Wildfires in Ontario: Toronto currently has the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir

Appeal by the Authorities

The authorities of the city of millions called on residents on Wednesday to stay in their homes if possible. The authorities urged residents to stay in their homes if possible and to avoid sports activities, because the concentration of particulate matter and smoke particles in the outdoor air had reached health-endangering levels.

According to forecasts, conditions are not expected to change for the foreseeable future. Meteorologists expect that the smoke from the fires in Ontario will continue to drift southeast, burdening the greater Toronto area for several days, as long as there is no substantial rainfall or the fires are brought under control.

Health Risks and Protective Measures

According to the authorities, the health risks particularly affect people with respiratory diseases, elderly persons, as well as children and pregnant women. They were advised to limit time outdoors to what is strictly necessary and to seek medical advice if necessary if symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, or eye irritation occur.

Public transport and outdoor sporting events are also affected by the recommendations. Schools and daycare facilities were asked to postpone or move outdoor classes indoors. Employers in the Toronto region widely enabled working from home.

The current situation underscores the growing importance of air quality measurements, such as those carried out worldwide by IQAir. The Swiss company continuously evaluates data from a network of monitoring stations and publishes it in real time so that authorities, media, and the public can inform themselves about the pollution levels.

Context: Toronto in Global Comparison

It is unusual for a major Canadian city to record worse values than Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo or Medan in Indonesia. Both cities are considered places with year-round high air pollution from industry, traffic, or waste burning. According to experts, the current situation in Toronto is a direct consequence of the exceptionally intense wildfire season in Canada.

This news was broadcast on 15.07.2026 on the program Deutschlandfunk. The Canadian authorities announced that they would continue to monitor the situation and regularly inform the population about new measurements and behavioral recommendations.

Overall, the incident makes clear how vulnerable even distant metropolitan areas are to the effects of wildfires. While the fires themselves are raging hundreds of kilometers away in northwestern Ontario, the smoke affects daily life in one of the largest cities in North America through wind patterns.