IROQUOIS FALLS – A fire chief is asking the province to reconsider mandatory certification rules for volunteer firefighters, warning the current system could threaten rural emergency services.
The topic came up at the Iroquois Falls council meeting on May 25. Fire chief Dan Boucher asked local leaders and nearby communities along Highway 11 to push for changes before the July 1 provincial deadline.
Ontario rules require all firefighters who do interior firefighting and vehicle extrication to have provincial certification or recognized accreditation by July 1.
Boucher said the department supports training standards, but the certification process is becoming a big challenge for volunteer departments.
“Training is not the issue. We have zero concerns with training,” Boucher told council. “Our people are trained as per NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standards. It’s the testing part.”
Right now, only approved proctors from the Office of the Fire Marshal can give the provincial exams. Boucher says this makes it hard for volunteers with full-time jobs and family responsibilities to schedule the tests.
“If I have a test tomorrow night, I might have five or 10 firefighters who can attend. The other 10 or 15 can’t attend,” he said. “Everybody’s in the same boat.”
Boucher wants fire chiefs to be able to give exams locally to firefighters who plan to stay in their home departments. Those who want to work elsewhere could still complete the provincial certification.
“All we’re asking for is flexibility,” he said. “Right now, this is killing the volunteer fire service.”
He added that Iroquois Falls is doing well for now because current firefighters are covered by grandfathering rules, but he is worried about the future.
“If we don’t get this certification, we may end up where we can no longer do interior firefighting, we can no longer do vehicle extrication,” Boucher said.
Coun. Gilles Giguère echoed those concerns, saying neighbouring communities are already struggling with staffing and certification pressures.
“As these things get implemented, you could see that call volume go up,” Giguère said. “Then it starts to leave more than one community at a greater risk while you’re out trying to help them.”
Coun. Ben Lefebvre noted the urgency of the situation with the provincial deadline quickly approaching.
“My concern is that the date of this July 1 is coming up really quickly,” Lefebvre said. “Obviously it’s time sensitive and needs to move along pretty quickly.”
The town is now preparing to send a motion and supporting documents to other Highway 11 municipalities and fire chiefs, the provincial government, and the Cochrane District Services Board to build regional support.
Boucher pointed to growing political attention around the issue, including comments made earlier this month by Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP John Vanthof at Queen’s Park.
On May 7, Vanthof urged the provincial government to work with volunteer departments to make certification more attainable for rural firefighters.
“They want to be trained, they want to be fully trained, but most volunteer firefighters have full-time jobs, and the certification process doesn’t always work with that,” Vanthof said at Queen’s Park. “Fire departments across many rural areas are actually losing members.”
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He warned that volunteer departments are critical for services such as vehicle extrication along highways in Northern Ontario.
“You can’t work in a mine for 40 hours and be home one week out of four and expect that you have to take time off to go for the certification,” Vanthof said. “That does not make sense.”
A report attached to the May 25 council agenda says volunteer firefighter training can take 200 to 320 hours. This includes online learning, classroom lessons, hands-on training, live-fire exercises, and testing, usually done on evenings and weekends over one or two years.
The report also says many rural volunteers already have demanding jobs in fields like mining, trucking, farming, and trades. This makes extra unpaid training and testing hard to manage.
Municipal officials are also worried about higher costs, staff shortages, and the chance that some rural departments might have to cut services or face longer response times if it gets harder to recruit and keep volunteers.
By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative
Original Published on May 28, 2026 at 12:35
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