Grant: NEIHR NCC Wildfires Emergency Response Extension

The 2025 wildfire season has significantly affected First Nations and Métis communities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with over 40,000 people evacuated. Despite representing less than 5% of Canada’s population, the Public Health Agency of Canada estimated that Indigenous communities accounted for over 42% of wildfire evacuations nationally in 2023. These communities often face heightened discrimination, broken social networks, and disrupted access to health and social services when displaced. Compounding this, current emergency research mechanisms are not designed to capture real-time data or center Indigenous knowledges, due in part to limitations in funding cycles, ethics processes, and knowledge mobilization. This project, led by the National Coordinating Centre for the Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NCC-NEIHR), and supported by the 10 provincial/territorial NEIHR centres, proposes a rapid research model rooted in Indigenous methodologies and relational accountability. It seeks to: (1) document the lived experiences and health impacts of First Nations and Métis evacuees through rapid ethnography, interviews, and surveys; (2) support NEIHR capacity to implement rapid research designs with communities and emergency response partners; (3) examine ethical data governance and distinctions-based protocols; and (4) evaluate the rapid research process to inform a scalable response model. Using pre-existing NEIHR-community relationships and grounded in the 4Rs (respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility), the project aims to inform real-time policy and programming while upholding Indigenous governance and ethics. Knowledge mobilization will be prioritized through localized updates and a special issue in the International Journal of Indigenous Health (IJIH). The initiative also includes national and international partnerships to expand impact and share learnings globally. The NCC-NEIHR, with its established relationships and infrastructure, is best positioned to lead this innovative rapid research response.