TORONTO — TheOntario government is strengthening fire safety training across the province byincreasing access to on-site and online courses in communities wherefirefighters serve. Enhancing training opportunities offered through 20regional training centres will help local fire services better meet the needsof their community and result in cost savings for municipalities. 

"Thevaried and evolving needs of local fire services in Ontario require betteraccess to training opportunities that are most responsive to firefighters andthe communities they serve," said Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. "By expandingaccess to local fire training across the province, we are ensuring firefighterscan count on the support and resources they need to keep Ontarians safe."

Buildingon a regionally connected system of training centres, the Office of the FireMarshal will deliver fire safety training through a combination of in-persontraining at regional training centres, online courses, and through contractswith individual fire departments. Expanding local training opportunities willincrease capacity for training and reduce the need for municipal firedepartments to pay for travel and costs related to overtime and shiftbackfills.

As part of this plan, the Office of the Fire Marshal is also investing in two mobile units that will bring live fire training to local fire services. Specialized equipment will also be made available to regional training centres so training can be specifically tailored to local needs.

As firefighter training opportunities areexpanded across the province, the Ontario Fire College location inGravenhurst, which has not hosted on-site training since the onset of COVID-19in March 2020, will be decommissioned. Ontario Fire College staff will continueto play a leading role in developing training courses.

"We havelistened to fire services about the need to increase capacity for trainingcourses and modernize the fire training program," said Jon Pegg, Ontario's FireMarshal. "Moving to a blend of online and on-site training offered through regionaltraining centres allows us to provide responsive, high quality training to fireservices across the province."

"The FireFighters Association of Ontario is supportive of this new training model whichis being released," said Kevin McNeilly, President of the Fire FightersAssociation of Ontario. "We believe more firefighters will have greater accessto valuable training which will protect our firefighters."

"The OntarioProfessional Fire Fighters Association supports the expansion of regionalfirefighter training centres and the modernization of programming centredaround the needs of the fire service," said Carmen Santorom, President, OntarioProfessional Fire Fighters Association. "Improvedaccess to sanctioned education/training will greatly enhance the quality bystandardizing the safe delivery of firefighter training."

"TheOntario Association of Fire Chiefs supports the modernization of firefightertraining in the province of Ontario," said Mark MacDonald, Ontario Associationof Fire Chiefs Board President. "The potential to expand training through amodel that allows access to all regions in the province will be invaluable tohelp ensure the continuation of public and firefighter safety at a reduced costto municipalities and fire departments."