September 23, 2026 – A survey by Pollara shows that wildfire is a national concern, with 93% of Canadians concerned about wildfires and 73% saying the risk to the country is greater than it was five years ago. Most have felt it directly: 58% report a household impact in recent years, and 48% are affected by wildfire smoke or poor air quality every year.
Canadians give the federal government better marks for fighting fires than for preventing them — 62% rate its emergency response as good or excellent, compared with 40% for prevention — and 90% support governments investing in year-round work to reduce wildfire risk.
Indigenous fire stewardship is unfamiliar to most Canadians, but it is not controversial. Half (49%) had never heard of it, yet once it was described, 84% said it is important for Canada, 87% support investing in Fire Guardians and 82% support federal funding for Indigenous fire stewardship. Asked how a $250 million federal wildfire investment should be spent, 52% chose about 750 Indigenous Fire Guardians working year-round, against 22% who chose leasing four additional water bombers.
These findings come from an online survey of n=2,250 adult (18+) Canadians conducted from August 21 to 31, 2026, in English and French, including an oversample of 600 in British Columbia. This poll was commissioned by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. Read the full survey results and detailed methodology. Detailed tables by region, age and gender are available here.
