A new provincial regulation has set Ontario’s fire services on a collision course with the clock. By July 1, 2026, every firefighter in the province, including those serving in volunteer departments, must be fully certified to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Level 1 and Level 2 standards or risk being unable to perform their duties. The mandate carries with it the risk of both Ministry of Labour and Insurance liabilities if services fail to comply with the regulation.
The requirement stems from Ontario Regulation 343/22: Firefighter Certification, brought forward under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997. It took effect in July 2022, establishing standardized, province-wide minimum qualifications for firefighters across all municipalities. The objective, according to the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM), is to ensure that every firefighter in Ontario, whether in Toronto or Tehkummah, meets consistent national benchmarks for training, knowledge and safety. It’s a move that many in the fire service agree is long overdue, though the path toward compliance is proving much steeper and challenging for rural and northern departments that rely heavily on volunteers.
For Assiginack Township Fire Chief and Councillor Dwayne Elliot, the issue isn’t about whether certification is necessary, it’s about how small, volunteer-based departments are expected to meet the same standards as large, full-time services with vastly greater resources. “I fully support certification because it keeps everyone safe,” Fire Chief Elliot told The Expositor. “The motion provided a means and resources to help track training across the province,” Fire Chief Elliot said. “But some of the stipulations aren’t fully understood.” Fire Chief Elliot, who also sits on township council, says the regulation has prompted heated discussions locally. “At council, it was suggested that we ought to go against this requirement mandate,” he said, noting the township received a resolution from the Township of Brudnell, Lyndoch and Raglan, opposing the mandatory firefighter certification requirements. “But I didn’t, and still don’t think that’s a good thing. I fully support the proper certification of our guys. It ensures that everyone is safe, and that extends to the people we serve.”
At an Assiginack township council meeting last week, where council looked at the resolution from the Township of Brudnell, Lyndoch and Raglan, council passed a resolution to support the implementation of the mandatory firefighter certification, understanding that there will be additional expenditures for training and related costs; and furthermore that the council respectfully requests that the legislation be amended to provide a two-year extension, from July 1, 2026 until July 1, 2028, for the certification requirements. The council also requests that the current two-year period for full certification from the date of hire be removed to better accommodate the realities faced by volunteer firefighters.
Councillor Elliott said, “There were some municipalities looking for support to not implement the regulations at all. I don’t agree with that,” he said, indicating he is in support of a two-year extension.
“I think it is fair to provide for a two-year extension (on the regulations implementation) side,” said Councillor Janice Bowerman.
A letter and resolution from the Township of Larder Lake requesting an extension of certification deadlines of two years also appeared before Billings council last week. Crystal Labbe, CAO/Clerk-treasurer for Larder Lake wrote in part, “training programs for many of these service specific certifications are still not available or are only in pilot while there remains a large demand for these programs. The province cannot reasonably expect volunteer firefighters, many of whom work full-time jobs, to independently develop training programs that meet the standards required to pass certification exams. This places an undue burden on small municipalities and risks compromising the intent of the regulation. We have enclosed a formal resolution passed by our council, which outlines our concerns and respectfully requests that the province extend the certification deadline to a minimum of two years beyond the final release date.”
“Veronique (Dion) (township CAO/clerk)had a conversation with our fire chief (Martin Connell) on this,” said Billings Mayor Bryan Barker.
“Our fire chief is in favour of the extension of the regulations for two years because there is not enough testing officers in place to perform all the (training) requirements,” said Ms. Dion. Billings passed a resolution supporting the Larder Lake motion to request an extension of the regulation period for two years.
Safety, however, isn’t the only consideration in this process. Meeting the province’s training and testing requirements within the coming months is a logistical and financial challenge, which Fire Chief Elliot says is compounded by the limited availability of training centres in Northern Ontario. “It’s been very challenging to get assistance and access to training resources, such as the centre in Azilda,” he explained. “Sudbury wants to ensure that they can get all of their men done on time as well, which limits our access. Thankfully, the OFN is willing to send their trailer and extra hands to help get this done. But as you can imagine, those services are in high demand as everyone is scrambling to get this done on time and there are only so many of them.” (The trailer, in fact, was on-site in Little Current last week for training.)
Without enough regional training capacity, many small-town departments are caught in a tight squeeze. “If we were to try and get our everyone done in-house, it would easily take two years to get them educated and trained enough to challenge the certifications for both Levels 1 and 2,” he added. “This kind of timeline makes it really hard for smaller stations in Northern Ontario because we simply don’t have access to a lot of the resources that others in the province have.”
At present, Fire Chief Elliot has four certified firefighters on his roster, but nine more who still need to complete the programing. Sending volunteers away for multi-week courses isn’t always realistic. “We could potentially send people to facilities north of Sault Ste. Marie or to North Bay,” he said, “but the time constraints as well as the costs of doing this are pretty prohibitive.”
Across Manitoulin Island, the story is much the same. In Gore Bay, Fire Chief and Community Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Addison says his department got an early start but still faces systemic challenges. “We’re doing pretty well with this,” Fire Chief Addison said. “We were onboard early. We have several people who could potentially get certified by March or April. Right now, we’re trying to get something going for Island-wide training to help get everyone up to par on what’s being asked.”
Fire Chief Addison says that coordination among Island departments could help close the gap, but only if they can secure access to official evaluators. “The issue remains that we don’t have any regional training to help,” he explained. “Myself and a few of the other fire chiefs have been around long enough that we can probably train guys to Levels 1 and 2, but we’re not allowed to fully certify our own firemen. They need to be tested by an outside evaluator to prevent any conflicts of interest.”
That rule, while intended to preserve impartiality, has created a province-wide bottleneck which many services are lamenting. There are simply not enough certified evaluators to go around. “Previously, there was something called The Northern Program which really helped to get people certified in the north, and the cost was relatively cheap,” Fire Chief Addison recalled. “But that has since been closed, and there are no talks by the college to try and start something like that again any time soon.”
The curriculum, based on the NFPA 1001 standards used across North America, also adds complexity. “The curriculum that they’re wanting taught isn’t from Ontario, but from the United States,” Fire Chief Addison said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, only that it makes it harder to get training information and resources here.”
Still, Fire Chief Addison doesn’t believe abandoning the certification plan is the answer. “There have been some places which have asked to have this certification push dropped,” he said, referring to municipalities lobbying the province for relief. “But I don’t feel that’s the right call. We need people to be properly trained, and people deserve to be safe.”
His concern lies in the financial strain the regulation places on small communities. “People can and should have their internal and external certifications, which would satisfy these requirements,” he said. “But the issue becomes one of time and financial costs, plus the lack of resources to get that kind of thing done on time. If we have to send people out of town to get the training, the costs could easily get out of hand. Well over $3,500, and probably more like $6,500 per firefighter. Most townships simply can’t afford that kind of cost.”
Fire Chief Addison says Gore Bay currently has two in-house trainers, and there are a few others scattered across the Island. “If we can coordinate things and get everyone on board, we can potentially make it work,” he said. “But we need to get some outside people to certify everyone after we get them trained and with this push, you can imagine that everyone wants those guys to come, but there are only so many of them to go around.”
The worst-case scenario, Fire Chief Addison warns, is that if smaller departments can’t meet the deadlines, they could be forced to suspend operations. “Perhaps if stations have to start closing, it will add political pressure to extend the deadline,” he said grimly. “But that’s a worst-case scenario which could put communities at risk.”
Despite these concerns, Fire Chief Addison stresses that the new rules stem from a good place. “It’s easy to see this thing as bad because of the timelines,” he said. “But the reality is that firemen were getting hurt and some errors were made. That’s what prompted this thing to go ahead, and I’m always for the proper training of workers. It’s important that people don’t lose sight of that and work with the system to find a solution that will work for everyone and keep people safe.”
In Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI), Fire Chief Duane Deschamps is taking a proactive approach. “We’re doing pretty good with this so far,” Fire Chief Deschamps said. “Both myself and my deputy are fully certified, and we can help train people. Right now, the focus is on getting the rest of the service certified as they need to be.”
NEMI’s training program has long been rigorous, Fire Chief Deschamps says, but the new regulation formalizes it. “We have always had a good training program here, and that hasn’t changed,” he said. “But now, it has to be official, though our curriculum already matches what is being asked. The only thing which is outstanding is the Ontario Fire College’s practical portions, which need to be signed off by an official.”
To help other Island services, NEMI plans to host a major training session this fall. “We’ll be hosting an extensive fire training program at the end of November,” Fire Chief Deschamps said. “It ought to be enough to get people their Level 1 and 2 certifications. It’s open to everyone on the Island and will also extend to neighbouring services if they want to participate.”
Fire Chief Deschamps notes that the grandfathering process, which allowed experienced firefighters to gain certification based on prior service, has now ended leaving some behind. “That’s prevented some people from being able to get certified because they missed that window,” he said. “And also, what’s happened is that some of the older members are starting to question if they will simply retire rather than having to go through all of the testing and certification process.”
The bigger concern, Fire Chief Deschamps says, is the scope of the issue. “The real challenge here is that the province consists of approximately 80 percent of volunteer fire services,” he said. “It’s easy for people to think that this is the minority of cases, but it’s easily the majority. So, it has the potential to impact a lot of communities across the province, which makes this a really important thing to get right.”
Under the regulation, firefighters must meet the NFPA 1001 Level 1 and 2 standards, which outline specific competencies for both interior and exterior firefighting. These include everything from operating pumps and hoses to search and rescue procedures and structural fire tactics. For many volunteers, meeting these standards means hundreds of hours of instruction and testing with nearly all of it being unpaid.
Municipalities, meanwhile, must bear the cost of training, travel and certification fees for these brave citizens who take their communities safety upon themselves. The Office of the Fire Marshal has permitted local training under supervision, but the final certification testing must be completed by a qualified third-party evaluator. For isolated northern departments, the logistics of all of this can be quite formidable to manage.
If departments cannot certify their members in time, they may face restrictions on which services they can legally provide, meaning slower response times, fewer available responders, and reduced capacity to handle emergencies like structure fires, motor vehicle collisions, or hazardous incidents. The implications, therefore, extend far beyond fire hall doors. For rural residents, the difference between a fully staffed local department and one forced to scale back could be measured in minutes and lives.
“This isn’t about resisting progress,” said Fire Chief Elliot. “It’s about making sure the progress we’re asked to make is possible.”
Fire Chief Addison agrees. “We want to do this right,” he said. “But we also want to make sure our communities don’t lose the very people who show up when everything’s on the line.”
Across Manitoulin Island, fire chiefs share that same hope that the province will recognize the realities of Northern firefighting and allow for the flexibility needed to keep both firefighters and their communities safe. Because when the siren sounds, it won’t be Queen’s Park that answers the call to action. Rather it will be the countless and selfless volunteers who put in the time to keep their friends, families, and neighbours safe.