Milton’s fire department spends less per resident than similar municipalities, but its lean staffing is under pressure from rising emergency calls and community growth, according to the Town’s updated Fire Master Plan approved by council last month.
Fire Chief Peter Gatto told council the 2026 Fire Master Plan provides a roadmap for how the department will continue meeting demand as the community grows.
The plan reaffirms the department’s focus on public education, code enforcement and emergency response — what the Ontario Fire Marshal calls the “three lines of defence.”
“This plan gives council and the fire management team a solid roadmap on how we continue to meet the community’s protection needs right to 2031,” he said.
“The timelines in this plan will be reviewed each year to reflect the pace and type of community growth," he added. “This updated plan identifies opportunities to reduce risk and improve resilience across the town.”
Lean staffing
The report shows Milton Fire and Rescue Services operates with a “lean” staffing model compared to similar municipalities.
- 84 full-time and 70 part-time suppression firefighters
- 5 full-time fire prevention officers
- 4 full-time training staff
- 2.5 support staff and 2 full-time mechanics
By comparison, Guelph has about 147 full-time firefighters, while Oakville has about 240, both fully career-based departments. Fire prevention staffing also lags. Milton’s five officers are fewer than seven in Guelph and 12 in Oakville.
The report says Milton’s reliance on part-time firefighters helps keep costs down but can create operational and training challenges and may make it harder to maintain service levels as the Town grows.
Low-cost fire services
Milton’s fire department is the lowest cost per resident among seven municipalities (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, Guelph, Clarington and Chatham-Kent) surveyed in the fire master plan update.
The report looked at operating budgets in 2024, which ranged from $69.9 million to $550 million. Milton ranked fifth, with a total annual budget of $192.3 million. Milton Fire and Rescue Services ranked fifth in fire department budgets at $15.6 million, compared with a range of $10.3 million to $46.9 million.
That budget represents 8.14 per cent of the Town’s operating budget. On a per-resident basis, Milton spends $117.79 per person on fire services, compared with an average of $152.42 per person across the surveyed municipalities.
“The department provides a full range of fire protection services at a cost well below comparable communities,” the report notes.
Rising emergency calls
Emergency calls are also rising in Milton. Fire service calls increased from 1,809 in 2020 to 2,796 in 2024, a 55 per cent increase over five years. While still lower than more urban municipalities, the report says demand is expected to climb further as the department moves toward a full-tiered medical response model.
Tax concerns
During the meeting, longtime resident Marshall Horner voiced support for the plan but raised concerns about how services are funded.
“As residents, we are carrying the tax burden of the services we need,” he said, pointing to the Town’s reliance on residential taxes. Horner also noted the importance of ensuring firefighters have long-term career opportunities in Milton to prevent losing trained staff to other municipalities.