Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada has updated its National Drought Monitor Map now that the stats are in from August (2025).
Trevor Hadwen, an agroclimate specialist with AAFC says drought conditions improved throughout western Canada; however, eastern Canada saw conditions deteriorate significantly.
"In western Canada, the southern Prairies received significant moisture, reducing the amount of drought and improving soil moisture, water supplies, and growing conditions. Northern regions of the Prairies continue to see drier than normal conditions throughout most of the region, increasing drought conditions in some regions. British Columbia saw dry conditions throughout the central part of the province. However, drought conditions in southern regions have improved slightly."
He notes we have seen some significant changes since the last report, with the greatest improvement being recorded in the southern Prairies.
Southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan started the year with extremely dry conditions, leading some regions to declare agricultural disasters. Those regions that are under agricultural disaster have improved significantly after receiving significant moisture, moving them into a moderate drought condition now.
"Most of that region has seen tremendous amounts of rainfall throughout July and August, and it has really improved the soil moisture. That's not to say that agricultural crops have improved; the damage was done in June for most of those agricultural crops, and certainly yields will still be very low throughout many of those regions."
While we've seen significant improvement in drought conditions in the southern prairies, drought conditions continue to be prevalent in the north.
"We’re seeing very dry conditions continue through the Peace River region of Alberta, some very dry conditions through northern Saskatchewan well as much of Manitoba is seeing extremely dry conditions this last month. We are seeing the continuation of large pockets of exceptional or extreme drought conditions, especially in the Interlake area of Manitoba, as well as the Peace River region of Alberta. Again, the southern Prairies are doing fairly well, they’re recovering. We've seen some significant improvement there - but less improvement and some really concerning places throughout the northern regions as well as the Interlake region of Manitoba."
Hadwen says the moisture that we've seen recently in southern portions of the province has really started to improve conditions, but more is needed.
"The current drought situation is still impacting water supplies and feed availability and pastures. From the crop perspective the moisture that we receive now isn't necessarily beneficial until next spring. That said, the northern portions of the province are still in very dry conditions and we're seeing some very significant issues with pasture conditions, feed availability and water supplies for livestock."
He points out that those are the common conditions we're seeing with those drought issues throughout the Prairie region, a lot of livestock related issues, while the crop related issues start to decrease as we move into the fall period here.