Nearly every summer over the past decade, the story has been the same across many parts of Canada: wildfires rage out of control and skies are filled with smoke. Communities are often forced to evacuate.
Wildfires disproportionately impact Indigenous communities. Over the last four decades, 42 per cent of wildfire evacuations across Canada have been of Indigenous communities.
Thirteen years ago, there was little understanding of evacuation experiences of First Nations’ communities, despite them being so frequently impacted. That’s when we partnered with seven First Nations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, as well as 16 departments and agencies involved in wildfire evacuations, to establish the First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership (FNWEP).
