As Alberta prepares for wildfire fight, union pushes recruitment efforts

Budget 2025 has $160 million for wildfire personnel, equipment, training and contracts, but the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees worries funds will focus on gear, not people.

With about two weeks left of winter, Alberta’s wildfire season – and funding for fire preparedness – have already begun.

The province’s wildfire season officially begins on March 1 and runs until Oct. 31. According to provincial numbers, Alberta kicked off the season with 10 active wildfires, down from 60 at the same time last year.

This week’s Alberta budget had $7.5 billion allocated over three years for municipal infrastructure support, which included $47 million for wildfire management for communities. Broken down, it includes $22 million for wildfire enhancements, $19 million for a facility upgrade program and $6 million for management readiness.

Budget 2025 also included $160 million in base funding for wildfire personnel, equipment, training and contracts.

Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) vice-president James Gault says most of the $160 million is going towards equipment, which poses a concern for workers.

“The money really needs to go into the human aspect of those resources to make sure that there’s people on the ground early,” said Gault, whose organization represents between 40 and 1,000 firefighters depending on the time of year.

Last year the province hired around 1,000 firefighters, 100 more than usual Gault says, but also had to bring in between 1,200 and 1,300 from across Canada and the world to help.

“It’s good to have the equipment that we need, and we should have done it years ago … But we still need to have people coming here and retaining them and keeping them for the depth of experience and knowledge.”