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The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs was pleased to provide its recommendations to the consultations of the Federal Finance Committee in advance of Budget 2022.

This year, CAFC asked:

• That the Federal Government (a) create a federal emergency management agency to help fund and coordinate national issues impacting fire and life safety. and (b) that it formalize the role and capacity of Canada’s fire and emergency management (EM) leaders as a network of national and federal fire-EM advisors.
• That the Federal Government create a modernized version of the former Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) to address new training, equipment, and technology challenges in all of wildland-urban interface; communications; robotics, building codes, dangerous goods, emergency operations and other.
• That the Federal Government (a) modernize the volunteer firefighter tax credit to retain the crucial contributions of volunteer, paid on call and part time firefighters and (b) consider a National Fire and Life Safety Protection Act in both indigenous and non Indigenous communities to ensure fire and life safety in a decreasing supply of volunteer firefighters.
• That the Federal Government leverage mental health investments to ensure all first responders (a) have mental health awareness training, a crisis prevention line, and standards for peer support and; (b) create a mental health innovation fund to increase access to care from programs already established.

• That the Federal Government advance the public safety broadband network to facilitate emergency communications, rural coverage and economic opportunity.
  
  

We welcome and encourage members to share the brief with your federal MP, staff and partners. It is available in both official languages.

Please read our submission here. It has been submitted to the standing committee on finance.