As wildfires scorch Canada amid its second-worst wildfire season on record, Indigenous leaders and experts say the country’s approach remains reactive — leaving Indigenous communities disproportionately vulnerable.
At a Monday press conference, federal officials reported that 707 wildfires are currently active nationwide. The extreme fire activity has strained firefighting resources, prompting Canada to deploy over 560 international firefighters from six countries alongside Canadian personnel.
This situation is particularly dire for Indigenous communities. Jen Baron, a postdoctoral researcher and incoming assistant professor at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Wildfire Coexistence, said this year’s fires are occurring in regions such as Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Maritimes, where such large-scale activity has been less common historically.
Many First Nations communities are “overexposed and underserved.” Remote, fly-in communities with minimal access routes face significant risks in evacuation and recovery. The infrastructure gaps make an already dangerous situation much worse, Baron said.
Since April 1, 165 emergency events have affected 134 First Nations, resulting in 88 evacuations. Currently, 25 Indigenous communities continue to battle wildfires, with 12,000 members still displaced, primarily in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada, said Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services Canada at the press conference.
One in seven First Nations in Canada have been evacuated this season, said Niigaan Sinclair, an Indigenous scholar and commentator. “That’s hotels, emergency services, Red Cross — people are being moved out of their homes on an unprecedented scale,” he said.
“Many evacuees face substandard food and lack crucial wraparound services when placed in hotels. You can’t just dump people into unfamiliar urban settings without support, especially when there is a long history of trauma, poverty and health challenges.”
Kyra Wilson, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, at a press conference on Aug. 8 said the insufficient support for evacuees, including shortages of food and inadequate shelter, is unacceptable, citing long delays from agencies like the Red Cross.
“I know of situations where families are put in hotels and they’ve been living on microwavable Kraft dinners because they don’t have a kitchen and there’s no restaurant in the hotel,” she said.
Gull-Masty said the government is funding over 300 emergency management roles within First Nations, tribal councils and Indigenous organizations nationwide.
“This investment in local leadership and preparedness is the key to stronger, safer communities,” Gull-Masty said.
Sinclair said the wildfire response continues to focus on firefighting and evacuations after disasters strike, rather than investing early in community capacity and infrastructure.
“We need resources ready before emergencies happen,” he said.
Wilson agreed, pointing to the lack of local firefighters and support for them.
“We have people in communities that can fight these fires, and they’re not allowed to. Why do we not have people in our communities that are trained to fight the fires? Why do we have to expect anybody outside our communities to come and save us? We can save ourselves,” she said.
Some federal investments have targeted these gaps. This week, officials announced a $540,000 commitment to two wildfire training programs: $335,000 for the Yorkton Tribal Council in Saskatchewan to support the training of 35 new volunteer firefighters, and just over $200,000 for the Rural Municipality of Piney in Manitoba to train up to 60 individuals. These efforts are part of a larger $28 million effort aiming to train more than 1,000 wildland firefighters by 2028, with a focus on rural and Indigenous communities.
