The historic wildfires that ripped through Quebec in 2023, destroying millions of hectares of forest and impacting thousands of people, is estimated to have cost over $8 billion.

That's according to a new provincially funded study published Wednesday by Nada Conseils — a climate action consultancy firm — highlighting the impacts and collective costs of the fires on citizens, governments, businesses and ecosystems.

According to SOPFEU, the agency responsible for wildfire prevention and suppression in Quebec, the 2023 wildfire season was the worst in over 100 years with 713 fires — 99.9 per cent of which were caused by lightening — burning 4.3 million hectares of forest.

Evacuations affected around 27,000 people across 26 municipalities and Indigenous communities, disrupting people's liv

See Full Page