Canada’s emergency management co-chairs met Indigenous leaders in Edmonton on Nov. 9 to discuss readiness and recovery after wildfires displaced more than 8,800 people from First Nations communities.
Eleanor Olszewski, Canada’s minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience, and Robert Gauvin, New Brunswick’s minister of Public Safety, co-chaired the federal, provincial and territorial ministers’ meeting. Indigenous leaders representing First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations attended, along with Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Parliamentary Secretary Ginette Lavack.
The discussions covered Indigenous-led preparedness and mitigation, evacuation assistance, training and mobilizing Indigenous wildfire firefighters, critical infrastructure protection and recovery beyond the immediate crisis. Olszewski and Gauvin said in a joint statement that disasters were “more frequent, severe, and costly across the country.” They said rural, remote and northern Indigenous communities can experience greater harm from disasters and face challenges tied to local conditions.
Public Safety Canada’s Oct. 15 update counted more than 5,400 wildfires in Canada during 2026, with about 4.5 million hectares burned. The department said fires had forced more than 33,750 people from their homes since April, including more than 8,800 people from First Nations communities. It cited prolonged heat, drought and low humidity as factors in the season.
The meeting statement set out areas for continued work but announced no new funding, program, quantified target or implementation timetable. Prime Minister Mark Carney had announced on Oct. 26 more than C$2.5 billion over five years and nearly C$450 million in ongoing, predictable funding for First Nations emergency preparedness.
Justice Canada’s implementation report records one meeting of the federally led Indigenous Emergency Management Working Group in fiscal 2025-26. It says the initiative relied on existing internal resources without dedicated funding. Some Indigenous partners had lost short-term support to participate, and officials were seeking other funding sources, the report said.
Public Safety Canada scheduled Olszewski and Gauvin to take media questions Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. ET (21:30 UTC).
