Rising Number of Wildfires Trigger Poor Air Quality Warnings in Ontario, Quebec

A boat passes by the Jacques Cartier bridge obscured by a haze of smog in Montreal, June 25, 2023, as a smog warning is in effect for the city and multiple regions of the province due to forest fires. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

The number of forest fires burning across Canada crept higher over the last week and more dangerous air quality warnings were issued in parts of Ontario and Quebec Sunday.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, known as CIFFC, reported 465 active fires burning across the country, including 240 that are out of control. Almost one-quarter of those fires are in Quebec, and Environment Canada warned wind patterns were causing smoke from some of those blazes to settle over the western part of the province as well as eastern Ontario.