Grimsby Corporate Services Committee Reviews Fire Department Operations

Grimsby's Corporate Services Committee reviewed a fire department accomplishments report and discussed fire service staffing, call volumes, equipment and training updates, and new provincial freedom of information and privacy requirements. The fire chief said the department is operating at capacity, with demand concentrated in peak periods and staffing pressures tied to the transition to a standalone department model.

FIRE DEPARTMENT CAPACITY AND STAFFING

The fire chief reported the department's staffing model is "functioning at its capacity both operationally and administratively." The committee heard that the transition to a standalone fire department has added workload, with the chief saying, "Towards the end of 2025, we focused on transitioning towards a standalone fire department model, which has proven to be labour intensive." Staff said the department is carrying vacancies within its paid on-call roster and that maintaining service reliability requires careful planning because of limited redundancy.

CALL VOLUME AND RESPONSE PROFILE

Council heard the department responded to 702 emergency calls in 2025, resulting in significant apparatus use. As the chief put it, "702 emergency calls resulted in 1,700 plus vehicle movements." The committee also reviewed the department's call mix, including medical assistance, motor vehicle collisions, alarm activations, and fire or rescue incidents, as well as the operational demands created by those responses.

EQUIPMENT, TRAINING, AND OUTREACH

The committee reviewed 2025 capital purchases and training activity. Chief K said, "In 2025, council made significant investments in fleet equipment modernization. We replaced the ladder truck, pumper truck, pumper rescue, which is a combination of two vehicles that will help reduce our future budget issues, and a specialized support vehicle." Staff also outlined firefighter training requirements, use of Station 2 as a training facility, and public education and inspection work completed during the year.

HIGHWAY RESPONSES AND COST RECOVERY

The committee discussed responses on the QEW and provincial reimbursement for those incidents. Mayor Jordan welcomed the fact that the province is contributing to those costs but questioned whether municipalities are being adequately compensated for added responsibilities, saying, "So it's another provincial download, even though some part of it may be good. Are they giving us any compensation for doing it?" Staff said the current arrangement is based on cost recovery for apparatus responses on provincial highways.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PRIVACY CHANGES

The committee discussed amendments to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act under Bill 97. Staff member Tori said, "the big one is that for FOI response times, it's been changed from 30 calendar days to 45 business days to respond." She also outlined the fee structure, saying, "For FOI requests, it's in their legislation. So it's $7.50 per 15 minutes and it's $5 to submit the request." The committee also heard that municipalities will need privacy impact assessments for software collecting personal information by Jan. 1, 2027.

Motions

• Fire Department Accomplishments Report (FCR26-012025) — reviewed by committee; no explicit vote result provided in the notes
• Corporate Services Committee end-of-term report — to be finalized at the June 15 council meeting; presentation by Councillor Frank planned for July 13
• Administrative contact process for upcoming work — council agreed to use the clerk's team as the administrative point of contact

Attendees

• Mayor Jordan
• Councillor Frank
• Other councillors present were not identified in the provided notes