Photo: UBCO/M. Bourbonnais
Prescribed fire is the intentional, carefully planned use of fire to meet specific land management and ecological objectives.
It is applied only when specified conditions are met, and is guided by scientific knowledge, preparation, applied experience, and a grounded understanding of fire’s role in the ecosystem.
Planning and implementation consider ecological processes alongside cultural and social factors, community context, and long-term land management goals.
Prescribed fire is one of several tools used to support ecological and land management objectives. When applied thoughtfully and under the right conditions, it can support ecosystem processes that shape healthy landscapes and post-fire habitat mosaics over time.
As part of broader landscape resilience efforts, well-planned prescribed fire can also help reduce wildfire risk to communities.
Parks Canada Agency/J. Park
When planned and applied under appropriate conditions, prescribed fire can support ecological processes that contribute to healthy ecosystems over time.
Prescribed fire:
These effects are not uniform and depend on how, when, and where fire is applied. Prescribed fire is not appropriate in all ecosystems and does not produce the same outcomes across landscapes.
Prescribed fire is not a universal solution but can contribute to increasing landscape resilience to wildfire. Its use requires careful planning, training, monitoring, and professional judgement as part of broader land management and restoration efforts.
Parks Canada Agency/J. Park
Fire’s ecological role varies across Canada’s diverse landscapes. Some ecosystems evolved with frequent, low-intensity fires, while others are adapted to less frequent, high-intensity fires that renew entire forest stands. These patterns, known as fire regimes, describe how often fires occur, how intense they are, how they are ignited and when they typically burn.
Across Canada, Indigenous cultural fire shaped the landscape for millennia and played an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Colonial fire-suppression policies disrupted these practices, allowing vegetation to build up and forests to become denser in places that were once open forests or grasslands. Combined with increasing drought driven by climate change, these changes have contributed to today’s larger and more intense wildfires, which often have serious impacts on communities and ecosystems.
Because fire’s role varies by region and history, prescribed fire must be guided by a strong understanding of fire ecology, past land management, and Indigenous fire stewardship. Ongoing changes in vegetation and fire regimes reinforce the need for careful planning, monitoring, and informed decision-making.
Practitioners work with scientists, land managers, Indigenous communities, industry partners, neighbouring landowners, and community members to develop prescribed fire projects that reflect local values, knowledge, and ecological and land management goals.
Planning can take months or longer, depending on the landscape and stakeholders involved. Plans prioritize community and infrastructure safety, while considering air quality, wildlife habitat, and the role of fire in maintaining healthy ecosystems. They also define fuel and weather conditions, communication strategies, and contingency measures to ensure prescribed fires are carried out safely and responsibly.
CPFTP’s training program will include dedicated courses on prescribed fire planning, teaching the practitioners the skills needed to develop safe, well-informed prescribed fire plans.
Beyond its ecological benefits, prescribed fire can help build safer, more wildfire-resilient communities. Decades of fire suppression have left many forests near Canadian communities dense and over-mature, increasing vulnerability to insects, disease, and high-intensity wildfire.
Communities across Canada are experiencing the impacts of severe wildfires, including smoke-related air quality issues, evacuations, and the loss of homes and infrastructure. Prescribed fire is a proven tool for reducing wildfire risk around communities and is a core component of vegetation management within FireSmart.
By working collaboratively with municipalities, industry, Indigenous communities, provincial and federal partners, and private landowners, prescribed fire can be thoughtfully integrated into community and land-use planning as a key tool for strengthening wildfire resilience.
CPFTP will support this work by building capacity and confidence in the safe planning and implementation of prescribed fire across Canada, supporting practitioners and agencies involved in wildfire risk reduction and land stewardship.
Photo: UBCO/M. Bourbonnais
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Photo: UBCO/M. Bourbonnais
