Indigenous Canadians forced from their homes by forest fires faced unsafe accommodations, discrimination and even targeting by human traffickers and drug dealers, according to a report by Federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle.“Existing systems have led to human rights violations,” Houle wrote in a report to Parliament examining the treatment of First Nations residents evacuated during wildfires.The findings in Maintaining The Right To Housing In A Changing Climate were based on interviews with organizations and agencies including the Canadian Red Cross, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Indigenous Services Canada, Public Safety Canada, tribal councils and First Nations.The report focused on the 2025 wildfire season, when approximately 40,000 people from 88 First Nations were evacuated.“First Nations members who had been displaced from their homes, some of whom were leaving their communities for the first time, experienced trauma and uncertainty,” wrote Houle.Some communities declined to accept evacuees because of capacity problems, a lack of prior agreements or competing demands, according to the report.“Several First Nations leaders reported being told in effect that their people would have to look elsewhere, or that they could be housed only in scattered locations without regard for kinship, disability, cultural needs or safety,” wrote Houle.She said urban centres already dealing with homelessness faced additional pressure because evacuations occurred without sufficient planning or monitoring.Some evacuees were initially housed in gymnasiums, arenas and community halls where people were grouped together regardless of age, medical condition or family circumstances.“Elders and some who were medically fragile were sleeping on cots for days before being accommodated in a hotel,” wrote Houle.The report said poor coordination also created safety concerns.“This meant victims of abuse were staying in the same centres as their abusers,” wrote Houle. “Families were routinely separated.” .Hotels and motels were extensively used to accommodate evacuees. The Canadian Red Cross booked 275,000 hotel nights in Manitoba alone, according to the report.Houle said there were numerous complaints that indigenous evacuees received fewer services than regular hotel guests.“Some hotels did not permit use of facilities like the gym or the pool,” she wrote. “Some evacuees were told to collect meals from a back entrance and were not allowed access to the restaurant.”Other complaints included hotels withholding or limiting toiletries and towels.Houle said elders using mobility aids were sometimes assigned rooms on upper floors despite requiring accessible accommodation on the main level.“In some cases staying in a hotel became unbearable and as a result people camped in their cars or in rough conditions,” she wrote.The report also alleged some indigenous women, children and young people were targeted by criminals while displaced.“First Nations women, children and youth became magnets for human traffickers who, along with drug dealers, gained easy access to the hotels they were staying in,” wrote Houle. “Many returned to their communities ill or in worse health.”The report said cultural needs were also overlooked, with no designated areas for cultural practices in some accommodations and traditional foods unavailable.Houle said the experiences demonstrated shortcomings in the existing system for handling large-scale evacuations of First Nations communities.The report did not name any communities or hotel operators accused of mistreating evacuees.It also did not detail whether complaints about hotels, alleged human trafficking or drug dealing were reported at the time to police, the Canadian Red Cross or Public Safety Canada.
