Canadian wildfire smoke chokes Toronto and turns sky orange, threatens US cities including New York

TORONTO/NEW YORK - Toronto’s air quality ranked the worst among major cities globally on July 15 as wildfire smoke from north-western Ontario turned the sky into various hues and spread into the north-eastern United States, prompting health warnings and calls for residents to limit outdoor activities.

Wildfires are raging through sparsely populated areas hundreds of miles from Toronto and sending smoke over a wide area, although they are not directly threatening cities.

The New York Times said that parts of Canada, including its most populous city, Toronto, woke to a hazy, orange sky on July 15, the air smelling strongly of woodsmoke.

Environment Canada reported an Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) reading of 10+, classified as “very high risk,” for Toronto, while forecasts suggested hazardous conditions could persist through July 16.

Hazy skies in New York just days before New Jersey hosts World Cup final

Wildfire smoke from Northern Canada has been a common summer occurrence across wide swaths of the United States in recent years.

New York City began feeling the effects days before neighbouring New Jersey is scheduled to host the World Cup final on July 19.

Local authorities issued an alert as air quality reached an unhealthy level and urged residents to reduce “strenuous outdoor activity” and take extra breaks if they are outside on July 15 and 16.

Air quality alerts are in effect across portions of the Mid-west and North-east, and forecasters expect some of the smoke to move across New England and New York City later on July 15 before spreading toward Washington and Philadelphia.

The National Weather Service said smoke could linger into the end of the week.

“We probably haven’t seen the worst of it yet for New York City. We probably haven’t seen the worst of it yet for the Great Lakes and upstate and New England yet either,” said Dan Westervelt, Lamont associate research professor at Columbia University.

In the New York City area, more than 80,000 people are expected to attend the World Cup final at an open-air stadium in New Jersey on July 19. Another 50,000 plan to watch the game from Central Park in Manhattan, where skies appeared hazy.

On social media, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul encouraged people, especially those with health conditions, to exercise caution due to the smoke and haze.

835 active fires

The Government of Canada has said that the wildfire season began more slowly in 2026 than in 2023 or 2025 – the two worst seasons for wildfires – but warned that fires were likely due to warmer than usual temperatures across the country.

Some 835 active fires were burning in the country on July 15, and 112 according were considered out of control, according to the government.

So far, 1.9 million hectares have burnt. Most of the fires were in the central provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

A video shared on social media showing a Canadian National (CN) train surrounded by fire near Armstrong, Ontario, went viral.

Canadian National employees in the area and residents of Armstrong were evacuated late on July 13, CN said in a statement. The company suspended rail operations near Armstrong, more than 500km north of Toronto, as a precaution.

NYT also reported that at least six rural and First Nations communities have been evacuated around Thunder Bay, Ontario, a city on Lake Superior about an hour’s drive from the Minnesota border.

The City of Toronto cancelled the FIFA Fan Festival and the England-Argentina World Cup watch party at Nathan Phillips Square because of poor air quality.

IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, ranked Toronto as having the worst air quality across the globe, surpassing Kinshasa and Delhi. New York ranked No. 5.

Greg Evans, professor at University of Toronto, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, noted Toronto had been simultaneously hit with severe heat and wildfire smoke.

“I expect that this will occur more frequently over the coming decades so cities and residents need to prepare for this in the future,” he said.

Paula Oreskovich, a Toronto resident, said she noticed the haze and smell of smoke when she stepped outside in the morning. She said the poor air quality was concerning, particularly as wildfire smoke has become a recurring feature of recent summers.

“I think you have to be silly if you’re not going to be concerned about climate change. It’s definitely here, it’s definitely happening, and it’s happening globally,” Oreskovich said. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES