Canada is at risk of another round of devastating wildfires like the blazes that choked America last summer - as warm, dry winter gives way to hot spring season ahead

The Canadian federal government has warned the country could face another wildfire season because of unusually warm weather.

The word of caution was provided by Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan on Parliament Hill Wednesday, on the heels of an uncharacteristically warm winter.

He said that more dry, hot weather is expected this spring and summer, putting much of the country at heightened risk.

Widespread drought and a forecast of above-normal temperatures will also play a factor, he said - warning the summer months ahead have the potential to be more disastrous than last year's.

The country's wildfire season lasts through May through October. Last year, the blazes were so widespread, a blanket of smog enveloped much of the US. Canada, moreover, is home to 9 percent of the world's forests - potential fuel for future fire, Sajjan said.

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The Canadian federal government warned Wednesday that  the country could face another wildfire season because of unusually warm weather

The word of caution was provided by Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan at a presser on Parliament Hill, on the heels of an uncharacteristically warm winter

'With the heat and dryness across the country, we can expect that the wildfire season will start sooner and end later, and potentially be more explosive,' Sajjan said.

'It is impossible to predict the summer that lies ahead of us, but what is clear is that wildfires will represent a significant challenge for Canada into the future as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify. 

'And the costs to Canadians are growing every single year,' he continued, stressing that the likelihood of another blaze largely depends on the level of precipitation seen during these important spring and summer months.

During this span, regions like southern Quebec, eastern Ontario and Western Canada, will have a higher-than-usual likelihood of fire, Sajjan said - citing recent drought conditions and an abundance of timber

Last year's wildfire season was the most destructive in recorded history, he repeatedly reiterated, reminding reporters how more than 6,000 fires burned during the catastrophe this past summer. 

It saw some 37million acres of forest burned, and hundreds of thousands of Canadians evacuated from their homes.

Linking the issue to climate change - as his predecessors did last year - the minister warned this year could be just as devastating, if not worse.

Last year, federal ministers had warned climate change was contributing to more extreme weather events, including wildfires like the ones that wreaked havoc for several months.

Smoke billows upwards from a planned ignition by firefighters tackling the Donnie Creek Complex wildfire south of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada June 3, 2023. Sajjan said that dry weather is expected this spring and summer, putting much of the country at risk

Widespread drought and a forecast of above-normal temperatures will also play a factor, he said - warning the summer months ahead have the potential to be more disastrous than that of last year's

The country's wildfire season lasts through May through October. Last year, the blazes were so widespread, a blanket of smog enveloped much of the US

Canada , moreover, is home to 9 percent of the world's forests - potential fuel for future fire, Sajjan said.

'With the heat and dryness across the country, we can expect that the wildfire season will start sooner and end later, and potentially be more explosive,' the government official said, blaming climate change for last year's crisis and setting the stage for another one

Drought and heatwaves also played an important part - and history appears to be repeating itself as it stands.

'Wildfires have always occurred across Canada. What's new is their frequency and their intensity,' Jonathan Wilkinson, the minister for energy and natural resources, said Wednesday.

'The science is clear. The root cause of this is climate change.'

Sajjan, who was appointed emergency preparedness president several months into the crisis, repeatedly echoed these claims during his speech.

He revealed that Ottawa will provide $187.15million over the next five years to prevent another such crisis, a sum matched by the country's provinces and territories.

That money will fund new equipment to combat drought conditions and future fires, as well as help train an additional 1,000 community-based wildfire firefighters.

Last year, Canada was forced to deploy 5,500 international firefighters from countries as far-flung as South Africa and Spain to bolster their spread-thin first responder force.

An aerial image shows land of the community of James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. Remote regions like this that have seen less rainfall than usual will be at particular risk this spring and summer

Several regions, such southern Quebec, eastern Ontario and Western Canada, have higher than usual likelihood of fire in April, the official said. A general view shows an oil sands mining operation and facility near Fort McKay, Alberta

A general view shows a Syncrude oil sands mining facility near Fort McKay, Alberta - one of the at risk, tree-rife regions in Western Canada

An Aerial the indigenous community of James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, which houses a great deal of the world's forests

Some 2,135 armed forces from overseas were also  to help tackle the blazes.

The federal budget this year could double tax credits for firefighters and search and rescue volunteers to address this shortage, Sajjan said, flanked by cabinet colleagues Steven Guilbeault (environment and climate change), Jonathan Wilkinson (energy and natural resources), and Patty Hajdu (Indigenous Services).

In 2023, the crisis caused more than $3.1 billion in insured damages, several of these officials said.

It also saw Canada become the center of an international media circus, as smoke billowed to the US, covering portions of the East Coast and even the Midwest.

Back in June, New York City's air quality surpassed Dehli's to briefly become the worst in the world. 

'Extreme weather events are becoming far too familiar to Canadians as the impacts of climate change hit our communities,' Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said in a statement. 

'These events are costing Canadians and their governments billions of dollars.'

Manhattanites were barely able to see the Statue of Liberty across the Hudson River due to the poor visibility wrought by smog from the Canadian fires. The statues is seen behind the Staten Island Ferry on June 6, 2023

The smoky yellow haze enveloped the city and lasted for days

New York's Yankee Stadium pictured under the hazy conditions ahead of a game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, which has since been postponed due to poor air quality

A man talks on his phone as he looks through the haze at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey on June 7

Climate-related impacts currently cost the average Canadian household $720 a year, according to government data. That's projected to rise to around $2,000 a year by 2050.

'We must do more to prepare for the impacts of climate change, and we must speed up our collective efforts to stop adding carbon pollution to this global crisis,' Guilbeault said. 

'After the staggering wildfire season of 2023, we are once again facing the potential for another active wildfire season this year. 

'It is a stark reminder that we need to work together to reduce the risks from our changing climate to keep Canadian communities safe.'