Exploring the impacts of the 2023 wildfire evacuations in the Northwest Territories: a grey literature review

ABSTRACT

The Northwest Territories (NWT) experienced an unprecedented wildfire season in the summer of 2023, triggering a record number of evacuation orders across the territory. This review aims to improve understandings of the community-level impacts of the 2023 wildfire evacuations in the NWT, addressing a gap in research by analysing the impacts of the evacuations and offering insights to inform future emergency preparedness and targeted investigations. Using a grey literature review methodology, 96 sources – including news articles, community reports, and government reports were analysed to assess evacuation impacts. Through inductive thematic analysis, nine key themes emerged: mental health; equity-deserving populations; local businesses and economy; evacuee financial struggle; supply chains; healthcare; education; recreation and entertainment; and cross-cutting. While some sources reported that evacuation-related challenges stemmed directly from wildfire threats, many evacuee experiences were intensified by existing gaps in emergency response, communication breakdowns, and inadequate supports for equity-deserving groups. Findings suggest that the impacts of the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities, were marked by communication failures, and had cascading, interconnected, and long-term consequences. This review highlights the far-reaching consequences of wildfire evacuations in the NWT in 2023 and underscores the need for community-led and equity-oriented emergency planning that is responsive to the specific needs of Northern populations.

Introduction

Across Canada, the 2023 wildfire season was record-breaking, burning over 15 million hectares – surpassing the previous national record of approximately 6.7 million hectares burned in 1989— and displacing upwards of 200 communities [1]. The Northwest Territories (NWT) saw a similarly record-breaking wildfire season, with cumulatively over 3.2 million hectares burned and 19 community evacuations called [2]. On 14 August 2023, the NWT declared a state of emergency as wildfires had forced over 70% of the territorial population to evacuate [3]. Over the course of the summer, evacuations occurred across the NWT, from small communities with populations in the hundreds to the territorial capital of Yellowknife with approximately 20,000 inhabitants. Ultimately, thousands of NWT residents were displaced, both within the NWT and to other provinces and territories. Although firefighting efforts successfully defended numerous communities, the hamlet of Enterprise suffered near-total destruction, with 80% of structures burned [2].

The 2023 wildfire evacuations in the NWT are part of a broader trend of escalating wildfire events across Canada [1]. Notable recent examples include the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire evacuation in Alberta, which displaced an estimated 88,000 individuals and the 2024 Jasper wildfire evacuation in Alberta, which displaced over 20,000 individuals [4,5]. Both events resulted in substantial structural loss. These events reflect the increasing frequency, severity, and complex consequences of wildfire evacuations. Retrospective studies of the Fort McMurray evacuation found that evacuees experienced diverse challenges, including material and financial loss, mental health struggles, and negative social repercussions [6]. These findings align with broader literature emphasising the compounding and intersectional impacts of wildfire events [7]. Wildfire experiences not involving evacuation, such as the 2014 wildfires in the NWT – coined the “summer of smoke” – and the 2019 wildfires in Southcentral Alaska have likewise been associated with health, psychosocial, and cultural repercussions [8,9].

Wildfire agencies and regional governments depend on evacuations in the event of wildfires that pose significant threat to communities [10]. Despite their value in the acute protection of life and property, wildfire evacuations are known to have lasting economic, psychological, and health-related impacts [11]. Earlier wildfire seasons in the NWT, including in 2014, have demonstrated that wildfire exposure – even in the absence of evacuation – can have significant multidimensional impacts [8]. For example, prolonged smoky conditions in 2014 were associated with an increase in asthma-related and pneumonia-related emergency room visits [12]. These conditions also disrupted livelihood and land-based practices such as fishing and hunting, which had negative impacts on mental, emotional, and physical health [8].

In the NWT, the consequences of wildfire evacuations are compounded by the region’s vast geography, limited infrastructure, and rural or remote communities. Many communities are only accessible by air in summer months, or by extended travel by road. During the 2023 evacuations, over 20,000 individuals were displaced by road and by air with many driving over 500 kilometres through active fire zones on the NWT’s single lane Highway 3 to the Albertan border and beyond. Several government financial provisions were available to support evacuees and affected communities. For example, evacuated vehicles were eligible to apply for the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Evacuation Travel Support Program, which provided $750 to vehicles evacuated outside of the NWT and $400 to vehicles evacuated within the NWT [13]. The NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation offered the Wildfires Assistance and Relief Measures initiative to eligible NWT businesses to receive up to $5,000 for businesses in evacuated communities and $3,500 in non-evacuated communities [14].

The impacts of wildfires are recognised to be unequally distributed based on intersecting social determinants of health (SDOH). Determinants including geographic isolation, race and ethnicity, age, sex and gender, and pregnancy have been associated with differential experiences with wildfires, wildfire evacuations, and long-term recovery outcomes [7,11]. Despite growing recognition of the role SDOH play in shaping experiences with wildfire events, research remains limited – particularly in northern and remote contexts. Individuals living rurally, individuals with low socioeconomic status, and those with unstable housing have been identified as populations at increased risk for adverse consequences due to wildfires and wildfire evacuations [8,11]. These demographics are disproportionately represented in the NWT, where numerous communities are rural or geographically isolated, the poverty rate is 17% compared to the national average of 9.9% [15], and 13% of households are in core housing need – defined as unacceptable housing due to inadequacy, unaffordability, or unsuitability – relative to 10% nationally [16].

Additionally, given that approximately half of the population in the NWT identifies as Indigenous [17], it is critical that wildfire preparedness and response uphold Indigenous self-determination, leadership, and knowledge. Evidence from previous wildfire seasons in Canada has shown that Indigenous evacuees disproportionately face socioeconomic challenges, exclusion from emergency response decision-making, and disruptions to cultural practices [11]. Numerous Indigenous leaders in the NWT reported dissatisfaction with the GNWT’s lack of engagement with Indigenous governments and communities during the 2023 evacuations [18,19].

Despite the scale and severity of the 2023 NWT wildfire season, known consequences of wildfire evacuations, and media coverage on the impacts of the evacuations, there remains no published academic studies examining the community-level repercussions of the 2023 wildfire evacuations in the NWT. While government commissioned after-action reports such as the KPMG Assessment commissioned by the City of Yellowknife and the TSI Review commissioned by the GNWT offer valuable evaluations and actionable steps for government institutions, they do not primarily centre community-level experiences. This study addresses this gap through a grey literature review and inductive thematic analysis of media sources, community reports, and government reports to identify and analyse the experiences of evacuated and non-evacuated communities in the NWT. Over the course of the summer, evacuations occurred across the NWT, from small communities with populations in the hundreds to the territorial capital of Yellowknife with approximately 20,000 inhabitants. Ultimately, thousands of NWT residents were displaced, both within the NWT and to other provinces and territories

Methods

Search strategy

This study employed a grey literature review methodology drawing on approaches used by Chandna et al. [20], who applied iterative, structured Google search queries and inclusion criteria to systematically capture grey literature. A grey literature review method was chosen given the absence of relevant academic research and the richness and availability of grey literature capturing community-level experiences and impacts due to the evacuations. Grey literature offers timely, accessible, and context-specific insights that are not captured by academic research [21,22]. While formal ethics approval was not required for this study, care was taken to engage with sources involving trauma-affected populations in a respectful and equity-oriented manner. Based on Chandna et al.’s model [20], a search strategy was developed to identify publicly available sources relevant to the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations.

Sources were eligible for inclusion if they met both of the following criteria:

1. Published between May 5, 2023, and July 23, 2024.

2. Discussed human impacts of wildfire-related evacuations in the NWT in the summer of 2023.

Sources were excluded if they met either of the following criteria:

1. Social media posts or live reporting transcripts.

2. Audio or visual formats.

The grey literature search was conducted using search queries in Google’s search engine. Search queries were iteratively developed and refined to maximise relevance and yield. Keywords in the search queries were selected based on their relevance and their frequency in pertinent grey literature.

The six search queries were:

1. “evacuation” site:cabinradio.ca

2. “evacuation” “consequence OR consequences OR impact OR impacts” site:cabinradio.ca

3. “evacuation” “consequence OR consequences OR impact OR impacts” “NWT OR Northwest Territories” site:cbc.ca

4. “evacuation” “consequence OR consequences OR impact OR impacts” site:nnsl.com

5. “evacuation” “consequence OR consequences OR impact OR impacts” “NWT OR Northwest Territories”

6. “evacuation” “NWT OR Northwest Territories”

Of the six queries, four were run specifically in the domains of Cabin Radio, CBC, and Northern News Services (NNSL). These outlets were selected for focused searching because of their consistent media coverage of the NWT.

Each search was reviewed to a maximum of 14 Google search pages. Additionally, targeted snowball sampling was used to identify other eligible sources by reviewing the “Related Articles” or equivalent sections of eligible sources. This approach was adopted based on the targeted results and high suspected yield of snowball sampling [23].

Data extraction and thematic analysis

Data extraction was conducted similarly to Cooper et al. [24] who utilised a standardised data collection spreadsheet refined using a preliminary sample of sources, with modifications to suit the scope of this grey literature review. Specifically, while Cooper et al. [24] restricted their Google search to one media outlet and applied a deductive thematic analysis, this review applied a broader search strategy and an inductive thematic analysis due to the lack of pre-existing relevant frameworks. Following a preliminary trial with a sample of articles, data extraction categories were established. To organise the dataset, three separate spreadsheets with identical data extraction category columns were created for three grey literature categories: news sources, community reports, and government reports (Table 1). For each source, the following information was extracted: URL and title, authorial organisation, primary theme, secondary themes, and a summary of relevant content.

Table 1.

Definitions of grey literature classifications.

Category	Definition
News Sources	Journalistic publications produced by media outlets.
Community Reports	Reports issued by non-governmental organisations and Indigenous governments.
Government Reports	Reports issued by municipal, territorial, or federal governments, affiliated agencies, or contracted organisations.

Inductive thematic analysis was employed to categorise sources, which allowed themes to be identified based on available data instead of being imposed a priori [25]. This approach was taken due to the absence of an established framework for categorising community-level wildfire evacuation impacts applicable to the NWT. Using full readings of the same preliminary sample used to identify data extraction categories, a preliminary theme list was determined based on the dominant foci of the sources. The theme list – including the scope and title of each theme – was iteratively refined throughout the analysis of the remaining eligible sources. Through this process, eight themes were identified (Table 2): (1) mental health, (2) equity-deserving populations, (3) local businesses and economy, (4) evacuee financial struggle, (5) supply chains, (6) healthcare, (7) education, and (8) recreation and entertainment. In a small number of cases, sources were categorised in an additional category: (9) cross-cutting; due to a breadth of subjects discussed or the absence of a dominant focus (e.g. reports on the evacuations commissioned by government). This additional classification was used to ensure the consideration of complex and muti-thematic sources in the review. Sources were categorised according to their primary themes, and thematic analysis was used to identify patterns amongst experiences with the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations.

Table 2.

Themes for categorising grey literature on 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations.

Theme	Scope
Mental health	Impacts on emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing.
Equity-deserving populations	Impacts on populations who have historically and currently faced systemic barriers to accessing social and economic opportunities and resources.
Local businesses and economy	Impacts on businesses owned and/or operating in the NWT, employment, regional economic stability, and capacity for post-evacuation economic recovery.
Evacuee financial struggle	Impacts on individual and household level financial stability.
Supply chains	Impacts on the movement of goods and services into and within the NWT.
Healthcare	Impacts on access, quality, and continuity of healthcare services.
Education	Impacts on students, educational institutions, and learning continuity.
Recreation and entertainment	Impacts on community events, recreational programming, and opportunities for social engagement.
Cross-cutting	Address multiple themes without a dominant focus.

Results

The Google search queries yielded 574 sources. After removing duplicates and ineligible sources (n = 542), 32 sources were retained. An additional 64 sources were identified through snowball sampling. The final dataset comprised 96 sources (Figure 1). Included sources discussed numerous themes relating to the evacuations (Table 3). Example quotes are provided for each theme to illustrate key findings.

Figure 1.

Source selection.

Table 3.

Distribution of sources by primary theme and source type.

Theme	Total (n=)	News Sources	Community Reports	Government Reports
Mental Health	20	19 (95%)	1 (5%)	0 (0%)
Equity-Deserving Populations	19	15 (79%)	4 (21%)	0 (0%)
Local Businesses and Economy	16	13 (81%)	2 (13%)	1 (6%)
Evacuee Financial Struggle	12	12 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Supply Chains	12	11 (92%)	1 (8%)	0 (0%)
Healthcare	6	6 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Education	5	4 (80%)	0 (0%)	1 (20%)
Recreation and Entertainment	3	3 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Cross-cutting	3	2 (67%)	0 (0%)	1 (33%)
Total	96	85 (89%)	8 (8%)	3 (3%)

Mental health

Mental health emerged as the most common primary theme, occurring in 20.8% (n = 20) of sources, the majority of which (n = 19) were news articles. These sources highlighted mental health challenges that were exacerbated or arose during and after the wildfire evacuations. Reported impacts included increased stress levels, eco-anxiety, and feelings of post-traumatic stress. Some evacuees highlighted the cascading negative impact of decreased mental wellbeing on physical health. While some distress was attributed by evacuees to the immediate wildfire threat, many evacuees connected their mental health struggles to other wildfire-induced stressors such as financial hardship, decreased access to material and financial resources and services, and dissatisfaction with the clarity and responsiveness of government communication. Several sources noted that evacuees perceived existing mental health services to be inadequate. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 4.

Table 4.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on mental health.

Psychological distress	“‘This has taken a terrible mental health toll. A lot of the people that I’ve spoken to personally are struggling, really struggling’ […] ‘It is stark. I’ve never felt such collective sadness. People just don’t know what to do, don’t know how long it will be’.”
	“‘It feels like post-traumatic stress. The smallest inconvenience now is so triggering’ […] ‘Like my hotel key didn’t work, and I’m like bawling my eyes out’.”
	“‘I grappled with climate grief and the idea that the crises we see on the news aren’t just on the news any more, but instead on the highway in front of me’.”
Compounded stressors	“It’s stressful because I’m having to rely on other people [for resources due to financial constraints], and it’s very uncomfortable”.
	“Mixed messages from officials are taking a toll on people waiting to go home, and adding more stress to already exhausted displaced residents”.
	“‘I’m currently recovering from a pretty nasty flu right now. My chronic pain and illness is significantly flared up. I’m really, really struggling, just day to day’.”
Gaps in support and government communication	“Only 2% of respondents had access to information about mental health services”
	“‘It definitely was stressful […] Especially hearing one day there was no funding for people who evacuated with their own means, and then the next day we heard that they were recanting what was said’.”
	“Scraps of dubious second-hand information took the place of factual updates about the state of our homes and neighbourhoods, the fire situation and the time-frame for lifting the evacuation order – and did nothing to assuage our well-being”.

Equity-deserving populations

Discussion about equity-deserving populations was a primary theme in 19.8% (n = 19) of sources, with news articles and community reports highlighting how evacuation processes exacerbated existing vulnerabilities for certain populations, including unhoused individuals, people with disabilities, Indigenous Elders, substance users, long-term care residents, and newcomers. Key challenges included inadequate cultural and linguistic support, poor communication between community organisations and the territorial government, and the absence of centralised tracking systems for evacuees. These disparities contributed to adverse outcomes such as individuals going missing, experiencing neglect, and remaining displaced after the evacuations. Several leaders and communities noted that better outcomes could have been achieved through earlier consultation with Indigenous governments. For example, Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty stated that in the days leading up to Yellowknife’s evacuation, the territorial government did not consult the Tłı̨chǫ Government or ask how more than 900 of its members could be supported, despite the likelihood of an evacuation [19]. Similarly, Member of the Legislative Assembly Jane Weyallon Armstrong emphasised that the hardship experienced by Tłı̨chǫ wildfire evacuees – including a lack of language-appropriate support and family separations – could have been avoided with consultation [18]. Numerous sources drew a comparison between the trauma of evacuation displacement and residential schools and colonisation, highlighting how the evacuation process – characterised by forced relocation, inadequate communication, and a lack of support – reflected historical patterns of harm and disempowerment [26,27]. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 5.

Table 5.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on equity-deserving populations.

Cultural and language barriers	“There had been a lack of supports for Elders who did not speak English”.
	“[A Yellowknife evacuee] spent the summer worrying about her grandparents in Yellowknife, who don’t speak English and relied on [the evacuee] for most of their information regarding the fire season and the evacuation”.
	“Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine says the pain of relocation and displacement is not new to the Dene. ‘It has also been our experience with residential school and colonization’”
Coordination failures and tracking gaps	“There’s no way for us to actually know that everybody came back, because there’s no record of everyone who left – and that in itself was a huge misstep and incredibly violent”
	“In the absence of a list, as the evacuation of Yellowknife dragged into multiple weeks, it became apparent that authorities were having difficulty tracing everyone who might need help”.
	“50 to 60 Tłı̨chǫ citizens have registered as evacuees in Edmonton, and another 90 to 100 have registered in Calgary, but a few hundred others are unaccounted for”.
Experiences of specific groups	“The authorities in the NWT took already vulnerable people – and put them in exponentially more dangerous situations in an unfamiliar place”
	“Most of my clients that were newcomers didn’t have any idea what was happening or where to go”.
	“conditions at the evacuation center and hotel accommodation would be inconceivable for his aunt and uncle – the lights and noise, the large number of people, and the pre-arranged meals would conflict with the complex health needs of two Elders.”

Local businesses and economy

Impacts on the territorial economy and local businesses was a primary theme in 16.7% (n = 16) of sources. Business owners, the NWT Chamber of Commerce, and territorial reports identified both acute and long-term financial challenges. Businesses in both evacuated and non-evacuated communities experienced income loss and some faced infrastructure loss, compounding economic strain from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several businesses shut down permanently following the evacuations, citing that operations were no longer profitable. Many businesses reported that financial support from GNWT’s Wildfires Assistance and Relief Measures Program was insufficient to cover losses. Tourism operators expressed concern about the reputational impact of the evacuations, citing cancelled trips and reduced bookings into 2024. Evacuations also impacted operations in the mining sector – a large component of the NWT economy – where companies faced logistical barriers and staffing shortages. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 6.

Table 6.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on local businesses and economy.

Financial strain and inadequate support	“For northern businesses under evacuation orders, closing shop for a few weeks can be the difference between staying afloat and going under”.
	“The three-week evacuation order is the worst disruption her business has suffered in the 10 years she’s been open”.
	“‘Five weeks of disruption is well beyond the intent of the financial support programs announced to date’.”
Tourism impacts	“‘Our global customer base is now a little bit afraid or apprehensive of coming to the Northwest Territories’, he said. ‘I’m still getting cancellations’.”
Mining disruptions	“Miners near Yellowknife have been forced to suspend exploration drills, close offices and contact insurance companies for potential damage claims as wildfires threaten the Northwest Territories”.

Evacuee financial struggle

Financial struggle for evacuated individuals and households was a primary theme in 12.5% (n = 12) of sources which discussed financial struggles experienced during and after the evacuations. Many evacuees lost income and incurred unexpected expenses, with some relying on savings, borrowed funds, and short-term employment during the evacuations. Numerous evacuees and politicians criticised the GNWT’s Evacuation Travel Support Program as inadequate to cover expenses. Some evacuees criticised poor logistical coordination and communication breakdown between government agencies and evacuees, which led to out-of-pocket expenses and inappropriate accommodations. Several sources noted ongoing financial challenges after the evacuation, including increased insurance premiums and depleted savings. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 7.

Table 7.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on evacuee financial struggle.

Financial hardship and insufficient support	“The financial support he received while in Yellowknife amounted to a $50 gift card to the Yellowknife Co-op, adding that many evacuees seemed ‘pretty concerned about the lack of funds’.”
	“He feels the financial support announced by the GNWT is deaf to the needs of evacuees whose incomes have been wiped out, and who are struggling to tread water in a growing pool of evacuation-related expenses”.
	“‘As of now, I have spent part of my rent, close to $400–$500 to get here [an evacuation destination], and now I don’t have that kind of money to even get back’ […] ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do’.”
	“’The next disaster, I feel like I’ll stay and volunteer instead of trying to leave town, because I can afford to volunteer but I won’t be able to afford to drive away’,”
Logistical challenges and communication breakdown	“Some people were given food vouchers at Alberta evacuation centres but did not have the money to travel to use them”.
	“Yellowknife’s multiplex is the only free accommodation available to evacuees, who are forbidden from keeping pets on its premises […] ‘I’m at the Explorer hotel and paying $217 a night’, […] ‘I’m a pet owner, so that’s a big reason why I chose the hotel option’.”
	“They were provided accommodation at a hotel but spent more than two weeks paying for everything else – food, toiletries, medical supplies and clothing – because they were not aware many of those things were being offered to evacuees for free by the City of Edmonton”.
Post-evacuation challenges	“He said many are feeling the sting of losing up to four weeks of pay. The number of people using the food bank is still increasing each week”
	“‘Right now, I don’t think anybody can afford the insurance that is going to be offered around here. I’ve already heard stories of insurance doubling here’.”

Supply chains

Supply chain disruptions were a primary theme in 12.5% (n = 12) of sources, which particularly affected non-evacuated communities reliant on goods and services transported from evacuated communities. This included food, mail, and prescription medications. Due to supply chain disruptions, numerous communities reported delays in routine deliveries and increased expenses to ensure delivery of necessary resources. Numerous residents in non-evacuated communities reported driving to Alberta – up to approximately 1,400 kilometres – to access adequate groceries due to increased prices and quotas in their communities. While one community reported benefiting from an established community garden, it was insufficient to meet demand. One community report raised concern about the long-term consequences of fire response on food harvesting and agriculture. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 8.

Table 8.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on supply chains.

Essential Goods Disruption	“The evacuation of Yellowknife and the frequent closure of major transportation routes seriously disrupted the food supply chain and added tremendous cost to many communities to re-source their food supply”.
	“Shelves in the only store in Lutsel K’e quickly emptied. With no way to get groceries in through Yellowknife, chartered flights from Edmonton were organized to bring in necessary food at 10 times the normal price”
	“People with critical medical conditions and needed prescriptions were mostly out of luck — treatments were delayed and medications missed”.
Cost and access challenges	“When food is available in Behchokǫ̀, there are limits on how much bread and how many eggs people can buy, and items are more expensive than normal. While milk used to cost $6, she said it now costs $15”.
	“She and her children’s father drove to High Level, Alta., for groceries — a trip exceeding 450 kilometres each”
Community resilience and future harvesting	“Gamètì’s community garden yielded a good vegetable harvest this year, which is helping to keep the town fed for the next few weeks, along with frozen fish stocks. […] the garden is not sufficient to meet the food needs of the community, and cannot be compared to facilities a typical store provides”.
	“The south slave farmland was severely affected, leading to a loss of viable seasonal commercial food production in the region”.
	“The dropping of fire retardant in harvesting regions may have long- term consequences”.

Healthcare

Impacts on healthcare was a primary theme in 6.3% (n = 6) of sources. Sources highlighted challenges to those who routinely access healthcare services or were actively accessing healthcare services at the time of an evacuation, most notably as a result of the evacuation of Yellowknife. This included individuals who typically travel to Yellowknife to access healthcare. Pregnant evacuees reported out-of-pocket expenses to access routine care, incomplete medical requisitions, and denial of care. Barriers to healthcare were reportedly exacerbated by incompatible medical record systems between the NWT and Alberta. Jurisdictional data regulations impacted health data accuracy, with one source highlighting that drug-related deaths outside of the NWT during the evacuation were unconfirmed and excluded from territorial statistics. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 9.

Table 9.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on healthcare.

Disrupted routine and emergency care	“[A pregnant evacuee] said trying to see a doctor outside the territory was a challenge. Once she was able to do so, she had to pay for routine testing out of pocket”.
Jurisdictional barriers	“I feel like anyone who tries to utilize Alberta mental health resources, then continues that work once we’re allowed to go home, will be at a disadvantage. Yes, on one side they will receive supports for the acute immediate time, but they will have to re-tell and start back at zero with their concerns’.”
	“Some people are believed to have died in other provinces and territories after fleeing due to wildfires in August and September […] ‘Unfortunately those drug-related deaths happened in southern jurisdictions, and there is no mechanism for the coroner of those jurisdictions to share information’”

Education

Impacts on education was a primary theme in 4.2% (n = 4) of sources. Sessional start dates were delayed for Aurora College (the public post-secondary education institution in the NWT) and several grade schools, including in certain non-evacuated communities. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 10.

Table 10.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on education.

Delayed start dates	“Aurora College won’t start its fall semester until October 3 because of the wildfire crisis affecting multiple NWT communities. The semester had been due to begin on August 28”.
	“Students will have lost more than two weeks of instruction, and in some cases, teachers are only getting three days rather than the usual week to prep for classes”.

Recreation and entertainment

Disruptions to recreational opportunities and entertainment was a primary theme in 3.1% (n = 3) of sources. Two Yellowknife-based sports organisations had disrupted training for competitive athletes. At least one planned performance was cancelled due to the Yellowknife evacuation. Additional illustrative quotes are presented in Table 11.

Table 11.

Selected quotes: 2023 NWT wildfire evacuation impacts on recreation and entertainment.

Disruption to sport organizations	“[A sport club manager] emphasized the importance of regular training for their athletes, some of whom are trying out for the Arctic Winter Games this year. The three-week break has put them behind in their preparation”
Live performance cancellation	“Organizers of the Halloween-themed burlesque show said Yellowknife’s recent three-week evacuation meant they are ‘unable to confidently provide the same quality and calibre of show this year that our community has come to know and love’.”

Cross cutting

3.1% (n = 3) of sources addressed multiple themes without focusing on any one in particular. These included the KPMG After Action Assessment commissioned by the City of Yellowknife and two media sources summarising its findings. These sources offered valuable overarching data about the impact of the evacuation on Yellowknife residents, but it did not align with any single thematic category.

Discussion

As wildfires across Canada increase in frequency and severity [1], there is an urgent need to understand their multidimensional impacts. This review analysed grey literature pertaining to wildfire evacuations in the NWT in 2023 to examine community-level repercussions. Findings suggest that the evacuations had far-reaching and intersecting effects on evacuees’ lives. In particular, this analysis highlighted how the evacuations exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities, were marked with communication breakdowns, and had cascading, interconnected, and long-term consequences. Similarly, our findings reinforce that grey literature offers a valuable foundation for understanding community experiences, particularly in the absence of mainstream academic publications, as is currently the case with the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations. This aligns with existing arguments that grey literature can offer timely, comprehensive data [22].

The results of this review are consistent with existing studies describing the disproportionate impacts of wildfires and wildfire evacuations in Canada on populations facing social and structural disadvantages, including those impacted by age, geography, and income [11]. The 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations disproportionately affected many individuals and groups already experiencing precarious situations, such as those with lower incomes, physical and mental disabilities, unstable housing, and limited social support networks. Similarly, local businesses with latent financial hardship from the COVID pandemic and remote communities reliant on supply chains from evacuated areas experienced intensified disruptions. Structural supply chain dependencies – particularly in non-evacuated communities – were amplified, with reported disruptions to goods and services such as groceries, healthcare, and postal services. These findings align with existing research which highlights that socially and economically marginalised groups are at higher risk of acute harm during wildfire evacuations and face long-term recovery barriers [7,28].

A critical finding of this review is the importance of including Indigenous governments in the NWT in emergency decision-making related to wildfire response. Several community organisations and Indigenous governments acted swiftly to support their constituents and evacuees, filling gaps left by government systems. However, efforts were often hindered by poor communication and collaboration on the part of official government agencies. The exclusion of Indigenous governments and communities in emergency preparedness and recovery is documented in Canada and internationally [11,29], despite evidence that top-down, non-community centred approaches to wildfire response often fail to meet community needs [7].

Communication failures emerged as a concern across themes. Communication breakdowns occurred between municipal and territorial governments, between interjurisdictional authorities, and between governments and populations and organisations impacted by the evacuations. These communication breakdowns undermined both logistical coordination and public trust in emergency systems. The erosion of public trust was intensified by inconsistent messaging and a lack of culturally appropriate and multilingual communication. Similar concerns were voiced following the 2014 wildfire smoke season in the NWT, where participants in Dodd et al.’s [8] study emphasised the need for improved communication and coordination from the government. Likewise, Hahn et al.’s [9] study found many mental health challenges among individuals impacted by the 2019 wildfires in Southcentral Alaska were linked to a perceived lack of communication by authorities.

The NWT evacuations also exacerbated existing challenges in interjurisdictional coordination. For example, the incompatibility of health records between the NWT and Alberta and broader cross-border data sharing limitations disrupted healthcare continuity. Data sharing limitations raise concerns about the accuracy of mortality reporting during the 2023 evacuations, especially for deaths that occurred outside of the NWT. These limitations reflect longstanding challenges associated with the NWT’s dependence on southern provinces for critical services, which has been associated with delays and reduced quality of healthcare [24,30].

Finally, several impacts of the 2023 wildfire evacuations in the NWT were interconnected, cascading, and extended beyond the evacuations themselves. Challenges that arose in one domain often intensified or precipitated others, reinforcing how disruptions caused by wildfire evacuations can compound across sectors [7,11]. For example, poor communication from authorities had diverse implications, including mental health challenges and evacuee financial strain. These interconnections reflect broader disaster research findings. For example, Heanoy & Brown [31] emphasise that intersecting factors such as displacement, disrupted relationship, and financial instability due to natural disasters can have negative impacts on mental health. Many financial, social, and emotional difficulties persisted beyond the evacuations and continued to be documented in grey literature beyond the temporal scope of this review.

There are some limitations to this study. While grey literature provides timely, community centred insights and has been successfully employed in Northern research, overcoming resource barriers to primary interviews [24,32,33], reliance on grey literature, particularly media sources, can also introduce bias due to selective reporting and emphasis on sensational events. Similarly, the absence of long-term data limits the analysis of latent impacts of the evacuations Additionally, our sources do not necessarily capture the experiences related to the evacuations in all regions and demographics in the NWT due to the non-representativeness of grey literature sources, constraining the generalisability of our findings. Eligible sources in this review had an emphasis on the experiences of evacuees from Yellowknife, while the perspectives of other evacuated and non-evacuated communities were comparatively underrepresented. Finally, due to resource constraints, as all coding and analysis was conducted by a single reviewer, future studies may benefit from involving multiple coders to enhance analytical rigour.

Despite these limitations, this review offers a foundation for understanding the community-level consequences of the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations. The findings and limitations of this review present various pathways for future research. For example, this study lays the groundwork for primary research by identifying key areas of concern. In particular, the findings underscore the urgency of exploring how SDOH shape evacuation experiences and outcomes. Future research would benefit from longitudinal and community-engaged approaches to explore the role of SDOH in wildfire experiences and to understand the long-term impacts of evacuations. Future research examining the perspectives and roles of non-evacuated communities and the consequences of disrupted services such as healthcare and education is also needed. Comparative research examining wildfire evacuation experiences in different jurisdictions may clarify how differences in evacuation coordination, governance, and resource distribution shape experiences and outcomes.

The methods used in this study could be adapted in other wildfire-prone regions, particularly in jurisdictions with robust grey literature reporting. Such applications could generate comparative data, helping to assess the transferability of key findings across different contexts. However, given the specificity of this study to the NWT, similar reviews should be tailored to specific local conditions.

Several policy recommendations emerge from this review. Emergency response frameworks must embed equity and trauma-informed principles, including the meaningful integration of community perspectives and Indigenous governments in all stages of evacuation planning, preparedness, and response. Consistent with findings from Dodd et al. [8] on the 2014 wildfire smoke in the NWT, governments must improve communication infrastructure – particularly by developing systems that provide proactive, multilingual, and culturally appropriate messaging. Enhanced financial and psychosocial support, including clear information on how to access these resources, are critical in short- and long-term recovery. Investment in local capacity-building is needed to ensure that communities are equipped to respond autonomously when outside support is delayed. Finally, development of interoperable data systems between jurisdictions is necessary to ensure continuity in health services and accurate data collection. Emergency response frameworks in the NWT must be informed by experiences with past wildfire seasons to ensure more coordinated, equitable, and community-centred approaches in the future.

By drawing on grey literature, this study captured, analysed, and contextualised community-level experiences with the 2023 NWT wildfire evacuations. The findings of this study highlight how the evacuations deepened existing inequities, strained communication systems, and triggered long-term, interrelated consequences. While many findings resonate with broader wildfire research, the NWT evacuations also revealed unique challenges shaped by the territory’s sociopolitical and geographic context. Insights from this review illustrate the urgency of equity-focused and evidence-informed approaches to wildfire preparedness, response, and recovery in future wildfire seasons in the NWT and beyond.

Funding Statement

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR/TLP-197406]; Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR/170664]; Canadian Institutes of Health Research [N10-169542].

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2025.2557701.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article or are available from the corresponding author, KY, upon reasonable request.