Federal housing advocate recommends national Indigenous‑led human rights monitoring framework
In collaboration with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Federal Housing Advocate published a report on climate change, emergency management, and the right to housing that proposes measures to safeguard First Nations communities facing climate-driven emergencies and wildfires.
“Climate-driven emergencies are exposing and deepening long-standing housing and infrastructure inequities in First Nations communities,” said Marie-Josée Houle, federal housing advocate, in a news release. “The right to adequate housing does not disappear during a wildfire, flood, evacuation, or recovery.”
Recommendations of report on climate change, housing
In the report titled “Maintaining the right to housing in a changing climate,” the advocate and the AFN jointly recommended:
- prioritizing climate action by incorporating climate risk modelling in planning and fortifying the climate resilience of First Nations’ housing
- identifying the necessary priorities, objectives, and resources for responding to climate emergencies affecting First Nations’ lands, waters, and air, in full collaboration with First Nations
- launching an integrated national tripartite emergency management governance authority with better data sharing, as well as clear roles and accountability throughout federal and provincial government departments and First Nations governments
- creating a national First Nations-led fire safety and stewardship Institution to advance the development, implementation, and monitoring of emergency management and prevention strategies, action plans, and risk assessments, in partnership with First Nations
- investing in and improving First Nations‑led emergency management at the community, regional, and national levels
- implementing a First Nations climate emergency housing strategy for evacuation lodging, urban reception, rapid return‑home funding, climate‑resilient reconstruction, and standards for host communities that satisfy First Nations evacuees’ needs, in full collaboration with First Nations
- developing a national Indigenous‑led human rights monitoring framework for climate displacement and housing, with public reporting and clear accountability mechanisms
- compensating First Nations with new or additional lands for the lands actually or potentially lost because of climate change
- prioritizing First Nations communities at risk of catastrophic loss and closing the $349.2 billion First Nations infrastructure gap through investing in housing, water, and emergency services, including $30 billion for climate adaptation
- supporting the development of a First Nations insurance captive to tackle the systemic insurance coverage inequities for First Nations infrastructure and housing
“It is time for the Government of Canada to make generational investments in First Nations to prepare for climate change and extreme climate events,” National Chief Nepinak said in the news release. “This must include closing the infrastructure gap, and upholding First Nations rights and respecting First Nations jurisdiction.”
“Governments must work in full partnership with First Nations to shift from reactive emergency responses to preventative, rights-based approaches grounded in First Nations leadership,” Houle added. “Now is the time to act to keep communities safe and housed in a changing climate.”
Hearing from First Nations representatives
The report’s development considered insights from First Nations leaders, experts, and rightsholders with lived experience of evacuation and displacement.
According to the report, their input revealed the following systemic gaps in emergency responses, which have endangered First Nations communities’ safety, dignity, and right to adequate housing:
- difficulties in ensuring safe and sufficient housing before, during, and after emergencies
- reactive emergency systems that focus on evacuation and recovery, rather than prevention and long-term resilience
- underfunding
- a lack of self-determination, including in the realm of housing
- a failure to affirm First Nations citizens’ housing and other fundamental rights
- overcrowded housing, homes requiring major repairs, limited infrastructure for fire prevention and response, and other housing and infrastructure gaps within remote First Nations communities
- unsafe conditions, separations from family, and a lack of cultural supports for evacuees
- housing precarity and higher risks of homelessness, with uncertain timelines for restoring homes to safety or returning evacuees to their communities
“Year after year, First Nations are stricken by devastating climate-driven emergencies and their aftermath,” said Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, AFN national chief. “These are revealing heightened vulnerabilities and systemic gaps in emergency services and resources for First Nations.”
More human rights news
Here are some other recent news stories involving human rights.
In June, Lori Straznicky, Canada’s pay equity commissioner, published her 2025–26 annual report, which sought to spotlight efforts over this past year to increase awareness of and encourage compliance with employers’ obligations under the federal Pay Equity Act, 2018.
In its 2025 annual report to Parliament, published last April, the Canadian Human Rights Commission stressed the importance of affirming the human rights of people in Canada amid a particularly troubling time in history.
Enjoy this story? Read the latest Canadian legal news on the main page!
