TORONTO: Toronto had the worst air quality of any major city in the world on Wednesday, the Swiss firm IQAir said, as Canadian authorities urged people to stay indoors.

Toronto edged out New Delhi and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa as wildfire smoke turned the skies a hazy yellowish-grey in Canada’s largest city.

“The biggest contributor to Toronto’s spike in air pollution right now is wildfires, though the higher than average temperatures are also playing a role,” Armen Aradian of IQAir said.

While this year’s wildfire season has been fairly muted compared to the devastation caused in recent years, there are more than 800 active fires nationwide.

Smoke from blazes in northwestern Ontario has filtered down to Toronto, the provincial capital.

City officials have closed pools, cancelled summer camps and closed the official FIFA fan festival ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final.

Montreal saw a similar, though less severe impact from wildfires.

Smoke from the wildfires also worsened air quality across the border in the United States, with Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Mass­achusetts, Maine and New Hampshire particularly impacted.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2026