Public Safety General Information:

Government of the Northwest Territories departments are working together with community governments and other organizations and agencies to monitor and respond to potential threats to public safety, communities and critical infrastructure in the Northwest Territories.

The NWT Emergency Plan sets out the policy and guidance whereby GNWT agencies and their partners support local emergency operations, and meet a collective responsibility to provide a prompt and coordinated response management for territorial emergencies.

Information to help individuals prepare their family and pets for an emergency are available on the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ website.

To report a community emergency, contact the NWT Emergency Measures Office 24 hours a day at 867-920-2303.

Below is a list of websites with the most recent, accurate official information to help keep residents informed on issues related to their communities. For more information, please contact the appropriate department representative.

Wildland Fire

• Updates on NWT wildland fires are published on the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) website, Facebook page, and Twitter @NWTFire.
• The NWT Fire website provides daily wildland fire situation reports for the NWT and five regions, and a live map of wildland fire activity.
• Smoke Forecasts can be seen at Blue Sky Canada Wildfire Smoke Forecast
• To report smoke or fire in the forest, call ENR at 1-877-NWT-FIRE (1-877-698-3473)

Highway Closures

The Department of Infrastructure provides up-to-date highway condition information, including highway closures, through the following platforms:     

• Highway conditions map
• Twitter
• By phone at 1-800-661-0750

Air Quality and Public Health Advisories

• The Chief Public Health Officer has published the following information:
  • Health Effects of Smoke Exposure due to Forest Fires
  • Wildfire Smoke and Your Health - Air Quality Self-Assessment Tool
  • Smoke Exposure from Wildfire: Guidelines for Protecting Community Health and Wellbeing
• Information about air quality in the NWT is available from the NWT Air Quality Monitoring Network. Air quality information may also be posted to Environment Canada’s Public Weather Alerts page.

• Current advisories and information that are of concern to the health of NWT residents can be found on the Public Health Advisories page.

• You can also follow @NWT_CPHO on Twitter for public health information.

Fire Bans and Park Closures

• Information about fire bans and territorial park closures will be found under alerts on Industry, Tourism and Investment’s NWT Parks website.
• You can also follow NWT Parks on Twitter at @NWTParks or Facebook at fb.com/nwtparks for updates.

Each department or organization is responsible for updating their pages on their own as required by the current situation. Requests for information or updates should be directed to the responsible department.