More Canadians report being affected by extreme weather after hot, dry summer: poll

By Canadian Press on September 24, 2025.

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests more Canadians are reporting being affected by extreme weather following one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.

A Leger online poll of 1,500 people conducted online last weekend says 37 per cent of respondents reported being personally affected by extreme weather events, up from the 23 per cent who said the same in a June poll.

This year saw wildfires consume nearly 9 million hectares in Canada — an area larger than New Brunswick — making it the second-worst wildfire season on record.

Sixty-five per cent of respondents nationally said they’ve been forced to stay indoors because of air quality concerns, a figure that rises to 86 per cent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where most of the wildfires occurred this year.

The number of Canadians reporting emotional stress or cancelled travel plans due to extreme weather has dropped since the June poll.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press