Fire chief anxious that FireSmart funding may be cut

Anxiety over funding cuts

Southern Interior communities are concerned about a recent shift in the way FireSmart funding is distributed.

According to the Union of BC Municipalities, the FireSmart Community Funding and Supports (FCFS) program closed its current intake for applications on January 30 due to a lack of funding.

The program has reopened, but with a competitive adjudicated grant process, meaning cities, towns and other communities will have to fight it out for what’s left in the kitty.

“We were shocked and quite frankly devastated to learn that funding for the FireSmart program in the future may not be there,” said West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund.

“We have a long history with wildfire in our community. We know the effects of it, but we also know that FireSmart works,” he added. “It’s a tremendous program."

“It has been scientifically proven after devastating events like the McDougall Creek fire that it works, that the things that we do as a result of our FireSmart program save homes and potentially save lives.”

The UBCM report notes that fuel management and impacts from wildfire will no longer be funded this year and all funding requests will be limited to one-year projects.

“You know, we’re really trying to take a proactive approach for our communities, for life safety and for those big, big events that cost us a fortune, cost the province a fortune, cost the country a fortune,” said Blair Ireland, mayor of Lake Country.

He said the program has been a great way to advance fire mitigation in the community, year after year.

The District of Lake Country applied for up to $400,000 in provincial FireSmart funding for 2026. The money would continue and expand local FireSmart activities already underway, such as home assessments, rebates, training, public education, and wildfire-resilience planning.

While the change in the funding model might not affect communities that have already been approved for this year, the fear is that the money will dry up as the province looks to cut back on spending.

Brolund has a message for the Eby government.

“We’re spending the money on the wrong end of the problem,” he said. “If we could use a fraction of those funds towards prevention, that’s where we will make a difference in these wildfire situations. FireSmart is the way we do that.”

He noted that West Kelowna has applied for the maximum grant and also funds nearly $200,000 of other fire prevention work around the municipality, including an annual FireSmart Family Day.

“We work in partnership with the provincial government to deliver FireSmart in our community. However, the news that we heard means that we’re going to need to, quite frankly, reduce the programs that are delivered or find another way to fund them,” said Brolund.

The Union of BC Municipalities is pressing Premier David Eby to prioritize renewing the FireSmart Community Funding and Supports program. It’s also encouraging local governments and First Nations that depend on the grants to speak out.

Castanet contacted the province to ask if the program will be continued. We received a statement from Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar, stating that current programs are under review.

“2025 was one of the worst wildfire years on record for Canada. However, the wildfire mitigation work that we’ve done in B.C. helped us manage the threat," said Parmar.

“We’ve invested over $190 million in provincial wildfire risk reduction, through the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. and Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction. This is in addition to our investments in making the BC Wildfire Service a year-round operation, focused on prevention and mitigation alongside wildfire response."

He pointed out that wildfire mitigation is a shared responsibility that takes a “Whole-of-society” approach.

“I encourage everyone to do what they can to take up FireSmart activities and help keep their communities safe," he said.

“The threat of wildfire is growing and changing every day. This means it is time for us to review our programs, to ensure our work is most effective.”

Details on the specific changes to program delivery can be found here.