By Liam Verster

Provincial Funding

Province cuts firefighter training grant

Mar 2, 2020 | 4:25 PM

Municipalities throughout the province may face some troubles funding firefighter training, now that the Alberta Government has cut a grant designed to support external training programs.

The $500,000 annual Alberta Fire Services Training grant was initially created in the early 2000s to create a collaborative agreement between fire departments, and to fill the gaps in firefighter training funding.

Municipalities are in charge of funding their fire departments and services, but the grants gave the municipalities some extra resources. The funds were used for a multitude of training programs, including rescue, fire fighting, and hazardous material response training.

Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA) President Randy Schroeder says in the past 15 years or so, the extra funding helped a lot of fire services.

“Regional collaboration was the key. There are seven regions that are represented by the AFCA and the grant was set up to be administered and applied through various departments, acting as hubs historically, to try and facilitate all the training through those regions. So the size of the applications, the individual regional applications, varied depending on need, but oftentimes the grant was over-subscribed. It was always maxed out at $500,000, but there was routine to see $1.5-million in applications, not all were of course accepted, so there was definitely demonstrated need across the province.”

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Schroeder says while the amount of money involved is quite small in the grand scheme, it’s still important.

The province is getting rid of it as a cost-cutting measure.

In a release, a spokesperson for the Alberta Government says it’s the responsibility of the municipalities to fund their fire departments, and that this cut of $500,000 shouldn’t be too extreme.

“The delivery of fire services is a municipal responsibility, meaning fire departments and their training budgets are funded by local governments. Given this, we have dissolved a small training grant that was developed in better economic times. We value the tremendous work firefighters do and continue to work with municipalities across the province to ensure public safety is protected.”

Schroeder adds that the loss of the funding poses a risk for some municipalities, especially the smaller ones, who may not be able to fully fund their programs at a local level.

He says some fire departments may have relied on the external funding, and now will have to work internally to fund the training programs.

“The Province is correct that municipalities are responsible for local service delivery and training of their fire department members. Ultimately, that’s the case. But municipal budgets are wide-varying, and programming historically relies on some provincial support and does take a hit.”

“The concern is, for some of our regional partners, they’re going to be forced to directly internalize any programming, and dramatically reduce their programming in order to, essentially, do what they can.

“It’s entirely presumptive, right at this moment, in terms of the total impact. But with a decreased level of funding and a decreased level of potential programming, it will mean in some areas, potentially a decreased level of service.”

Schroeder also says the news of the cut was surprising, as there were no consultations between the province and the stakeholders, and there was no discussions or opportunity to voice their concerns.

He adds that the loss of the grant won’t likely have an effect on wildfire training and response for departments within the Forest Protection Areas.

Despite the loss of the grant, Schroeder is still encouraging anyone interested in joining a fire department, either as a professional or a volunteer, to still do so, as it takes people in order to provide service.

He also says the loss won’t impact every fire department in Alberta but does say provincial funding should be maintained, to ensure all Albertans receive service from highly trained personnel during an emergency.

EverythingGP reached out to the fire chiefs in the County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview, to see how the cuts will impact their fire departments, but neither responded to the request for comment.