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Federal Budget 2025: The URGENT Need for a National Fire Administration

Long before the worst wildfire seasons on record, the pandemic, or the tragedies at Lac Mégantic, Île Verte, or Elliott Lake, a resolution at the 2006 Annual General Meeting of the country’s 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 resolution has become prophetic. 

While this brief contains several recommendations on very serious fire and life safety issues from housing to climate, a National Fire Administration would be the most consequential policy instrument 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, such as those presented in our brief and those that will inevitably continue to emerge. 

Recommendations

That the Federal Government:

1. Initiate a National Fire Administration through $2.4M in partnership with Canada’s Fire Chiefs, as the nucleus of any future disaster/emergency management organization. See more: Towards A National Fire Administration Model for Canada
2. Fund access to wildfire training standards from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) for all fire departments in collaboration with the provinces and territories. 
   
3. Fund critical infrastructure risk assessments and resiliency plans through local fire departments, using common templates that can be rolled up provincially and nationally  
4. Fund the spread and scale FireSmart™ through fire departments in partnership with provinces, territories, and municipalities. See more: CAFC on Wildfire Needs: "It'll take more than rain"
5. Pause housing innovation funding to provinces and territories on selective innovations involving single egress until the federal consultation is complete.  See more: Single Egress Consultation
   
6. Amend the Explosives Act to restrict the sale and use of consumer fireworks to licensed professionals only. See more: Fireworks (Explosives Act Regulations) Consultation
   
7. Expedite consumer protection legislation for lithium-Ion batteries given the proliferation and incentivization of green technologies. See more: Lithium-Ion Battery Concerns for the Fire Service
   
8. Reinstate a modernized Joint Emergency Preparedness Program with net new monies to update and close the gap on the current cache of training and equipment. 
   
9. Fund environmental firefighting foam remediation in collaboration with the provinces and territories.  
   
10. Amend the inclusion criteria to the Airport Rescue and Firefighting Fund so that fire departments servicing any federally owned and leased airport/aerodrome can apply. 
    
11. Extend the Spectrum License for a Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) to ensure eventual protected and interruption free communication for public safety.  
    
12. Fire Safety in Indigenous Communities: Make fire protection a protected service in every community and address recommendations to improve fire and life safety.

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.