The United Way NWT is fundraising to support organizations helping evacuees from across the Northwest Territories who have left their homes due to the wildfires. More than $2.3 million has been distributed so far to reception centres, women’s shelters, youth centres, local governments, Indigenous governments, and other organizations. This statistic covers from the beginning of the 2023 fire season, and we will continue to update the community with more information.
Wildfires have impacted the entire Northwest Territories, and we’ve seen evacuations impact communities including Fort Good Hope, Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation, Wekweeti, Sambaa K’e, Tulita, Behchoko, Fort Smith, Jean Marie River, Kakisa and Yellowknife. The United Way NWT mobilized and launched a fundraising campaign in 2023 to support those impacted by the wildfires and help them respond to the damage they’ve experienced.
United Way NWT is proud to have supported communities across the Northwest Territories during emergencies, including during the COVID pandemic, flooding in the Dehcho region in 2021, and flooding in the Hay River and KFN area in 2022.
You Can Help!
Please donate to this cause through our Canada Helps page.
For businesses, unions, and public organizations looking to donate or support United Way NWT’s efforts, please contact our Emergency Response Coordinator at 867-675-2643.
Does UWNWT take an administrative fee when collecting donations?
It does cost UWNWT money to manage our emergency response. However, 100% of donations raised will go towards supporting evacuees.
When you are donating money to a charity, the charity has an obligation to notify you of how the funds will be used. If we use your donations to cover an administrative cost, we will always clearly indicate that on any donation portal or page. In this case, we have not indicated this. 100% of your donations will go towards helping organizations serving evacuees.
Funds used to cover our current administrative costs are coming out of our existing budget. If these costs become too high for our existing budget, we will be contacting our partners to help support this cost. Publicly collected donations will not be used.
NOTE: The CanadaHelps donation portal does charge an administrative fee per donation that we cannot control. CanadaHelps keeps this administrative fee. If you would like to make a donation through other means to avoid this fee, please contact us at support@nwt.unitedway.ca.
When we launch an appeal for emergency response, donations made to this fund will be used to help CRA-certified organizations with their immediate needs, such as food, fuel and incidentals. Your donations will be designated for the purpose for which they were given. In the unlikely event that United Way NWT raises more money than can be reasonably and effectively spent, we will use any remaining funds for recovery or similar purposes in that community or for future need in the Northwest Territories.
Access Help
United Way NWT does not provide direct aid to individuals. We urge individuals to contact community organizations or resources.
If you are a community or charitable organization seeking funds to support your wildfire response efforts, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. You can also learn more about our Emergency Response Fund or Emergency Recovery Fund. You can contact our Emergency Response Coordinator at support@nwt.unitedway.ca or at 867-675-2643.
NWT Updates
To see updates from the Government of the Northwest Territories, you can visit their NWT Alert website here.
Thank You
The tremendous impact of United Way NWT’s 2023 wildfire response would not have been possible without the unprecedented financial support we received. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all who contributed to the Emergency Response Fund and through our CanadaHelps page.
From the small-dollar donations made by Northerners looking out for one another to all the significant public and private sector contributions listed below and made from across the country, your generosity made a significant difference in the immediate relief we could provide and has helped to strengthen the preparedness of our communities for future challenges.
YOU – all the NWT residents and beyond who donated through our CanadaHelps page!
