Saskatchewan's minister of community safety admits the agency responsible for fighting wildfires needs to improve in the future, after a report reviewing last summer's response was released.
"We have to do better. We're acknowledging that," said Michael Weger, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), following the public release of the long-awaited review into the way the province handled the historic 2025 wildfire season.
Report Recommendations
The report, prepared by MNP, contained 11 key recommendations the provincial government says it has directed SPSA to implement immediately. These include strengthening fire prevention modelling and improving coordination with the provincial government and local partners.
Governance changes have also been made. Weger said the board that oversees SPSA has been expanded, with the ministers of justice, environment, government relations and rural and remote health care now helping to oversee SPSA. With the report in hand, he added, the government will be looking closely at how the public agency functions.
"We need to review the organization of the SPSA as a whole. Now that we have this report, that review will be conducted," he said Friday at a media conference in Saskatoon.
2025 Wildfire Season
In 2025, more than 500 fires burned almost three million hectares, which forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. Report writers said the fires "placed the SPSA in an extraordinary operating environment, characterized by prolonged drought, periods of extreme fire behaviour, and multiple significant fires occurring at the same time."
While the conditions were challenging, MNP said the significant strains caused by the wildfires was "extreme, but reasonably foreseeable." The wildfire season, the report reads, "revealed clear opportunities for improvement, many of which reflect latent, preexisting systemic issues that were exposed or intensified by the severity of the season, rather than caused by it."
Workforce Planning
The report is also calling for SPSA to do a better job of workforce planning. The agency said it will partner with communities to train "community wildfire reservists" to work as firefighters. Weger said many people in the north have the knowledge and skills to help protect their communities.
"They can work in partnership with the SPSA and their community association and be there, to assist their community," he said.
More full-time workers will need to be hired, the minister said. Weger added some of these future employees could be doing mitigation work in the winter while being available for service in the summer.
FireSmart Grant Program
To help communities mitigate wildfires, the province has established a FireSmart grant program. FireSmart can include removing vegetation and other potential fuels, as well as protecting buildings and infrastructure, which helps limit fire spread. It can also include building fire breaks to help protect communities.
