With the severe impact of wildfires on First Nations communities in Alberta, Indigenous Services Canada recognizes that individuals may not have important documents with them, or that may have been destroyed by the fires.
On May 17-19th 2023, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) is providing assistance to First Nations individuals who need to replace their certificate of Indian status cards, secure certificate of Indian Status card or need to apply for registration under the Indian Act.
Windspeaker Radio Network spoke with Bhupinder Dhaliwal-Johal, head of Indian Registration and Band list for Indigenous services of Canada about what families can expect when evacuees can expect when they head over to River Cree Resort and Casino’s event Centre between 9am and 3pm.
Bhupinder Dhaliwal-Johal, head of Indian registration for Indigenous Services Canada (Photo Credits- Daniel Barker-Tremblay)
Dhaliwal-Johal speaks on the various supports from many First Nations offices helping out those affected by the fires that lost important documentation, as well as Indian Services Canada having status card outreaches across Alberta.
Indigenous Services Canada helping an evacuee who lost documentation from the fires (Photo Credits – Daniel Barker-Tremblay)
Dhaliwal-Johal says that the ISC’s core of what they do is to help the affected First Nations communities affected by the fires in their time of need.
Members of Indigenous Services Canada (Left) Dayan Jongejan, Bhupinder-Dhaliwal-Johal, Jamie Burke, Melanie Hynes, Amelia Ferozdin (Photo Credits – Daniel Barker-Tremblay)
For members affected by fires outside of Edmonton can contact ISC Alberta Regional Office at 780-495-2773, or ISC public inquiry line at 1-800-567-9604
Replacement Documents can also be replaced by visiting their website at sac-isc.gc.ca
