Towards A National Fire Administration Model for Canada - Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs

Towards A National Fire Administration

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Towards A National Fire Administration Model for Canada

At the 2006 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), long before the worst wildfire season on record, the pandemic, or the tragedies at Lac Megantic, Ile Verte, or Elliott Lake, Canadian fire chiefs noted that the size and technical complexity of events facing the fire service was changing so significantly that Canada needed a National Fire Administration. Nearly two decades later, the need has intensified, and the resolution seems prophetic.

Talking about something is one thing; starting is another. The purpose of this report is to help with the latter.

The report describes specifically

1) Why Canada needs a National Fire Administration and the ripe opportunity we have to create one;

2) What could be different if a National Fire Administration were in place;

3) What Fire Administrations in other countries look like including cost considerations;

4) What considerations are for Canada in both developing and succeeding in the process.

Since the release of this report, there have been developments in the case studies in the report that illustrate why Canada needs a National Fire Administration, including the results of the Great Canadian Fire Census. We have created webpages for these issues and you can see them below. Many of these issues will be relieved by the presence of a National Fire Administration.

The national fire administration would serve as the nucleus of any future emergency management response organization and would entail at least three types of coordination, such as those between

Fire departments and federal departments on the fire, life safety and emergency management implications of national priorities: Federal departments set policy that impacts fire and life safety from electric vehicles to housing to economic recovery to pandemic preparedness. Fire departments can advise on these. They also need the opportunity to be prepared for innovations that government is proposing.
Wildfire Agencies-Structural Fire Departments at a national level: Provincial wildland agencies and structural fire departments, beyond province-by-province discussions, will have issues to coordinate at the national level given that 90% of fire departments are now involved in wildfire response.
Federal government or civilian emergency management response and authorities having jurisdiction: Any civilian emergency response workforce or any federal emergency management organization response must be coordinated with and through the authorities having jurisdiction in an emergency which are usually fire chiefs/fire departments.

The CAFC has been asked for operational guidance on how to implement a National Fire Administration. It was discussed at length during Government Relations Week, where MP's from all parties expressed support for concept. The diagram below demonstrates in large the concept of a National Fire Administration:

The CAFC would like to thank the members of the CAFC Governance Committee for leading this work, the members of the Board and National Advisory Council for their multiple reviews, the US Fire Administration and other reviewers for their helpful comments, and Ms. Zoe Boicescu and Dr. Tina Saryeddine for holding the pen.

We believe establishing a National Fire Administration could be one of the most consequential policy instruments in the history of fire and emergency management in Canada. It will allow Canada to recognize, address and coordinate, on a regular, systematic, and national basis, all fire and emergency management issues.

If you have any questions about this report, please contact Dr. Tina Saryeddine at tsaryeddine@cafc.ca

Download the report

LATEST UPDATES

CAFC Pre-Budget Submission 2025 - 2026

The CAFC submitted a Federal Budget Brief for 2025-2026, which asks for a National Fire Administration. Given debates about what is needed, the brief is organized as a question-and-answer document.

Read the submission here.

Premiers note Fire Chiefs Request for National Fire Administration

Attached is the press release from the Council of the Federation Meeting. Note the following:

“Premiers noted the proposal by Canada’s fire chiefs to establish a national fire administration and have tasked provincial and territorial ministers responsible for emergency management to consider the proposal”.

Letters from Fire Service Leaders

Fire Service Leaders from across the country are asking policymakers for a National Fire Administration.

Private Members' Notice of Motion, MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, BC)

On June 19, NDP MP Gord Johns put a motion in the House of Commons calling for the creation of a National Fire Administration. See the text below:

That: (a) the House recognize that,

(i) Canada has around 3,200 fire departments of which approximately 80% rely solely on volunteer firefighters,

(ii) the scale and complexity of events Canadian fire services are expected to respond to have increased dramatically in recent years and that trend is anticipated to continue,

(iii) all levels of government in Canada are involved in aspects of fire and emergency management,

(iv) collaboration and strategic coordination are necessary to prepare for major emergencies and ensure efficient use of resources,

(v) there is a need to integrate a fire and emergency management perspective into policy and decision making for other issues, including, but not limited to, housing, green technology, transportation, tariffs, first responder mental health, and defense; and (b) in the opinion of the House, the government should work in collaboration with the country’s fire chiefs to establish the Office of the National Fire Administration located within Public Safety Canada.

Fire Chiefs on Wildfire - 2025 Media Stories

CBC Syndication (01/08/2025)

Fire chiefs call for national body amid wildfires - CTV News (08/01/2024)

Canada's Fire Chiefs want a National Fire Administration - City News Now You Know with Rob Snow (08/01/2024)

Canada’s fire departments facing growing pressures - Municipal World (07/31/2024)

CBC Syndication (07/25/2024)

See related stories in Hill Times:

A burning platform for a national fire administration

This country urgently needs a national fire administration

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