From earthquakes to wildfires, Canada is woefully unprepared for disasters

A fault line has formed in Canada's Yukon Territory after more than 12,000 years of geological sleep. Researchers studying the Tintina Fault, which runs 1,000 kilometers from northeastern British Columbia into the Yukon and toward Alaska, have found evidence that the fault has accumulated at least six meters of undiluted stress.

Like a loaded weapon, it may now be ready for a massive earthquake. To most Canadians, the news passed as a distant curiosity from the north, but the fault lies in the tectonic system that extends beneath western Canada and points to deeper vulnerabilities in eastern Ontario and beyond. Beneath the surface lies an uncomfortable truth: Canada is not immune to disasters.

A wildfire ripped through the hills of Los Angeles in early 2025. Schools closed, emergency alerts blared through phones, and emergency crews raced to battle the flames, as Southern California once again experienced one of the worst wildfire seasons ever recorded.

Read more: False alerts – like those sent during major Los Angeles wildfires – can undermine trust and spark anxiety

Meanwhile, in Canada, smoke from unprecedented wildfires blanketed major cities, lowering air quality in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

These events may seem far apart, but they share one common trait: the failure to act before the crisis strikes.

Ignore early warning signs

A recent study found that most Canadians do not believe their communities are prepared for a major disaster. However, beyond fire drills or emergency alarm testing, Canadians continue to live as if preparedness is someone else's job.

But being prepared isn't just about stuffing water bottles in your basement or changing the batteries in your smoke alarms. It's about how we think and, more importantly, what we choose to ignore.

Cover of the author's book on disaster preparedness. (University of Toronto Press)

As a writer and clinician interested in prevention, I have spent years studying how disasters arise and how they could have been prevented. My new book, Written in Blood: Lessons in Preventing a Perilous World, examines tragedies such as nuclear meltdowns, natural disasters, and pandemics. In case after case, she found a pattern: Early warning signs were ignored, systems failed to communicate, and people trusted that “someone else” had it covered.

The real danger is not nature or technology, but complacency.

Respond to the last disaster, not the next

In Canada, 2023 witnessed the burning of the largest number of hectares in the history of forest fires. However, only one in four Canadian households reported having made any preparations for a weather emergency in the past year.

When we ignore the cracks in our systems, we normalize risks. It's easy to think of preparedness as the job of government or the job of emergency responders. But the reality is more complex, and responsibilities should be broader.

Cities continue to use outdated flood risk maps that underestimate current climate realities. Schools ignore basic updates to improve air quality or ventilation. Transport networks run on legacy infrastructure.

Floodwaters in Grand Valley, Ontario, along the Grand River, in March 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rob Skewitch

Canada's cybersecurity agency recently warned that hostile entities are targeting internet-connected control systems across the country, including those that manage water supplies, energy infrastructure and agricultural operations.

Read more: Silent cyber threats: How shadow AI could undermine Canada's digital health defences

The lesson here is not that Canadians need to panic, but rather that they need to think differently. In sectors such as aviation or nuclear energy, safety is built into every process. These areas rely on multi-layered preventive measures, robust near-miss reporting and a culture of constant vigilance. They know that safety is not a check box, it is a mindset.

So why doesn't the same mentality exist in other parts of our society, and how can Canadian officials ensure it does?

Prevention mindset

Instead of responding to disasters as they happen, Canadians should be asking:

What could go wrong here? What was I hoping to do if something went wrong?

This approach – a prevention mindset – does not mean living in fear. This means being proactive when the headlines are quiet. It means investing in security when there is no visible crisis and building defenses before something happens.

Take the Los Angeles wildfires as a case study. Fire crews have been warning of dry conditions for months. Urbanization and outdated building codes exacerbated the damage.

Meanwhile, cities in Canada have barely updated their evacuation plans or wildfire risk assessments, despite years of deteriorating weather conditions. Last summer, toxic wildfire smoke shut down outdoor events, damaged the lung health of a large percentage of Canadians and revealed major failures in planning.

These are not just “acts of God.” It's also policy choices, deferred upgrades, and missing budget items. They are repeated across sectors – from healthcare to cybersecurity, from education to urban planning.

A helicopter drops water on Dryden Creek Wildfire, north of Squamish, British Columbia, in June 2025. The Canadian Press/Tijana Martin Safety must be built

Disasters seem sudden, but their roots often extend back years. In my book Written in Blood, I explore the slow buildup of disasters such as the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima in Japan, the fire of Notre Dame in Paris, and the Beirut port explosion. These were not lightning strikes, but failures of imagination, leadership, and system design.

The next crisis, whether wildfires, data breaches, infrastructure collapses, or disease outbreaks, is already somewhere on the horizon.

The question is not whether it will happen. It's a matter of whether we face it with a surprise, or with a plan.

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