8:00am – 5:00pm

Registration

Check in at registration and obtain your event badge and be sure to download the conference App.

BMO Front Concourse

9:00am – 9:30am

 Opening Keynote

Good Sleep Requires Shiny Shoes–and other candid life & leadership lessons learned the hard way

Over the past 30+ years, Chief Pegg has led and managed some of the largest and most complex fire service organizations in North America and served as the Incident Commander for the largest declared emergency in Toronto’s history.

He is regarded as an extraordinary leader, especially under pressure, and as someone whose ability to convey a sense of calm during crisis is both uncommon and exceptional.

In this candid, raw and inspiring presentation, Chief Pegg will share some of the most important lessons he has learned, both as a leader and an Incident Commander, and will help you to be prepared to lead when it matters.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

9:45am – 10:15am

Workshop #1

Peer Support Programs For POC/Volunteer

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

Real Success Story: Introduction of a real-world success story from our paid on-call fire services, showcasing the transformative impact of a peer support program on our fire service

Practical Insights and Strategies: actionable insights and practical strategies derived from our journey empowering you to initiate, implement, and sustain effective peer support programs in their own communities.

Inspiration for Positive Change: join a session session for inspiration, information to make a meaningful difference in the lives of your members, fostering a culture of support, understanding, and resilience.

10:20am – 11:00am

Workshop #2

Understanding and Communicating with Municipal Councils

Training in effective strategies for report writing that captures council attention, and understanding the nuances of municipal government structures and their reporting hierarchies.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

11:15 AM – 1:15 PM

Rural Membership Round Table

11:15 AM – 1:15 PM

Urban Membership Round Table

An open discussion forum covering topics and challenges facing urban fire services.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Opening Ceremonies & Memorial Service

Join the AFCA along with Government representatives for the Opening Ceremonies and Memorial Service.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

6:00pm – 9:00pm

Trade Show & Welcome Reception

Halls D-E, BMO Centre

7:30am – 11:00am

Registration

Check in and download the conference app to earn points on the Leaderboard.

Palomino Foyer, BMO Centre

7:30am – 9:00am

7:45am – 8:15am

Breakfast and Office of the Fire Commissioner Update

Assistant Commissioner Phil Rowe speaking from 7:45 AM to 8:15 AM

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

8:30am – 11:00am

AFCA Business Session

Board of Director updates and Annual General Meeting 

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

10:30am – 10:45am

Coffee Break

Palomino Foyer, BMO Centre

11:00am – 12:00pm

Concurrent Conference Stream # 1

Alberta Fire Services Core Competency Framework 

Have you completed your Community Risk Assessment? Is it time to review and update your current Risk Assessment? As part of the Risk Management Framework, regular reviews are critical to change management, ensuring continuous improvement.

The Tool is continuously updated to stay current with legislation and industry best practices. User feedback drives innovation within the Tool.

Live demonstration utilizing the tool and how it can work for council presentations.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

11:00am – 12:00pm

Concurrent Conference Stream #2

Building a Trust-Centric Fire Service: Cultivating Fairness, Accountability, and Learning

In today’s dynamic fire services environment, implementing a culture centered around fairness, learning, and accountability is crucial for the consistent and fair management of workplace events. This approach is key in creating an environment where supervisors are equipped with the right tools to address a range of incidents, from station-based interpersonal challenges to post-event analysis.

The presentation will explain how this culture assists leaders in maintaining transparency and openness when dealing with incidents or issues, and consistency in having difficult conversations, all while gaining the trust of their crews. In this session, we will delve into three core principles:

• Cultivating an environment that encourages transparent communication and reporting.
• Differentiating between human error, at-risk behavior, and reckless behavior.
• Ensuring fair and equitable accountability in response to incidents.

Strathcona County will share how they have applied these tools to their department.

Arabian A-C, BMO Centre

11:00am – 12:00pm

Concurrent Conference Stream#3

So, You Want to Be a Chief

Have you transitioned into becoming the new fire chief or are you aspiring to become the chief of your department?

You’ve probably discovered that the lofty position comes with its unique challenges. Whether you spent many years serving on the same department or have moved to a new department, some guidance through the turbulence of transition is always helpful.

When entering your new role, you may or may not know much about the people, the jurisdiction, the partners, key stakeholders or your new responsibilities; and you won’t learn any more about all those things unless you do a lot of research and even then, you may only scratch the surface. “There are some things that just are not in the text books”.

“So You Want To Be The Fire Chief” is an un-scripted, un-edited, frank and open discussion with a panel of well seasoned fire chiefs, who will provide discussion and maybe answers to your burning questions.

Join Chiefs Rob Evans, David Mohl, Mac de Beaudrap, Everett Cooke, and Kevin Swanson for a fireside chat.

Palomino G-H, BMO Centre

12:00PM – 1:00PM

Lunch and Keynote Presentation

Join the AFCA in the Palomino Room A-D for lunch and the Keynote with Megan McElhearn and Kelly Schwartz.

Identifying and Addressing Operational Stress in First Responders and Their Families

Traumatic events (i.e., operational stressors; Carleton et al., 2018). The impact of these stressors extends to the families of fire personnel, with spouses often bearing the brunt of supporting the fire member and the family (Casas & Benuto, 2021). In recent years, various initiatives targeting operational and organizational interventions have emerged to reduce the frequency and severity of OSIs among first responders (FR), including fire, paramedics and EMTs, and police (Di Nota et al., 2021; Bahji et al., 2023). Many of these interventions, however, are lacking in evidence to support the validity and feasibility in producing measurable change in participants.

In response to this, two intervention programs – the Before Operational Stress (BOS) program (McElheran, 2018) and the Re: Building Families (RBF) program (Schwartz et al., 2022) – have been developed and tested to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing the cognitive and behavioural impacts of OSIs.

This keynote address will summarize the development, content, and evidence supporting both programs and discuss the importance of psychoeducation and support for both fire members and their spouses/partners. In particular, the discussion will highlight the impact of operational stress on fire members and the benefits of introducing evidence-informed prevention and early intervention efforts for fire families at the individual and departmental levels.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

1:15pm – 2:30pm

Concurrent Conference Stream #1

Coffee Cup Leadership-It’s All About Emotional Intelligence

With the growing demands placed on today’s fire chiefs, there is little time to focus on relationships when administrative duties continue to rise. Successful fire service leaders are aware that healthy and trusting relationships make the fire department successful. Today it is more critical than ever that fire service leaders embrace the ability to use soft skills and engage emotional intelligence (EI) as a critical part of their leadership toolbox.

Based upon his book, Coffee Cup Leadership, Les will help readers understand that their growth is a work in progress and as leaders grow in the EI realm, the team will always benefit. In these sessions, participants will be introduced to four domains of emotional intelligence; Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness and Relationship Management competencies and how they positively impact the fire service leaders’ ability to deal with issues while at the same time having open and honest conversations with team members. 

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

1:15pm – 2:30pm

Concurrent Conference Stream #2

Quiet Leadership

This presentation will focus on the quieter side of leadership in the fire service.

Diversity in the fire service extends to the types of leaders we seek and develop. As the demographic of the fire service evolves, so too must our vision of what leaders and leadership looks like. 

We don’t necessarily think that introverts can be strong leaders, especially in the fire service. This session will explore the qualities and strengths of the introverted leader. It will demonstrate how the future of the fire service depends on developing this type of leadership in coexistence with traditional styles.

Arabian A-C, BMO Centre

1:15pm – 2:30pm

Concurrent Conference Stream#3

First Responder Care For a Neurodiverse Community

This session is an opportunity for first responders to fill their toolbox with skills that will help them to better understand and engage with people with diverse neurological needs. While there is a focus on autism spectrum disorder and sensory sensitivities, the skills presented will enhance the participant’s ability to connect with people from many different demographics in a wide range of circumstances, including during emergency responses.

Palomino G-H, BMO Centre

2:30pm – 2:45pm

Coffee Break 

Palomino Foyer, BMO Centre

2:45pm – 4:00pm

Concurrent Stream #1

Unified Command – Solving the Riddle with Results & Relationships

Unified Command is one of the most misunderstood and poorly executed tools that the incident command system uses, yet it has the power to be a force multiplier.  Through a mix of presentations, case studies, personal experiences and discussion we will explore the ins and outs of Unified Command.  We will take a look at the integration of different agencies and levels of government and see how, when done well, Unified Command leverages all partners to ensure a great response and how everyone’s priorities and objectives are part of the solution.  We will look at potential problems and how to avoid having two command posts operating in the same location while pretending to be Unified Command.

Alan’s extensive experience in this space as a member of many Unified Command partnerships will bring real world experience to the discussion of  what has worked and how to build one each response to improve the outcomes both in the moment and over the long term.  His focus on results, relationships, and leadership will give you tools to make Unified Command work for you and your organization.

Palomino A-D, BMO Centre

2:45pm – 4:00pm

Concurrent Stream #2

Exposure Reduction: Beyond the Call

Firefighter wellness and cancer risk is top of mind for fire service members and leaders today. Many organizations have procedures in place to reduce risk and exposure at the end of a call, but what happens beyond the call? The fire station is where crews spend the most time, with the least equipment protecting them. Contamination spread into this environment poses a significant risk to the health and wellness of Firefighters.

 Utilizing concepts and experience from the food service industry on managing cross-contamination, and through years of trial, AEGIS (ee-jis) was developed. This comprehensive exposure reduction model provides a framework and guiding concepts that can be adopted and applied by organizations based on their size, needs, facilities and capabilities.

The focus of this session is to review the structure and concepts of AEGIS and to share the experiences of implementing not only an exposure reduction program but an exposure reduction culture within an organization.

The presentation will review the initial steps of evaluating your organizations environment and needs, establishing achievable and realistic targets for your individual department/stations, the key program components including establishing facility zones and colour coding, considerations when renovating or constructing new stations and keys for successful adoption by the membership. Attendees will come away with the tools to further enhance their departments exposure reduction program and create a healthier environment for their Firefighters.

Arabian A-C, BMO Centre

2:45pm – 4:00pm

Concurrent Stream #3

Leadership Lessons from Ted Lasso for Fire Chiefs

In this engaging 1 1/4-hour presentation, we embark on a journey to discover the transformative leadership lessons inspired by the beloved character Ted Lasso. Ted Lasso, known for his boundless optimism, unwavering empathy, and unique approach to leadership, has captured hearts worldwide.

Join us as we explore how his leadership philosophy can empower fire service chiefs to excel in their roles and elevate their teams.

Palomino G-H, BMO Centre

6:00pm – 6:30pm

AFCA Annual Banquet Reception

Join your AFCA members for refreshments and networking before the annual banquet.

Spectrum 4 & 5 and Foyer, Hotel Arts

6:30pm – 10:00pm

AFCA Annual Banquet & Entertainment with the Silly Wabbits

Join us at the AFCA Annual Banquet for an evening of member recognition and comradery.

Silly Wrabbit has been making people bob their heads to our tunes and shake their heads to our jokes for over 20 years. From 70s boogie woogie and 80s one hit wonders, to 90s hip hop and big radio hits from the 2000s.

Spectrum 4 & 5, Hotel Arts