Smoke from Northwest Territories fires likely to spread to east this weekend

CTV National News: Life returns to Yellowknife Bill Fortier reports on Yellowknife residents being allowed to return to work, school and their lives in the capital city.

The hundreds of wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories are lowering air quality for communities across Canada.

More than 200 fires are actively burning across the territory, prompting evacuations in some communities including Yellowknife where 20,000 people live.

To date, land four times the size of P.E.I. has burned in N.W.T. with smoke creating hazy and blackened skies in many communities.

Across Canada, the smoke is moving eastward promoting special air quality statements from Environment Canada and raising the risk of health issues for Canadians.

A smoke map from BlueSky Canada, which operates the website firesmoke.ca, shows the pollution over most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Thursday.

Environment Canada issued special air quality statements for those provinces and for northwestern Ontario.

"Air quality due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour," the statement from Environment Canada reads.

Later Thursday afternoon the smoke is expected to lessen in Saskatchewan and begin heavily polluting Manitoba, the map shows.

Communities around the southern portion of Lake Winnipeg could have the worst air quality by mid-afternoon. The surrounding areas can expect an air quality rating of about seven later today, according to Environment Canada's forecast.

By late Thursday the smoke will have blanketed most of northern Ontario and continue to move eastward, the map shows.

Map from BlueSky Canada and firesmoke.ca shows smoke blanketing Canada. (Jesse Tahirali / CTVNews.ca)

Overnight some smoke will be concentrated around the Greater Toronto Area and be heaviest at dawn. Predictions from Environment Canada show the health risk to be low Friday for Toronto — which could change.

The smoke is set to stretch south towards New York City and eastward covering Canada's capital by noon on Friday.

By Friday evening Ontario is expected to be covered by smoke from the Yellowknife fires. Most of Quebec, excluding the Montreal area, is likely to avoid the pollution.

Some smoke could seep into New Brunswick by early Saturday morning, however.

FIRES BURNING OUT WEST

Fires burning in the British Columbia interior and southern Alberta are also expected to pollute neighbouring provinces.

By late Thursday smoke will move into southern Saskatchewan again and continue towards southern Manitoba.

The air quality will be poor for Regina Friday evening as plumes dissipate into Saturday.

Smoke is likely to concentrate for the communities of Penticton, Vernon, Castlegar and Cranbrook, B.C. early Saturday raising levels above 10 on the air quality index.