Wildfire Community Preparedness Day 2025
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/05/24
FireSmart™ Canada talks about Wildfire Community Preparedness Day (WCPD), a national initiative encouraging citizens to reduce wildfire risk and enhance community resilience. Since its inception, participation has grown from 29 applications in 2015 to 466 in 2025, with 404 awards granted. Supported by the Co-operators, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), and wildfire agencies, the program offers $500 grants for local projects like vegetation clearing and evacuation planning. FireSmart Canada promotes shared responsibility in wildfire risk reduction, emphasizing collaboration among neighbours to protect overlapping Home Ignition Zones and strengthen collective preparedness through community-based solutions.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the purpose of Wildfire Community Preparedness Day?
FireSmart™ Canada: Wildfire Community Preparedness Day (WCPD) is a national campaign that encourages citizens to take actions that will increase their home, neighbourhood and community’s resilience to wildfire. It’s a great first step in the FireSmart journey, aimed at educating participants and helping them take risk reduction actions in their community.
More information on WCPD can be found here – Wildfire Community Preparedness Day | FireSmart Canada
Jacobsen: How has this Day grown over the past decade?
FireSmart™ Canada: In 2025, FireSmart Canada awarded more recipients than ever before with 404 communities. The years ago, back in 2015, we received 29 applications from only a few provinces. Over the past two years we’ve received and awarded applications from every province and two territories, with a record of 466 applications in 2025.
Jacobsen: How many community events were awarded in 2025 compared to 2024?
FireSmart™ Canada: In 2025, FireSmart Canada awarded more recipients than ever before with 404 awards. *In 2024, 378 neighbourhoods were awarded in 10 provinces and two territories, compared to 230 neighbourhoods in 2023 and 162 neighbourhoods in 2022.
*In 2024 this figure includes 97 communities that were also Neighborhood Recognition Participants. This would bring Prep Day recipients down to 281 in 2024. In 2025, these neighbourhoods were awarded through a separate incentive program and are not included in the final 404 count.
Jacobsen: What are the roles of Co-operators, ICLR, and wildland fire agencies?
FireSmart™ Canada: FireSmart™ Canada, in collaboration with the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), Co-operators and the provincial and territorial wildfire agencies, support this annual event by offering the $500 award. ICLR and Co-operators are long standing sponsors, contributing funding towards this program. The provincial and territorial wildfire agencies also contribute towards the program to support the funding flowing towards the communities within their respective regions.
Program descriptions can be found at the bottom of this email.
Jacobsen: What specific activities do communities typically undertake during the Day?
FireSmart™ Canada: Anyone can participate in a project that reduces wildfire risk, increases resilience, and helps neighbourhoods become FireSmart. Projects can range from hour-long work sessions to full-day activities, or even weekend undertakings. Popular activities include community information sessions and BBQs, community vegetation clearing/removal, evacuation planning, and more!
Jacobsen: How does FireSmart Canada define “wildland fire resilience”?
FireSmart™ Canada: A wildland fire resilient community is a community that is prepared to live alongside fire and have mitigated their risk from it, by implementing FireSmart best practices and recommendations.
Jacobsen: What is the significance of community participation in wildfire preparedness?
FireSmart™ Canada: The FireSmart program helps reduce wildfire risks to homes, neighbourhoods, critical infrastructure, and vital natural resources. This is a shared responsibility between us all. Individuals, communities, governments, and private sector organizations all have a part to play.
As many neighbourhoods across the country are densely populated, it is very likely that properties will have overlapping Home Ignition Zones. When neighbours have overlapping zones, they then share a heightened risk of ignition during a wildland fire. In these cases, it is crucial that they work together to reduce their shared risk. Neighbours can enhance the resilience of their individual properties and that of the entire neighbourhood by working together to reduce risk and remove potential hazards in their overlapping zones.
Jacobsen: How does the ICLR contribute to disaster loss prevention and community resilience in Canada?
FireSmart™ Canada: Please contact ICLR for more information: info@iclr.org
About FireSmartTM Canada
FireSmart Canada™ is a program committed to helping Canadians reduce their wildland fire risk and become resilient to wildland fire through community-based solutions. Through publications, programs, outreach training, and workshops, FireSmart Canada provides tools for Canadians to be pro-active in preparing their homes, properties and neighborhoods for the threat of wildland fire. FireSmart Canada operates under a mandate from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and is supported by federal, provincial, and territorial wildland fire management agencies and partners with municipal governments and the private sector. For more information visit www.firesmartcanada.ca.
About Co-operators
Proudly Canadian since 1945, Co-operators is a leading financial services co-operative, offering multi-line insurance and investment products, services, and personalized advice to help Canadians build their financial strength and security. With more than $71 billion in assets under administration, Co-operators is well known for its community involvement and its commitment to sustainability. Currently a carbon neutral organization, Co-operators is committed to net-zero emissions in its operations and investments by 2040, and 2050, respectively. Co-operators is recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and ranked as one of Corporate Knights’ Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada. www.cooperators.ca
About ICLR
Established in 1998 by Canada’s property and casualty insurers, ICLR is an independent, not-for-profit research institute based in Toronto and at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. ICLR is a centre of excellence for disaster loss prevention research and education. ICLR’s research staff is internationally recognized for pioneering work in a number of fields including wind and seismic engineering, atmospheric sciences, water resources engineering and economics. Multi-disciplined research is a foundation for ICLR’s work to build communities more resilient to disasters. Visit www.iclr.org
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