WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says costs associated with this year’s wildfire season amount to roughly $180 million, with some invoices still to come.
That’s $130 million more than the province sets aside in its annual budget for all emergencies, but Kinew says cost is not a barrier to helping people in need.
The fires started in May and, over the course of the spring and summer, affected wide swaths of northern and eastern Manitoba.
The Canadian Red Cross says 32,000 people were registered as evacuees at various times.
Many were flown out of remote communities and sent to large congregate shelters in Winnipeg or hotel rooms across the province.
The cost comes at a time when the NDP government is trying to meet a campaign promise to balance the budget by 2027.
The most recent figures for the fiscal year that ended in March show the deficit was on track to be almost $445 million higher than originally forecast, due in large part to spending in heath care.
Tariffs imposed by the United States and China this fiscal year have added to the province’s financial squeeze. Moody’s, an international credit-rating agency, recently said Manitoba’s deficit next year is likely to be almost triple the $327 million the government has forecast.
Still, Finance Minister Adrien Sala has said the government remains committed to eliminating annual deficits the following year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.
