We estimate that a total of $5.3 billion will be injected into Alberta’s economy to rebuild after the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires; this will have been Canada’s costliest natural disaster.
The Economic Impacts of the 2016 Alberta Wildfires
The Economic Impacts of the 2016 Alberta Wildfires
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In May of 2016, economic activity in Fort McMurray ground to a halt as wildfires forced 88,000 residents to evacuate much of the Fort McMurray region. While the estimated $5.3 billion being injected into Alberta’s economy to rebuild and replace lost assets will generate economic activity, this doesn’t suggest that Canadians or Albertans will be better off economically.
This briefing updates an earlier Conference Board report on near- and medium-term economic impacts that the wildfires and rebuilding effort will have on the Alberta and Fort McMurray economies.