At least two children are among the victims after fire raged through a home in the tight knit Nova Scotia fishing village of Pubnico Head.
The Red Cross says four children -- one an infant -- lived at the residence with their common-law parents.
The father is said to be in hospital with severe burns.
Corporal Jennifer Clarke said there were multiple fatalities, but could not confirm how many, or the ages of the deceased.
Clarke added two people escaped the fire, one of whom was taken to hospital.
She also said the RCMP were in early stages of a complex investigation, which will be assisted by the force's Major Crime Unit, the Nova Scotia
Office of the Fire Marshal and the province's medical examiner.
Officials were called to the home in Pubnico Head shortly after midnight, where they found it fully engulfed in flames.
The building has been destroyed, with only one wall left standing.
Kathy Bourque, a municipal councillor in Pubnico Head, said the deaths have devastated the small community on Nova Scotia's southwest coast.
The investigation into the cause will get underway Monday morning.
-with files from The Canadian Press