Since mid-May, wildfires across Canada have burned 9.6 million acres, prompting the evacuation of approximately 40,000 people. According to Indigenous Services Canada, a government ministry, more than half of those evacuees are from First Nations communities, and nearly 34 tribes in almost every province are affected. The sudden rush of refugees has challenged the country’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.
Officials estimate that 76 percent of wildfires currently burning are concentrated in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta — Canada’s western provinces — while additional provinces like British Colombia, Ontario, and Quebec are also affected. Provincial and First Nation governments, tribal 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.”
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