With a July 1 provincially mandated firefighter training deadline looming, Greater Sudbury Fire Services is on track toward compliance.
So described Chief Rob Grimwood during the June 9 city council meeting, at which he affirmed, “In 21 days, when this regulation comes into effect, we will be compliant.”
This doesn’t mean that all firefighters will be fully trained to the levels mandated by the province.
While it’s anticipated that all career firefighters will be trained, approximately 10 per cent of the city’s volunteer firefighters aren’t fully certified.
Grimwood said flexible training hours catered to each firefighter will help fast-track efforts to get much of this 10-per-cent balance trained by the end of the year.
Until then, firefighters will not work outside of their certification, which will mean restricted duties for some.
While certified firefighters are able to attack fires from a building’s interior, others might be restricted to the exterior. Meanwhile, some might also be unable to operate apparatus (drive fire trucks) until such time as they’re adequately certified.
“I assure you, we have brought on a new deputy chief who has been tasked with working directly with each of the firefighters who remain outstanding … to develop a training program and schedule which meets their needs,” Grimwood told city council members.
After the meeting, Sudbury.com dug a bit deeper into training efforts in conversation with Grimwood and Deputy Chief Tamara Roitman.
Grimwood has been with the service since late last year, and Roitman is only a few weeks into her new role, following a prior role with Central York Fire Services.
Fresh from a meeting with volunteer firefighters earlier in the day, Roitman said, “Everyone’s been really welcoming and accepting.”
She credits Grimwood with spurring a tone shift among volunteer firefighters.
Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbee took note of this change in tone during the city council meeting, noting, “We’ve got some new leadership in place who are looking at finding efficiencies and fixing some cultural changes that prevented or discouraged volunteers from stepping into training or getting compliant.”
It’s also something Christian Labour Association of Canada provincial representative Matthew Walchuk took note of with Sudbury.com late last year, at which time he expressed optimism regarding Grimwood’s approach, which was to include such things as flexibility in training.
Grimwood reaffirmed on June 9 that this commitment stands.
In the past, Greater Sudbury Fire Services has been criticized for being inflexible when it comes to training requirements, with fixed training dates and times. Missing even a single session meant they failed to meet that round to become certified, which often pushed their eligibility to the subsequent year.
You simply can’t operate volunteer fire departments this way, Grimwood said.
“You can’t say training is only happening during the day, only during the weekend or only at night,” he said. “You have to have a mix.”
Some volunteer firefighters work Monday to Friday, others work two weeks in two weeks out and others are on alternating nights and weekends.
His solution, he said, is “just literally working with each individual to find out what schedule works for them.”
This, he added, is how they’re going to close the 10-per-cent training gap among volunteer firefighters by the end of the year. That is, aside from stragglers, such as those off work for extended periods of time. Grimwood said he’s confident they’ll get near 100 per cent by the end of the year.
“I don’t want to simplify it, but it’s just about being flexible,” he said, adding that the flexibility didn’t require additional staff; just changes in the way they’re scheduled and deployed.
The July 1 training deadline is Phase 1 of a two-phase provincially mandated training regimen, Grimwood clarified. The second phase has a July 1, 2028, deadline, and includes various technical rescue skills such as rope rescue, water and ice and confined space.
Grimwood said he joined a fire department that was behind when it comes to these new training requirements. “There’s no secret there,” he said, adding that they’ll continue working toward the next big hurdle. Meeting the 2028 requirements will carry anticipated costs and a funding strategy, which will come forward in a business case for council consideration during 2027 budget deliberations.
Grimwood’s full report on firefighter training progress is available by clicking here. Although a few career firefighters’ training is recorded in the report as “remain outstanding,” Grimwood clarified that they’ve taken the training and that his office is awaiting final test results, which will be in by the July 1 deadline.