Alberta municipalities affected by wildfires to have most costs reimbursed by province

The Alberta government has set aside $175 million for wildfire disaster recovery after spring and early summer blazes tore through some communities and forced 38,000 people from their homes.

Municipalities and Métis settlements will be eligible to apply for provincial funding to help offset some of the unanticipated costs of responding to wildfires and repairing some damage.

"Alberta municipalities and Métis settlements have had to manage extraordinary costs and pressures to help keep residents' homes and businesses safe," Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said at a news conference Tuesday in Drayton Valley, 140 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. "We're here to help shoulder this burden."

Municipalities and settlements can use the recovery money to pay volunteer firefighters, municipal staff and firefighter costs, run reception centres and provide emergency accommodations, food and transportation, a government news release said.

It could also cover the cost of measures taken to protect local structures from fire, and repair or replace infrastructure damaged by fire prevention efforts.

However, since the government changed the program in 2021, recovery funds will cover only 90 per cent of communities' expenses.

The program will also only cover repairs that are uninsured.

Homeowners, renters, small business owners, landlords, agricultural operations, non-profit groups and condo associations are not eligible for the disaster response program. The government says these groups should be eligible for private fire insurance.

Residents of some Alberta Métis settlements have said they don't know how they'll rebuild homes because insurance companies refused to insure their property.

East Prairie Métis Settlement, which is about 380 km northwest of Edmonton, lost 27 structures in a May wildfire. The settlement was denied home insurance because the houses were too far from the closest fire station.

Ellis said the provincial government is aware of the challenge, but doesn't yet have a solution.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to try to make sure that we help any community," he said. "I can just say that those conversations are currently ongoing."

With May's wildfires, followed by rain causing flash flooding and a tornado in Didsbury on Saturday, officials acknowledged 2023 has been an exceptional year for natural disasters in Alberta.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver said thus far, the province has spent more than $700 million fighting wildfires.

Stephen LaCroix, managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said there are still 106 active wildfires in the province, and the season isn't yet over.

Firefighting costs for the year could exceed those from 2016, when firefighters spent months tamping down wildfires surrounding Fort McMurray. 

By mid-June this year, Alberta marked its worst wildfire season on record with fires covering 1.4 million hectares, which is the highest ever measured.

LaCroix said 52 communities have been affected by the 789 fires logged so far this year.

Expenses not covered could push up property taxes

It's numbers like these that prompt Jerry Gautreau, chief administrative officer of Big Lakes County, to question whether $175 million in disaster recovery funds will be enough.

"I believe that number's going to be a lot higher," Gautreau said.

Although the bills continue to roll in, Gautreau estimates his county in northwestern Alberta could rack up between $4 and $5 million in firefighting costs, fire breaks construction, running a reception centre and housing evacuees at an emergency shelter, he said.

Municipalities aren't allowed to carry a deficit, so the county will have to raise fees or tax rates to cover any costs the province doesn't reimburse, he said.

Firefighting and wildfire disaster recovery alone put the province's potential disaster response costs close to $900 million, a quarter of the way into the 2023-24 fiscal year. This year's budget has allotted $1.5 billion for disaster response.

Municipal Affairs Minister McIver said it's too soon to say whether the government needs to revisit that budget line.

Ellis, who is also deputy premier, said protecting lives and property is the government's primary concern — they'll deal with the bills later.

"We'll do whatever it takes to keep Albertans safe," Ellis said.