The Miramichi Fire of 1825 National Historic Event
Only house saved in the 1825 Miramichi Fire, with Mr John Niven standing outside, date unknown.
© Provincial Archives of New Brunswick / P61-277
On Wednesday, October 22nd, the Government of Canada announced the Great Miramichi Fire of 1825 was declared a National Historic Event. See below for the full news release and background prepared for Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages.
The City of Miramichi commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Great Miramichi Fire with a commemorative theatre event, an author’s talk, and producing a limited edition keepsake coin telling the story of the Rankin House and the story of Alexander Rankin who provided shelter to the Indigenous people of the area, particularly to the Natoaganeg First Nation during the fire. The other side of the coin features the 30th anniversary of the creation of the City of Miramichi.
Government of Canada recognizes 11 new designations of national historic significance
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, announced 11 designations of persons, places and events of national historic significance under Parks Canada’s National Program of Historical Commemoration. These designations honour the diversity of history in Canada. These include:
Places: Seven Oaks House in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Persons: William Kennedy, Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture, Mary Two-Axe Earley, Everett Baker
Events: RCMP Musical Ride, Invention of the Morris Rod-Weeder, Rural Electrification Across Canada, Klippert Case, 1967, Miramichi Fire of 1825, First World War Training at Sarcee Camp
Some highlights from today’s announcement include:
Rural Electrification Across Canada: In the early 20th century, most Canadians lived in rural areas without electricity. Advocacy from women’s and farmers’ groups helped drive a national push for rural electrification, promoted heavily by utility companies as a modern necessity. Each province took a different approach—from Ontario’s publicly owned system to Alberta’s cooperatives and Saskatchewan’s rapid expansion with farmers. While electrification reshaped rural Canada, some rural residents resisted change, and many First Nations were left out. By the 1970s, nearly all rural households across Canada were connected to central power stations, dramatically improving quality of life and enabling new technologies.
Mary Two-Axe Earley: This Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) woman was a trailblazer in the fight for equality for First Nations women. She brought national attention to the gender discrimination in the Indian Act, which stripped women of their Indian status if they married non-status men. Her advocacy led to changes in the law in 1985, allowing women to retain and pass on their status to their children. Two-Axe Earley was the first person to have her status reinstated under the amended Indian Act.
RCMP Musical Ride: With origins in British cavalry traditions, this grand precision performance of scarlet-uniformed police constables on horseback, coordinated with music, was first performed in Regina, North-West Territories (now Saskatchewan), in 1887. The Musical Ride demonstrates the longstanding importance of horsemanship in the history of the federal police force. In 1961, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police created an annual Ride, performing more than one hundred times per year by 1966. Since 1988, officers selected for the Ride serve a three-year term before returning to regular police duties. The Ride now tours across Canada and around the world from May to October.
Miramichi Fire: In October 1825, the Miramichi Fire burned an estimated 15,500 km2 in northeastern New Brunswick, devastating communities, killing hundreds of people, and leaving thousands more homeless. Roughly £50,000 was raised to help the entire colony, and this is thought to have been the largest disaster relief effort in pre-Confederation Canadian history. The relief effort strengthened ties between the colony of New Brunswick and Great Britain, the United States, and the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. This massive forest fire had extensive environmental impacts in New Brunswick, and lasting changes to the ecosystem had an impact on settlers and Mi’kmaq whose lives and livelihoods depended on the lands and waters of the Miramichi region. In the aftermath of the fire, timber exploitation moved to new frontiers while the Miramichi region’s industry shifted to the processed lumber trade.
First World War Training at Sarcee Camp: In 1915, reflecting Canada’s commitment to the First World War, the government established Sarcee Camp near Calgary on lands recently surrendered by the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee) First Nation. As one of Canada’s largest training camps, it introduced over 45,000 Canadians to military life before they were sent overseas. Stone markers on Signal Hill commemorate the thousands who trained there. The camp’s creation highlights the pressures faced by First Nations when lands promised for their exclusive use were repurposed for military needs, sparking ongoing conflict. For the Tsuut’ina Nation, the extensive military use of these lands in the 20th century remains a significant legacy. Sarcee Camp’s continued use during the Second World War and the Cold War underscores its lasting role in Canada’s military history.
The Government of Canada, through the recommendations from the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and Parks Canada, recognizes significant persons, places, and events that have shaped our country as one way of helping Canadians connect with their past. By sharing these stories with Canadians, we hope to foster understanding and reflection on the diverse histories, cultures, legacies, and realities of Canada’s past and present.
Quick facts
The designation process under Parks Canada’s National Program of Historical Commemoration is largely driven by public nominations. To date, more than 2,280 designations have been made nationwide. To nominate a person, place or historic event in your community, please visit the Parks Canada website for more information: https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/proposer-nominate.
The Miramichi Fire of 1825 was designated as a national historic event in 2025.
Historical importance: massive forest fire that had extensive environmental impacts and profond lasting changes to the ecosystem, impacting on settlers and Mi’kmaq; one of the largest relief effort in pre-Confederation history.
Commemorative plaque: no plaque installed
The limited edition keepsake coin celebrated the 30th anniversary of the City of Miramichi and the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Great Miramichi Fire of 1825.
The Miramichi Fire of 1825
In October 1825, the Miramichi Fire burned an estimated 15,500 km2 in northeastern New Brunswick, devastating communities, killing hundreds of people, and leaving thousands more homeless. Roughly £50,000 was raised to provide assistance to the entire colony, and this is thought to have been the largest disaster relief effort in pre-Confederation Canadian history. The relief effort strengthened ties between the colony of New Brunswick and Great Britain, the United States, and the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. This massive forest fire had extensive environmental impacts in New Brunswick, changing the composition of the forest, destroying habitats, and killing wildlife. These profound and lasting changes to the ecosystem had an impact on settlers and Mi’kmaq whose lives and livelihoods depended on the lands and waters of the Miramichi region. The colony of New Brunswick, and especially the Miramichi region, was the largest supplier of timber to Great Britain up until its record year of 1825. In the aftermath of the fire, timber exploitation moved to new frontiers while the Miramichi region’s industry shifted to the processed lumber trade. Meanwhile, there was a reinvigorated, but largely unsuccessful, drive towards settler agriculture as a more stable economic practice.
After several uncharacteristically hot and dry months, the Miramichi Fire burned across roughly one-fifth of New Brunswick. On October 7, it swept through the main settlements along the Miramichi River. It is estimated that up to 500 people died out of a population of about 8,500 people. As messages describing the event spread, individuals and organizations from other Maritime colonies, Upper and Lower Canada, the United States, and Great Britain sent donations to help the victims. A relief committee provided funds and provisions to more than 3,000 people over the next six months. No aid was reported as being distributed to local Mi’kmaw communities, illustrating the discriminatory attitudes of the time.
The fire dramatically changed the ecosystem and Mi’kmaw and settler ways of life in the region. Salmon, an important food source for local residents, and other fish populations in the Miramichi River were severely reduced for several years. Observers noted that in some areas the soil was rendered barren. In most of the affected area nature recovered relatively quickly, though the fire had noticeably altered the forest composition. Species such as white pine, beech, and spruce declined, while balsam fir, poplar, and yellow birch reportedly flourished.
The Miramichi region would never fully return to its 1825 rates of timber exportation. That year, New Brunswick exported about 417,000 tons of timber, but exports fell to two-thirds of this figure in 1826 and remained that way for more than a decade. The northwest Miramichi region experienced the colony’s largest drop in timber production from 42,560 to 7,930 tons. With the decline in large trees such as white pine, the industry moved away from producing ship masts and square timber. Instead, smaller trees were processed in local sawmills into lumber such as planks and boards. The timber frontier moved to the northernmost part of the colony and to Upper and Lower Canada where large trees were abundant. Critics of the timber trade used the disaster to emphasize the vulnerable nature of the industry while others saw agricultural opportunity in land that was newly cleared by the fire. However, the Miramichi region would continue to prioritize the forest industry, producing lumber in sawmills, and by the end of the century, shifting to pulp and paper production.
This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the Ministerial announcement in 2025.
Designations of national historic significance are usually commemorated with a bronze plaque installed in a location that is closely related to the designated subject and accessible to the public. The plaque will be inscribed with a bilingual (or multilingual) text describing the historic significance of the subject. Following designation, the process of writing the text and producing the plaque requires an average of 18 to 24 months.