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As wildfire season begins, the destructive impacts of climate change are being felt across Canada. Several communities in have been issued evacuation orders due to wildfires. In Manitoba, Pimicikamak Cree Nation as wildfires closed in,

It isn't just wildfires threatening people's homes and livelihoods. In May, 1,600 residents from the Kashechewan Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario due to flooding of the Albany River, which happens .

The 2018 United Nations Climate Conference to adopt "laws, policies and strategies" meant "to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change."

The figures are disquieting. By 2050, could become internal climate migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America alone, especially if action towards reaching net-zero carbon emissions .

Canada is not spared: were evacuated in 2023 due to disasters made more severe by climate change, including floods and wildfires. As climate change leads to more extreme weather, temporary climate displacement could become permanent migration.

Climate migration

The defines internal climate migration as having to relocate for at least a decade to a location 14 kilometers or more away from your community because of climate impacts.

Research I presented at the at Toronto Metropolitan University analyzed how Canada addresses the climate migration challenge in its submissions under the Paris Agreement, which requires parties to adapt to climate change.

The Canadian government understated the reality of internal climate migration in its submissions under the , which obscure the gravity of this phenomenon.

One of those submissions is the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the cornerstone report each state party must present every five years. Canada's recognizes that climate change harms certain populations more than others, but does not address temporary displacement, let alone internal climate migration.

, with its population declining 11% between 2015 and 2018. Similarly, the 2019 Québec spring floods displaced more than 10,000 people and, in Sainte-Marie, hundreds of low-income families abandoned the city because they could not afford the reconstructed homes.

A clear definition of internal climate migrants in Canada, robust data and better co-ordination among Indigenous, municipal, provincial and federal governments is needed.

This is something a National Adaptation Act could deliver, as a part of a comprehensive framework to across the country.

Transparency lacking

Canada submitted an in 2024. The communication discusses climate impacts but mentions internal displacement only once. It contains no data or discussion of when displacement becomes permanent, nor does it focus on the disproportionate impact on equity-deserving groups.

The government submitted earlier this year. It noted "the devastating impact of wildfires, floods, drought and melting permafrost on communities across the country" but only briefly discusses adaptation, referring instead to the 2023 . The only mentions of displacement come in appended submissions by Indigenous Peoples, including Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation and .

Indigenous Peoples suffer from flawed adaptation policies and that prevent them from effectively responding to emergencies. As a result, First Nations evacuate than settler communities during climate disasters.

In 2011, for example, officials in Manitoba diverted flood waters to Lake St. Martin to protect urban, cottage and agricultural properties. In the process, they . Return of the 1,400 residents of the Lake St. Martin First Nation to a new location only , and as recently as 2020 displaced families were for their right to housing.

A national adaptation act

Canada should adopt a of internal climate migrants that captures displacement from climate disasters and slow-onset phenomena like sea-level rise, and biodiversity loss.

UN experts released a in 2024, calling for "a sound evidence base on the patterns and trends, as well as on the drivers and outcomes" of climate-induced mobility. It also highlighted the need for adaptation efforts "that are informed by stakeholder consultations" and "existing (Indigenous) adaptation practices."

Defining internal climate migrants would allow Canada to gather robust data at last, and to act decisively on it.

One first step is the of a National Recovery Strategy by 2028, which would set out "shorter time frames for displaced individuals to be able to return to their homes or resettle after climate change disaster events." But a comprehensive approach is needed to go beyond the landscape of federal and provincial strategies.

The Canadian government should work with all stakeholders toward the adoption of a National Adaptation Act, like , and .

Such a law could remove barriers to Indigenous adaptation action, co-ordinate efforts across orders of governments to prevent displacements, define internal climate migration, ensure data collection and of people temporarily displaced or internally migrating because of climate change.

It should also aim for and accountability than what Canada has so far achieved with its Paris Agreement submissions.