AbstractThe greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of boreal peatlands in permafrost regions will be affected by climate change through disturbances such as permafrost thaw and wildfire. Although the future GHG balance of boreal peatlands including ponds is dominated by the exchange of both carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄), disturbance impacts on fluxes of the potent GHG nitrous oxide (N₂O) could contribute to shifts in the net radiative balance. Here, we measured monthly (April to October) fluxes of N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂ from three sites located across the sporadic and discontinuous permafrost zones of western Canada. Undisturbed permafrost peat plateaus acted as N₂O sinks (−0.025 mg N₂O m⁻² d⁻¹), but N₂O uptake was lower from burned plateaus (−0.003 mg N₂O m⁻² d⁻¹) and higher following permafrost thaw in the thermokarst bogs (−0.054 mg N₂O m⁻² d⁻¹). The thermokarst bogs had below‐ambient N₂O soil gas concentrations, suggesting that denitrification consumed atmospheric N₂O during reduction to dinitrogen. Atmospheric uptake of N₂O in peat plateaus and thermokarst bogs increased with soil temperature and soil moisture, suggesting sensitivity of N₂O consumption to further climate change. Four of five peatland ponds acted as N₂O sinks (−0.018 mg N₂O m⁻² d⁻¹), with no influence of thermokarst expansion. One pond with high nitrate concentrations had high N₂O emissions (0.30 mg N₂O m⁻² d⁻¹). Overall, our study suggests that the future net radiative balance of boreal peatlands will be dominated by impacts of wildfire and permafrost thaw on CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes, while the influence from N₂O is minor.