Assistance given to NW Territories in response to wildfires

Ottawa – The Northwest Territories is currently experiencing the worst wildfire season on record, leading to widespread evacuations, loss of personal property, and damage to critical infrastructure. Harjit Sajjan, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, approved a Request for Federal Assistance from the Government of the Northwest Territories to support their efforts to combat the wildfires.

In response to this request for assistance, Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, authorized the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to provide:

• personnel and resources to assist and enable Type III fire-fighting;
• airlift resources for movement of personnel and equipment, as well as evacuation, and logistic support; and
• planning and coordination support.

In addition to the CAF deployment, the federal government is also providing the following supports:

• Funding dedicated to response and recovery activities for eligible First Nations through Indigenous Services Canada’s Emergency Management Assistance Program.
• Public Services and Procurement Canada will provide advice to the Territory for the procurement of commercial options, where applicable, to assist in the overall response to the impacts of wildfires in the territory.
• The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) will provide the following:
  • Up to two CCG personnel resources trained in the Incident Command System, as needed;
  • Various pieces of portable equipment, including water pumps, one mobile incident command post trailer, trucks, and associated operators.

The Government Operations Centre is working closely with federal and territorial partners to coordinate the federal response to the situation in the Northwest Territories.