How is climate change affecting Canada?

Canada is warming at about twice the global average rate, with the Canadian Arctic warming nearly three times faster. Annual mean temperatures across Canada have risen by about 2 degrees Celsius since 1948, and Arctic temperatures by more than 3 degrees Celsius. The Canada in a Changing Climate report series, published by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada, documents accelerating impacts across all regions and sectors of the country. The 2023 report concluded that Canada's climate is already changing faster than any time in the historical record.

Wildfire activity has dramatically increased. The 2023 wildfire season was the worst on record, with about 18.5 million hectares burned (about 5 per cent of Canada's forested area) and major fires in every province and territory. The 2016 Fort McMurray Fire (the Horse River Fire) destroyed about 2,400 buildings and forced the evacuation of about 88,000 people, with damages estimated at $9.9 billion. The 2021 Lytton Fire in British Columbia destroyed the village of Lytton on the day after the town set Canada's all-time temperature record of 49.6 degrees Celsius (June 29, 2021). The 2024 Jasper Wildfire destroyed about a third of the town of Jasper.

Arctic sea-ice extent has declined about 13 per cent per decade since 1979, with the Canadian Arctic experiencing particularly rapid loss. The Northwest Passage has been navigable for longer summer periods. Permafrost thaw is destabilising buildings, roads, and pipelines across northern Canada, with infrastructure repair costs already in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Glaciers are retreating across the Canadian Cordillera and the Arctic, with the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park having retreated about 1.5 kilometres since 1844 and accelerating. The Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has declined from about 1,200 in the 1980s to about 1,000 today as the ice season has shortened.

The federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act of 2018 introduced a national carbon-pricing system that combines a fuel charge (consumer-facing) and an output-based pricing system (for large industrial emitters). The federal Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change of 2016 and the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan of 2022 commit Canada to reducing emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The federal consumer fuel charge was removed on April 1, 2025, leaving the Output-Based Pricing System for industry. Provinces operate parallel frameworks, with Quebec running a cap-and-trade system linked to California (since 2014) and British Columbia having operated North America's first broad carbon tax since 2008.