The town of Laurentian Hills has added its voice to a chorus of Ontario municipalities urging the province to take a second look at volunteer firefighter training certification.
The province enacted a new regulation in 2022 under the Fire Prevention and Protection Act that requires all firefighters in the province to be certified under a standard set by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
July 1 was the deadline to have firefighters certified under NFPA 1001 for skills like interior and exterior fire attack, auto extrication, and hazardous materials response.
Fire departments have until July 1, 2028 for firefighters to be certified in things like confined spaces and water rescue.
Firefighters qualified as pump operators before 2022 are exempt from the July 1 certification, and those with less than three years experience are also exempt as long as they are working under a supervisor who is certified.
In a resolution passed last month, Laurentian Hills council asks the province to “revisit” the new regulation and undertake “meaningful consultation with rural municipalities, volunteer fire departments, and municipal associations regarding its… long-term impacts on volunteer and composite fire departments.”
Moved by Councillor John Hoyle and seconded by Councillor Bruce Boucher, the resolution says municipal councils “support the objective of enhancing firefighter safety, competency, and professionalism through appropriate training and certification standards.”
But it says many small and rural municipalities have experienced “significant challenges in meeting certification requirements due to limited access to training opportunities, instructor availability, travel distances, scheduling constraints, and associated financial costs.”
“Volunteer fire departments throughout Ontario have reported concerns regarding member attrition, recruitment difficulties, and the potential lossof experienced firefighters who are unable to complete certification requirements within prescribed timelines,” it says.
“The expectation that volunteer firefighters, who balance full-time employment, must log hundreds of hours of intensive training poses a severe threat to local recruitment and retention”…
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