Nova ScotiaThe Nova Scotia government has introduced an act to address what it calls long-standing issues in fire services, ranging from governance and consistency in fire response to the health and well-being of those on the front lines. Fire Safety and Services Act commits to creating a legislative framework by next fallPreston Mulligan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 01, 2025 7:37 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe bill calls for a six-month public consultation process that will include communities, Emergency Health Services, law enforcement agencies, and volunteer and career firefighters, among others. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)The Nova Scotia government has introduced an act to address what it calls long-standing issues in fire services, ranging from governance and consistency in fire response to the health and well-being of those on the front lines. The Fire Safety and Services Act does not propose specific changes; instead, it commits to the creation of a legislative framework guiding fire safety, services, training and certification. “When a 911 call comes in, we want our fire services to be consistent across the province,” said Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr during a bill briefing Wednesday.Kim Masland, minister of emergency management, described the current state of fire services in the province as “highly complex and fragmented.””The result has been inconsistent services across the province,” she said.The province turned its attention to fire service delivery after this year’s value-for-money audit of the Nova Scotia Firefighters School. The government ended its relationship with the school after the audit found serious safety and policy gaps.Addressing issuesThe upcoming framework will address the issues identified in that audit as well as a new report from the Fire Services Association of Nova Scotia.The association released a list of 40 recommendations on Monday as part of its fire services governance study. The report covered a range of issues including better training, sustainable funding, volunteer recruitment and retention — even mandatory fire-safety curriculum in the province’s schools.”This is the ninth fire review in the past 50 years and none of the previous eight were acted upon,” said Lohr.Greg Jones, the head of the association, said he’s glad the province is moving ahead with the development of a framework.”We have numerous legislations that are related to the fire service, however, they’re not in one specific act,” said Jones. “One thing the study has asked for is to bring it into one act.”The association has also recommended the creation of a provincial fire commissioner who would report to the provincial Department of Emergency Management.Public consultationThe bill calls for a six-month public consultation process that will include communities, Emergency Health Services, law enforcement agencies, and volunteer and career firefighters, among others. The minister is expected to introduce a bill before Sept. 30, 2026, implementing the framework.A news release from the provincial government noted Nova Scotia is one of the few Canadian jurisdictions that does not have a clear, legislated mandate for fire services.ABOUT THE AUTHORPreston Mulligan has been a reporter in the Maritimes for more than 20 years. Along with his reporting gig, he also hosts CBC Radio’s Sunday phone-in show, Maritime Connection.
Bill aims to fix problems within Nova Scotia’s ‘complex and fragmented’ fire services
