The federal government has announced that Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose passports, citizenship certificates, permanent resident cards or other Canadian travel documents were lost, damaged or can’t be accessed because of wildfires, can apply for free replacements. If they already paid to replace documents because of the wildfires on or after April 1, 2025, they could request a refund.

Temporary residents, including international students, temporary foreign workers and other visitors, who were directly affected by the wildfires can replace their status documents and apply to restore or extend their status in Canada, or to renew their work or study permit free of charge. The requirement for temporary residents to apply for the restoration of their status within 90 days of losing their status will also be waived for those impacted by wildfires.

As of June 11, 2025, application and biometric fees are being waived for foreign emergency services personnel coming to Canada to help fight wildfires. These measures will remain in effect until November 30th.

The number of active wildfires has increased again. There are now 67 burning in the province as of 12:30 p.m. Thursday bringing the total to date this year to 333. The five-year average is 190. Twenty-one of the wildfires are not contained.