebates for individuals and families in rural Canada will start in April 2024.

The increased rebate will be provided by doubling the rural top-up rate on the federal government’s pollution price rebate, otherwise known as the Climate Action Incentive Payment (CAIP), to 20 per cent from the current 10.

In Saskatchewan, for example, for the 2022 base year, an individual resident gets a baseline annual CAIP credit of $680, plus additional amounts per household for spouses/common-law partners and/or children under age 19. The top-up rate applies on the base amount.

“People who live in rural communities face unique realities, and this measure will help put even more money back in the pockets of families dealing with higher energy costs because they live outside a large city,” the government said in a release.

READ MORE: Carbon tax exemption bill C-234 clears Senate committee

Trudeau also announced measures to incentivize Canadians to install electric heat pumps. The government said switching from oil to heat pumps could save homeowners up to $2,500 a year on energy bills.

Canada, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, is aiming to cut emissions 40-45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and a steadily rising carbon price that will hit $170 a tonne by 2030, from $65 a tonne currently, is a key part of their plan.

The opposition Conservatives have vowed to scrap the carbon tax if they win the next election, set to take place by late 2025.

“After plummeting in the polls, a flailing, desperate Trudeau is now flipping and flopping on the carbon tax as I am holding a gigantic axe the tax rally in a Liberal-held Atlantic riding,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre wrote on social media platform X.

Climate and environment groups had a mixed reaction to Trudeau’s announcement.

Climate Action Network welcomed the move to accelerate the heat pump uptake and reduce energy poverty in Atlantic Canada, but others warned temporarily exempting home heating oil from carbon pricing introduced uncertainty.

“It sends the signal to emitters — and investors — that policy can be weakened in the future, diluting the carbon price’s effectiveness in driving the long-term, low-carbon investments required to reduce emissions,” said Dale Beugin, executive vice-president of the Canadian Climate Institute.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ismail Shakil and Nia Williams. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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The province declared a state of emergency on Friday to access temporary authoritative powers to tackle fire-related risks, as out-of-control fires ripped through the Interior, partially shutting some sections of a key highway between the Pacific coast and the rest of Western Canada, and destroying many properties.

“The current situation is grim,” Premier Daniel Eby told reporters on Saturday, saying some 35,000 people were under an evacuation order, and a further 30,000 were under an evacuation alert.

Eby said the province is in dire need of shelter for evacuees and firefighters and ordered a ban on non-essential travel to make more temporary accommodation available. Officials also urged residents to avoid operating drones in the fire zone, saying it could impede firefighting efforts.

The fire is centred around Kelowna, which has a population of about 150,000.

Forest fires are not uncommon in Canada, but the spread of blazes and disruption underscore the severity of its worst wildfire season yet.

About 140,000 square km of land, roughly the size of New York state, have already burned, and government officials project the fire season could stretch into autumn due to widespread drought-like conditions in Canada.

B.C. had experienced strong winds and dry lightning in the past few days due to a cold mass of air interacting with hot air built-up in the sultry summer. That intensified existing forest fires and ignited new ones.

“We are still in some critically dry conditions, and are still expecting difficult days ahead,” said Jerrad Schroeder, deputy fire centre manager at the Kamloops Fire Centre.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened a meeting of key ministers and senior officials on Saturday to discuss wildfires. The Incident Response Group, which met for the second time this week, agreed to make “additional resources available” to both B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

Main east-west road under threat

A wildfire burning out of control in Yellowknife had triggered evacuations of almost all of its 20,000 residents this week. One patient died when he was being transferred out of Yellowknife, an N.W.T. minister said on Saturday.

Currently, the fire is not expected to reach city limits by the end of the weekend, officials said, with some rain and cooler temperatures helping to slow its progress.

The TransCanada highway was closed near Chase, around 400 km northeast of Vancouver, and between Hope, 150 km east of Vancouver, and the village of Lytton.

The highway is the main east-west artery used by thousands of motorists and truckers heading to Vancouver, the country’s busiest port.

Kip Lumquist, who works at a gift shop in Craigellachie, B.C., a tourist spot on the highway, said she saw a lot of devastation over the past week.

“It was crazy, we couldn’t see the hills, the mountains, the trees, anything, probably (for) two and a half days,” said Lumquist. “I drive a white vehicle, and when I walked out to get in my car… it’s just black… It’s devastating to the community.”

By Friday, the fire in southern B.C. had grown more than a hundredfold in 24 hours and forced more than 2,400 properties to be evacuated.

The flames have destroyed several structures in West Kelowna and authorities have been warning that the province could potentially face the worst couple of days of the fire season this year.

B.C. currently accounts for over a third of Canada’s 1,062 active fires.

Some 5,000 customers are also without electricity in interior of the province, the main utility said.

The fires have drained local resources and drawn in federal government assistance as well as support from 13 countries. At least four firefighters have died in the line of duty.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; writing by Denny Thomas.

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Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and sending a smoky haze billowing over a large swath of the United States.

Although wildfires are common in Canada, it is unusual for blazes to be burning simultaneously in the east and west, stretching firefighting resources and forcing the Canadian government to send in the military to help.

The United States has sent hundreds of firefighters to Canada over the past few weeks and is sending more.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of U.S. personnel available to help fight wildfires in Canada.

“The climate crisis is real and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short-term and long-term,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for the help on Wednesday, and discussed the need to “work together to address the devastating impacts of climate change,” according to a statement from Trudeau’s office.

France, Portugal and Spain were sending more than 280 firefighters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have also sent personnel.

Some of the worst fires have sprung up in Quebec, where some 12,600 people have had to evacuate their homes, provincial Public Safety Minister Francois Bonnardel told a briefing on Thursday.

“We’re not happy about the situation; though some fires are under control, some (are) not,” Bonnardel told reporters. About 132 fires are currently active in the province, of which 77 are deemed “out of control.” (Click here for Quebec weather radar.)

About 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) have already burned, roughly 15 times the annual average of the past decade, according to federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair. Warm, dry conditions were expected to persist in the months ahead.

Wildfire season started unseasonably early in Alberta last month and burned a record area, and Nova Scotia continues to battle its largest-ever blaze.

In parts of British Columbia, which is battling the second-biggest wildfire on record, temperatures were forecast to hit 33 C on Thursday, before thunderstorms and heavy rains arrive on Friday.

Rob Schweitzer, executive director of BC Wildfire, said lightning strikes could spark more blazes in tinder-dry forests and the outcome would depend on how much precipitation comes with the storms.

“When you get 150 or 200 strikes in one day from lightning coming through the province, it’s impossible to have enough resources to suppress them all,” he said.

Wildfires have eased in Alberta, the centre of Canada’s oil and gas industry, but more than 3,000 people remain under evacuation orders and heat warnings are in effect in the south of the province. The province on Thursday reported 73 active wildfires, of which 24 are deemed “out of control.”

Among the other western provinces, British Columbia on Thursday was reporting 79 active fires, of which 30 are listed “out of control.” Saskatchewan reported 29 active fires, with six deemed “not contained,” while Manitoba reported 14 active or monitored fires with three deemed “out of control.”

Further east, Ontario was counting 48 active or observed fires with 18 listed as “not under control.”

Nova Scotia on Thursday was reporting five active fires out of 212 so far this year; its current fires are all deemed under control or being held, while New Brunswick reported two active fires being patrolled. Newfoundland and Labrador is monitoring one “contained” active fire, in Labrador, out of 72 fires so far this year in that province.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Ismail Shakil and David Ljunggren in Ottawa. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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More than 100 wildfires have ignited across Alberta since last week, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate homes, farms and ranches, and oil and gas producers to shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or 3.7 per cent of the country’s production.

A few days of cooler weather and rain helped firefighters tackle some blazes. There were 74 fires burning and about 16,500 evacuees as of Friday afternoon, officials in Alberta said in a briefing.

Although recent cooling helped to restore most of the shuttered oil and gas production, expectations of rising temperatures over the weekend have raised concerns about further production cuts and evacuations.

Earlier on Friday, Crescent Point Energy said it has now restarted 85 per cent of the 45,000 boepd of production that it shut in due to the wildfire risk.

“The wildfire danger is expected to grow in the coming days,” an Alberta Wildfire official said at the briefing. “We are expecting hot and dry conditions in most of the province, which will make the wildfire danger climb.”

Benchmark Canadian heavy crude prices have tightened this week to multi-month highs on concerns about wildfires in Alberta.

“Everybody is looking at the weather,” said one Calgary-based trader. “There’s a higher probability for more disruption than less.”

The highest temperatures are expected to hit from Sunday to Tuesday.

“Maximum daytime highs will be close to 30 C, which would be 10 to 15 C above seasonal values,” Environment Canada said in a special weather statement.

Around 200 soldiers have been deployed around Alberta to help fight the fires, and another 100 will be deployed over the weekend.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nia Williams, with additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa.

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By Friday, more than 13,000 people were under evacuation orders in Alberta. As of late Friday afternoon, 91 fires were considered active, of which 27 were deemed out of control and 18 classified as “being held.”

Among the worst-hit areas was the territory of the Little Red River Cree Nation, which comprises three communities in the north of the province, where the 1,458-hectare (3609-acre) Fox Lake fire consumed 20 homes and the police station.

The entire 7,000-strong population of Drayton Valley, 140 km west of Edmonton, was also ordered to evacuate late Thursday night, followed by Edson, a town of about 8,100 people about 140 km northwest of Drayton Valley, on Friday evening. Evacuations were also expanding in surrounding Brazeau and Yellowhead counties.

Parts of the counties of Strathcona, Leduc, Athabasca, Parkland and Grande Prairie were also under mandatory evacuation orders Friday evening, as were communities including Fox Lake, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Entwistle.

Alberta has imposed a ban on open burning, including backyard fire pits, across the entire province. Recreational use of off-highway vehicles on public land, including designated OHV trails, is also now prohibited.

MORE READING: Farm checklist against fire

Pembina Pipeline Corp., which operates oil pipelines in the region, said it has activated emergency response and incident management processes and is “evaluating any current or anticipated operational impacts.”

There were no reported impacts on oil and gas producers, although the province said Friday that oil and gas facilities were among the evacuations Thursday night from a wildfire area southeast of Edson.

There have been 363 wildfires in Alberta so far this year and more than 43,000 hectares burned, the province reported Friday. At the same date in 2022, 175 fires had been reported with almost 414 hectares burned.

“This is significantly more wildfire activity for this time of year than we have seen any time in the recent past,” Christie Tucker, an information unit manager for Alberta Wildfire, told a press conference, adding fires were expected to intensify Friday.

“It’s going to get hotter, it’s going to get windier and we are expecting some extreme wildfire behaviour. Firefighters are at the ready today for what could be an extremely challenging day,” she said.

As of Friday evening in neighbouring Saskatchewan, 16 wildfires were considered active, with eight deemed “not contained,” out of 77 so far this year, almost double the five-year average. As of Friday morning, the province’s fire weather index, a risk gauge for potential fire intensity, mapped out most of agricultural Saskatchewan as “extreme.”

Its biggest active fire, at about 5,000 hectares as of Friday morning, is around First Nations communities near Jackfish Lake, about 40 km north of North Battleford in the province’s northwest.

In British Columbia, rivers burst their banks, washing through homes and forcing highway closures in numerous communities across the province’s interior, including Cache Creek and Grand Forks.

Until last week Western Canada had been enduring a cold spring but a rapid onset of unseasonably high temperatures, in places 10 to 15 C above the average for early May, is causing both fires and flooding.

With heavy rain in the forecast, the British Columbia government urged communities to be prepared for more flooding over the weekend.

“Warm temperatures in the Interior have accelerated snowmelt and caused increased pressure on rivers and creeks,” the provincial ministry of emergency management said in a statement.

“The situation is expected to worsen as rainfall and thundershowers are forecast for Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6, which increases the likelihood of flooding.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Nia Williams. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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