Wildfires Are Forcing First Nations from Their Homes at Alarming Rates

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Since mid-May, wildfires across Canada have burned nearly 38,850 square kilometres, prompting the evacuation of approximately 40,000 people. According to Indigenous Services Canada, more than half of those evacuees are from First Nations communities, and nearly 34 Indigenous communities, in almost every province, are affected.

The sudden rush of evacuees has challenged Canada’s crisis response infrastructure as people seek shelter and services in cities far from their homes, with little information of when they may return to their communities, reports Grist.

Officials estimate that 76% of wildfires currently burning are concentrated in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta—Canada’s western provinces—while additional provinces like British Colombia, Ontario, Quebec, and now Newfoundland and Labrador are also affected.

Provincial and First Nation governments, community organizations, and the Canadian Red Cross have coordinated emergency efforts in the affected regions. According to officials, on average, 2.1 million acres are lost to wildfires each year, far below the current 9.6 million that have been lost. The current, record-setting fires are also sending smoke plumes into the United States and as far away as Europe, creating hazardous air quality conditions.

“For the first time, it’s not a fire in one region. We have fires in every region,” Manitoba’s Premier Wabanakwut Kinew, a member of the Onigaming First Nation, said in a recent press conference. “That is a sign of a changing climate that we are going to have to adapt to.”

Complicating matters is Canada’s subpar highway system into First Nations communities and remote areas, requiring the coordination of military flights, tour buses, rental vans, and ferries to evacuate residents. In northeastern Ontario, for instance, more than 2,000 Sandy Lake First Nation residents fled wildfires by plane and then private bus transport, coordinated by public and private organizations. But even those efforts are facing problems: Thick smoke impacts pilots’ abilities to fly.

Creemergency, a private Indigenous-led emergency response company, was one organization helping Sandy Lake members evacuate. CEO Tyson Wesley said in early June that around 400 people were flown out of Sandy Lake due to no road access, eventually arriving in Kapuskasing, Ontario. With their arrival, Wesley’s work shifted from evacuation to shelter services, ensuring people’s needs are met, like access to diapers for children, food, and security for people away from home. “I have gone through over 10 evacuations in my lifetime with my community and understand the fear of you leaving your community and the kind of uncertainty of what might happen,” said Wesley.

But Wesley adds that empathy is sometimes scarce in many Canadian communities when First Nations evacuees arrive, and many cities can be unwelcoming. “There is still a lot of racism in the country. I always say these are people with families with children and grandparents trying to leave their community from a forest fire.”

As the current fires continue to burn, evacuees are having a difficult time finding shelter. In late May, Manitoba First Nation leaders said hotels were already at capacity with more people arriving every day. In cities in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, for instance, the Canadian Red Cross reported around 3,300 hotel rooms and standby shelters had been secured with an estimated 32,900 registered people to receive assistance.

“We are calling on all hotels and accommodations in Winnipeg and across the province to open their doors to displaced First Nations families,” said Grand Chief Kyra Wilson of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. “These are our relatives, our neighbours, and fellow Manitobans. They need safe shelter immediately.”

Indigenous Services Canada has been authorized to release $20.9 million to disburse to First Nations. “While many First Nations are prioritizing wildfire suppression and community safety, the figure cited above does not reflect the full extent of damage,” said a spokesperson with the ministry.

According to an Intact Centre report in 2023, 60% of Canadian communities are now vulnerable to wildfires, a third of which are Indigenous living on reserves. According to a study published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research in 2020, climate change is linked to the increase in the length of severe fire season, as well as the area burned and the emissions it causes.

“Most of the population that currently lives in these areas are First Nations people,” said Wesley. “We’re the ones bearing the first wave of climate change.”