6 months after wildfire evacuation, some Nisichawayasihk seniors still waiting to go home

Six months after being displaced to a long-term care facility hundreds of kilometres away from his family, Jimmy Spence is holding out hope his days as an evacuee are numbered.

"In some way or another, you get used to it," he told CBC. "But you still miss your place up north."

The 85-year-old is one of 21 residents who have been in a long-term care facility in Winnipeg since wildfires forced them from their personal care home in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in July 2025.

"We just have to be patient — when the time comes for us to go home, we will go home. I am just looking forward to that," Spence said.

"My kids, they are all grown up, but you know, they are still my kids, and I miss them."

The care home residents, some of whom have dementia, Alzheimer's and other cognitive impairments, were among hundreds of vulnerable residents evacuated from the community, about 660 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, in early July, after it was blanketed by heavy smoke from wildfires.

More residents were evacuated in August, but most were able to return later that month.

The First Nation's leadership hoped the care home residents would only have to stay in Winnipeg for a few weeks, until the air quality improved.

But the building now needs significant repairs before they can go back.

It's now expected those repairs will be completed within the next six weeks, and that residents will be able to return before the end of February, said Jessie Horodecki, the Nisichawayasihk care home's executive director.

"I didn't think it would be more than a month that we would be away. It's kind of crazy," she said. 

"We evacuated in the summer in our shorts and T-shirts, and now we're going to be going home in the winter."

The care home building had been decaying after 24 years in use, Nisichawayasihk Chief Angela Levasseur said, but rolling power outages during the wildfires caused further problems. 

The door-locking, patient call bell and security camera systems malfunctioned — a serious issue that meant the care home couldn't ensure residents wouldn't wander or put themselves at risk, Levasseur said.