Brantford to take over fire dispatch services for Brant County

A worker takes a 911 call at the RCMP F Division Operational Communication Command Centre on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010, in Regina, Sask. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Troy Fleece

Brant County and the City of Brantford have entered into a new fire dispatch service partnership.

The city will be taking over the service as the county looks for ways to adhere to an upcoming deadline set out by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

The CRTC has set out a mandate that all Canadian emergency call centres must be able to receive text messages, photos, and videos by March 4, 2025. The new system is called Next Generation 911, or NG9-1-1.

“Given the short and long-term investments and resources required to support the NG9-1-1 system, many dispatch services are reviewing alternative service delivery models and shifting to larger scale service providers to achieve economies of scale in an increasingly complex service infrastructure,” Cindy Stevenson, Brant County’s general manager of emergency and protective services, explained in a news release.

The new ten year agreement between the county and the city comes into effect July 1. The county said callers should not notice any change when calling the emergency line.

In the meantime, the county said it is offering support to staff who will be impacted by the change.

“This was not an easy decision, given the impact on our staff, who provide excellent service to the community. We are focused on providing support and identifying opportunities in the municipality to affected staff where feasible,” Brant County Fire Chief Darren Watson said.