Students and staff were evacuated from Red Lake District High School, after a report of an explosive device threat on Wednesday morning, Ontario Provincial Police say.

People from the school were re-located to the Royal Canadian Legion in Red Lake, Ont., a town of about 5,000, which is 500 km northwest of Thunder Bay, police announced in a written release.

Meanwhile officers with the Red Lake OPP set up a perimeter around the school and were on the scene, conducting a search of the school for any unusual or suspicious packaging, police said.

The OPP North West Region Explosive Disposal Unit has been alerted to the situation, they added.

The Northwestern Ontario Student Services Consortium, which handles bussing in the Red Lake area, said students were on the buses and being taken home, in a release issued around 12 p.m. (ET).