New Yukon Indigenous fire fighting pilot project

Dec. 30, 2022, Yukon – As part of Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy, $3.5 million has been budgeted in support for the Yukon First Nations Wildfire project for training 10 instructors and 120 wildland firefighters under the Indigenous Firefighter and Multi-Hazard Training Initiative.

This pilot project will support the Yukon First Nations Wildfire’s vision to incorporate traditional Indigenous knowledge in wildland fire fighting and help to inform the Wildfire Training Program.

Support for the Yukon First Nations Wildfire project is built on investments in Budget 2022, which provided Natural Resources Canada with $37.9 million over five years to train 1,000 firefighters and incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge in fire management under the Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program.

Working with Indigenous organizations to develop and expand the employment and training supports to a broader range of recipients will build wildfire response capacity across Canada and inform the establishment of a responsive and inclusive-by-design Wildfire Training program. The Wildfire Training program will be fully launched in 2024–2025.