Rachel Notley News

But the wildfire that broke out a week ago has forced as much as a third of Canada's oil output offline and was expected to impact an economy already hurt by the fall in oil prices.

Authorities had expressed fear the fire could spread east to Saskatchewan province. But Notley said the worst fears from Saturday had not been realised, at least not yet.

Alberta declared a state of emergency as crews frantically held back wind-whipped wildfires that have already torched 1,600 homes and other buildings in Canada's main oil sands city of Fort McMurray, forcing more than 80,000 residents to flee.