Government of Canada provides wildfire evacuation support to residents of Poplar Hill First Nation

July 11, 2021 - Ottawa, ON

Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, have accepted a formal Request for Federal Assistance from the Province of Ontario for evacuation support in response to significant wildfires and heavy smoke threatening the community of Poplar Hill First Nation in Northwestern Ontario.

The Government of Canada will provide immediate evacuation resources through the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces personnel and assets stationed at CFB Winnipeg. This will assist members from the fly-in community of Poplar Hill First Nation to begin evacuating as early as this afternoon to a designated host community.

The Government Operations Centre is working to coordinate the federal response to the wildfire situation in Ontario. Officials are working closely with federal and provincial partners to coordinate this assistance.