Item - 2021.EC24.13

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the Fire Chief and General Manager - Emergency Management, Toronto Fire Services to bring forward business cases through the 2022 and future Budget processes on the following:

a.  the necessary frontline firefighter staffing and supervision, and associated uniforms and Personal Protective Equipment, to address staffing and performance concerns with the hiring of 156 new operational firefighters (Full Time Employees) from 2023 to 2025 at a total cumulative operating cost of approximately $27,749,195;

b.  funding for the Toronto Fire Services Post Traumatic Stress Injury and Suicide Prevention Program at a full year cost of $201,499;

c.  the conversion of four temporary Staff Services positions into permanent full-time positions at a full year cost of $471,827;

d.  the addition of three Full Time Employees for recruitment and outreach efforts to support the recruitment of diverse candidates at a full year cost of $476,835;

e.  capital funding of $130,000 for the implementation of digital displays in all stations; and

f.  anticipated fleet requirements over the 10-year capital planning period, reflecting 2022 and future year cash flow, to support multi-year vehicle procurements utilizing eligible capital funding sources.

This report responds to a request from City Council for the Fire Chief and General Manager - Emergency Management, Toronto Fire Services to provide recommendations for service level enhancements to its service delivery. Toronto Fire Services (TFS) provides all hazard emergency response to Toronto's 2.9 million residents and the millions of visitors to the city each year. TFS measures and reports emergency response performance based on time interval targets set by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations and Special Operations to the public by Career Fire Departments.

Working in the largest, most vertical and diverse city in the country, TFS has the responsibility to be nimble in the delivery of fire protection services to meet changing needs and mitigate emerging challenges. In the coming years, TFS anticipates seeing increasing challenges that will impact service delivery. Population growth, the increasing vertical density, the development of the city's transit/subway network, and the nature of fires are all changing the firefighting landscape that TFS firefighters manage on a daily basis. The service is forecasting incident volumes of approximately 140,000 by 2025. In order to meet challenges associated with growth and the corresponding complexity of incidents, TFS requires additional staffing and resources to maintain appropriate levels of fire protection services.

TFS is working on a number of initiatives to improve current and future service delivery and response time performance city-wide. This includes a number of Neighbourhood Improvement Areas that have higher service demands. Some of the initiatives TFS has implemented include new technologies and equipment, adjusting response protocols based on risk, balancing resource distribution, and supporting staff with the hiring of a part time employee assistance counselor to mitigate the rising number of staff absences due to occupational stress injuries.

This report recommends the inclusion of four additional initiatives that require increased operating and/or capital funding over the next four years starting in the 2022 and future Budget processes. The initiatives include continuing supports for staff mental health with the creation of a contract for occupational therapy to assist with return to work and converting the existing part time employee assistance counselor to full time; increasing staff complement for recruitment and outreach initiatives to assist TFS in better reflecting the community it serves; converting four temporary positions in the Staff Services division to full time to assist in managing the total staffing complement of more than 3,000 employees, and implementing new technologies at all stations to assist with turnout time performance. Additionally, as TFS has experienced challenges in its state of good repair for its fleet, a new financing model to better meet the needs of the service is in development to be brought forward through the 2022 Budget process.

At its meeting on January 5, 2021, the Economic and Community Development Committee directed TFS to evaluate the Operations staffing model and report on any additional required staffing resources to maintain adequate service as part of this service delivery review. TFS evaluated the staffing within its Operations division. TFS continues to identify new ways to keep vacancies as low as possible. To accomplish this, TFS has launched the largest recruit class in its history in 2021, and plans to continue with similar sized classes into 2022. The Operations complement has changed minimally in the last twenty years as demand for service, increasing legislative changes, and Toronto's population continues to increase. After evaluating the staffing model against the pressures currently on the complement, staff are recommending a solution that would provide the greatest opportunity to have the entire frontline fleet, staffed with four firefighters, in service. This recommendation requires an increase in Operations staffing of 156 Full Time Employees (FTEs) to be requested over the next four years through future Budget processes beginning in 2023. This, in conjunction with the current recruitment strategies, would put TFS in a better position to staff its 124 crews on a daily basis. The total annualized operating cost of increasing the complement by 156 FTEs is approximately $27,749,195.