The union for wildland firefighters is challenging the Ford government’s attempts to deny the reality of persistent understaffing throughout increasingly severe fire seasons.
In response to concerns raised by frontline workers represented by OPSEU/SEFPO about staffing being below approved levels, a government spokesperson disputed this by claiming that “Ontario does not have a target number of crews” in remarks published by The Trillium last week.
OPSEU/SEFPO has obtained an internal briefing from the Ministry of Natural Resources that suggests otherwise.
The ministerial briefing indicates that crew levels are significantly below what it refers to as the “Optimal Number of Crews”. The briefing shows that the 143 four-to-five-person crews in July 2024 fell short of the ministry’s target of 189 crews.
After facing increased public scrutiny, the government claims to have added 170 “new firefighting positions” since 2024. However, the number of firefighters has not increased proportionately, prompting staff to call for greater transparency regarding hiring and retention figures.
The government says that it currently has 156 crews. Frontline firefighters, who are overworked and exhausted, say this is far from enough. Experienced fire staff believe Ontario needs 250 crews to effectively respond to today’s increasingly severe fire seasons.
“That assessment comes from workers who understand Northern Ontario’s geography, long travel distances, simultaneous fires, crew rotation, fatigue, and the importance of reaching fires early. Initial attack matters because small fires are the ones we can still contain,” said Jeremy Rouse, OPSEU/SEFPO Chair of the Ministry Employee Relations Committee (MERC) for the Ministry of Natural Resources.
“Doug Ford is in complete denial about the disastrous consequences of his poor planning,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “He totally rejected the concerns of First Nations leaders, then his Emergency Preparedness Minister fled a CBC interview when faced with tough questions, and now his government is telling exhausted frontline workers that they are not understaffed.”
“Doug Ford must be the only person in the province who thinks he is doing a good job on this file. We are paying a terrible price for his gross negligence.”