Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund
Every summer, wildfire threatens the people and property of Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) is taking significant steps to reduce the risk of wildfire to Saskatchewan communities through forest thinning, fire guard construction and vegetation maintenance in high-risk areas.
Once treated, these areas burn with much lower intensity, which increases the safety and effectiveness of ground and aerial wildfire suppression operations.
This work also increases public and first responder safety, reduces provincial suppression and evacuation costs and reduces the risk to communities.
Experts within the SPSA manage these fuel mitigation projects, which are typically adjacent to community lands.
A Project Manager is assigned to work cooperatively and concurrently within municipal boundaries.
Current Projects
Projects are planned to increase wildfire resilience for 84 communities that have been assessed to be at moderate or high risk from wildfire.
Mitigation projects have been started on Crown land and municipal land in 2023 - 2024.
Municipal and Crown land projects:
• Anglin Lake
• Candle Lake
• Cypress Hills
• Denare Beach
• Descharme Lake
• Dore Lake
• Hudson Bay
• La Ronge
• Little Bear Lake
• Nesslin Lake
• Parr Hill
• Patuanak
• Prince Albert (City)
• Sled Lake
• Turtle Lake
• Uranium City
• Wadin Bay
• Waterhen Lake
• Whiteswan Lake
Background Information
In 2017, Infrastructure Canada established the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF), with the objective to increase the resilience of Canadian communities by funding projects designed to manage risks associated with natural hazards such as wildfire, floods and droughts.
In the Spring of 2019, the Province of Saskatchewan reached an agreement with the Government of Canada to fund a nine-year project starting in winter of 2019/2020 with a total budget of $33.4 million. The DMAF will cover 50 per cent of the costs for projects on Crown land, 75 per cent on Indigenous community lands and 40 per cent for projects on non-indigenous municipal lands.
Key partners in the SPSA agreement include SaskPower and Northern Municipal Services who administers the Northern Municipal Trust Account (NMTA). SaskPower manages powerline vegetation within identified communities, reducing the risk of wildfire ignitions and power outages from fallen trees on powerlines.
The Northern Municipal Trust Account will pay for the municipal cost to treat wildfire risk within NMTA communities and to help cover the cost of a Project Manager who will manage mitigation occurring on NMTA lands.
For more information about DMAF, email spsa@gov.sk.ca.
These projects are funded in part by the Government of Canada.