Skills Development Fund investment will provide life-saving survival training to firefighters
The Ontario government is investing over $746,000 through the Skills Development Fund (SDF) Training Stream to help the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association (OPFFA) deliver critical survival training to firefighters across the province. This investment will help ensure Ontario’s frontline heroes are equipped with the skills and tools they need to keep communities, and themselves, safe.
“Our government will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the brave men and women who have our backs when we need it the most,” said David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “By investing in advanced survival training, we’re protecting our firefighting heroes by providing them the skills they need to stay safe in the most dangerous scenarios.”
The Fire Ground Survival Train-the-Trainer program, developed by the International Association of Fire Fighters, is the most comprehensive survival and MAYDAY prevention training available in the fire service. Training, supported by this SDF investment, will take place in Toronto in October 2025 and in North Bay in Winter 2026. Leveraging a “train the trainer” model, participants will be certified to take the knowledge back to their colleagues, maximizing the training impact Ontario-wide.
The SDF funding will also be used to purchase a tow vehicle and a second training trailer dedicated to northern fire services, ensuring firefighters in remote and rural communities can access training.
Since its launch in 2021, Ontario has invested $1.5 billion through the SDF Training Stream and Capital Stream to help train more than one million workers for in-demand careers and good-paying jobs. As announced in the 2025 Budget: A Plan to Protect Ontario, the government is investing $1 billion more through the Skills Development Fund over the next three years, bringing the total to $2.5 billion, to support key industrial sectors and help train even more workers.
Quick Facts
- Firefighters are more likely than average to experience health problems because of hazardous occupational exposures. In Canada, there are 50 to 60 firefighter fatalities of cancer every year and half of those are from Ontario.
- Ontario’s Working for Workers acts have improved cancer coverage for firefighters, investigators and volunteers by removing the age limit for colorectal cancer claims and reducing the required service time for kidney cancer coverage from 20 to 10 years — the shortest in Canada.
- There are over 33,000 firefighters in Ontario, including over 12,500 full-time firefighters, about 20,000 volunteer firefighters and almost 400 part-time firefighters.
- On July 29, the Ontario government launched a new call for project proposals for the SDF Training Stream totaling $260 million. Interested organizations can visit the SDF Training Stream website and have until October 1st to apply.
- The SDF Training Stream rounds 1 to 5 are supported through labour market transfer agreements between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. SDF Training Round 6 is supported exclusively by the Government of Ontario.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
