A report from the National Research Council of Canada supports what many Indigenous communities have long known: house fire deaths occur at a significantly higher rate in Indigenous communities than in non-Indigenous communities.
The report, commissioned by the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council (NIFSC) found the rate of death was around 5 times higher for Indigenous communities.
It drew data from the National Fire Information Database between 2005-2021, aiming to show the scope of fire risks in Indigenous communities and identify gaps in data collection.
One of the biggest challenges, according to the report, is a lack of data which is a result of a lack of uniformity in reporting standards and jurisdictional regulations on required reporting of fire information.
A 2021 report from StatsCanada shows Inuit are 17 times more likely to die in fires than non-Indigenous people, where First Nations are roughly five times more likely to die and Métis people are twice as likely to die.
