Ontario is a member of FireSmart Canada along with the other Canadian provinces and territories. While FireSmart Canada’s creation is recent (2021), prior to that the FireSmart program existed through an organization called Partners in Protection, which Ontario was also a member of, and had adopted back in 2004. While the western provinces do have fantastic FireSmart programs, Ontario also implements FireSmart Canada’s programming, by delivering training (for example) and educating communities, neighbourhoods and residents on how they can reduce their wildland fire risk, and increase their community resilience.
Although I am the only contact for Ontario included on FireSmart Canada’s webpage, we do have a fulsome FireSmart program as part of our Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services Branch (Ministry of Natural Resources), Mitigation and Partnerships Unit. These contacts are regionally based, to ensure that there is ample support for communities and individuals interested in learning more about the program.
Although I recognize it may be too late, I would ask that, rather than including my cell phone number, you direct individuals who are interested to: affes.mitigation@ontario.ca, our broader team monitors this inbox to ensure the most appropriate contact responds to each inquiry.
For more information on Ontario’s FireSmart program, please visit: https://www.ontario.ca/page/firesmart
For more information on FireSmart Canada’s programming, please visit: https://firesmartcanada.ca/resources/
