Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Ontario Fire College Closes Newsletters Ontario Emergency Services The Ontario Fire College (OFC) in Gravenhurst, which trains full-time and volunteer firefighters, closed down as of March 31, 2021. The training school, which opened in 1949, had moved online with the pandemic. The plan is to continue with online training, which provides more flexibility and accessibility. Firefighters will no longer have to take a week off to travel to Gravenhurst to do training. Training opportunities at 20 regional training hubs will be enhanced and the province will create more hubs to make it easier for firefighters to get the training they need. The concern is to what degree the government will subsidize training costs at the regional hubs. The worry is that more costs will be offloaded to municipalities. Also, many hubs will not be able to provide some of the highly specialized and complex courses that were available at the OFC. Firefighters will also miss the the camaraderie and fellowship opportunities with firefighters from other regions across the province. CLAC will continue to bring the training needs of volunteers to the government’s attention as it rolls out the new training model. You might be interested in #WomenWednesday - Shandora Threadgould 22 Jul 2026 The Power of Asking for Help 20 Jul 2026 How to Manage an Insecure Leader 16 Jul 2026 Heat of the Moment 13 Jul 2026