Ont. First Nation plans to evacuate entire community after multiple water system failures

A state of emergency has been declared in Kashechewan First Nation on the James Bay Coast after its infrastructure failed and is now evacuating residents.

A remote First Nation in northern Ontario says it is looking to evacuate the entire community in the coming days due to multiple failures in its water supply and wastewater systems.

Kashechewan First Nation, a fly-in community on the western shore of James Bay, says its water level has significantly dropped, triggering an automatic shutdown to avoid damage to an already fragile system.

A news release adds the community has been plagued with pump failures in the sewage lift stations due to an overworked system that is now more than 30 years old.

Urgent problem

It says the situation is causing an urgent public health and safety problem, as sewage is creeping into people’s homes and contaminating fresh water systems.

The community does not have a timeline for when normal water production will resume, and is flying in potable water for residents in the meantime.

Executive director Tyson Wesley says the initial evacuation plans only involved the most vulnerable people — those with medical conditions who are at risk of infection — but the community now hopes to relocate about 2,200 residents.

He says the province arranged for 37 people to get on a flight to Timmins on Wednesday, while the community is working to arrange two more flights to urban centres in the south.

“The government response has been inadequate,” Wesley said in an interview. “Us finding two planes compared to their one flight today is kind of embarrassing, and that’s not something that should be happening.”

Asked for military help

Wesley said his community is working with Indigenous Services Canada, the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre and Emergency Management Ontario, among others, and has asked if the military would be able to assist.

The Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response said Ontario is working with the federal government, First Nations leadership and local partners to support the safe evacuation of residents.

“The Provincial Emergency Operations Centre is engaged with Indigenous Services Canada and other partners to co-ordinate planning and logistics and ensure all evacuees have access to wraparound supports and services, including health care, education and other social services,” it said in a statement.

Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wesley said there’s been a noticeable sewage odour coming from the basement of the First Nation’s nursing clinic, where the community’s health director reported seeing raw sewage.

There’s also an influenza outbreak in the community and not having access to clean water is exacerbating the residents’ stress, he said.

“People are worried about their safety. They’re worried that they’re not able to bathe their babies at night, they’re not able to wash their clothes when they need to, they’re not able to flush the toilet when they need to,” Wesley said.

“They are feeling tired that this is something that they have to live through and it’s becoming a normal occurrence in our community.”

Kashechewan drew national attention in 2005 when E. coli contaminated its water supply, prompting the evacuation of more than 800 people. There was also an evacuation of about 200 residents in December 2024 due to problems with the water treatment plant.

Spring flooding in the community has also forced numerous evacuations over the years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2026.