From the President
Building Canada's fire apparatus capacity
It takes more than building more trucks.
I joined the fire service 41 years ago.
Later, as a deputy chief, I was responsible for purchasing fire apparatus. I know firsthand the pressure that comes with trying to specify the right truck, secure the budget, navigate the purchasing process, and then live with that decision for the next twenty years.
Today, I sit on the other side of the table as President of Safetek Profire and Hub Fire Engines.
That experience has given me a fairly unique view of the fire apparatus challenge facing Canada.
And I believe the challenge is bigger than simply figuring out how to build more trucks.
The demand is not going away
Fire departments across Canada are dealing with many of the same pressures.
Fleets are ageing.
Communities are growing.
Apparatus costs have increased.
Replacement cycles are getting longer.
Delivery times remain longer than they were before the pandemic.
And the risks our fire departments are being asked to manage continue to change.
Wildfire and the wildland-urban interface are good examples. A department may already need to replace Engine 1, while also being asked to add new wildland capability that was not contemplated when its capital plan was developed.
For fire service leaders, predictability has become almost as important as price.
What will the apparatus cost?
When will it arrive?
And when it does arrive, who is going to support it?
Those are fair questions.
So why don't manufacturers just build more trucks?
I wish it were that simple.
Fire trucks are unusual products.
They have traditionally been highly customised because every community is different.
Water supply is different.
Staffing is different.
Response areas are different.
Fire halls are different.
Operating practices are different.
Those requirements eventually find their way into the apparatus.
There is certainly an opportunity for our industry and our customers to standardise more where it makes sense. Customisation should add operational or safety value, not simply complexity.
But even with greater standardisation, fire apparatus manufacturing remains extraordinarily labour intensive.
These trucks are still largely built by people, not robots.
They are fabricated, welded, wired, plumbed, fitted, assembled, finished and tested by skilled workers.
That matters when we talk about expanding Canadian manufacturing capacity.
You can build another bay.
You can buy another machine.
You cannot buy twenty years of experience.
Dan, Production Manager at Hub Fire Engines.
Fire apparatus manufacturing is still a craft
Our production manager at Hub is Dan.
Some people in the Canadian fire service know Dan well.
Dan can look at a flat sheet of aluminium and see the finished fire truck body in his mind. He understands every step required to get from that sheet of material to the completed body.
People like Dan represent decades of knowledge.
Our industry was built by people like him, and their experience is incredibly difficult to replace.
The people entering the skilled trades today are talented, but they have also been trained in a different manufacturing environment. They expect accurate drawings, dimensions, documented processes and good engineering information.
That is a good thing.
It means manufacturers have to take knowledge that once existed primarily in the heads of highly experienced craftspeople and build it into our engineering and production systems.
That is one of the investments we are making at Hub.
We have expanded our design and engineering capability. We 3D model our bodies. Components are laser cut. We manufacture our own water tanks using CNC technology.
Technology is not there to replace skilled people.
It is there to give skilled people better tools.
And we are seeing the results in fit, finish, consistency and quality.
That leads to an important distinction.
The challenge facing Canadian manufacturers is not simply creating more capacity.
It is creating more capacity without compromising quality.
Canada needs more than factory space
If we are serious about expanding Canadian fire apparatus manufacturing, we need to think about capacity differently.
Capacity means all of this.
You can build a larger factory. Without these inside it, you have not increased your capacity.
That is why workforce development needs to be part of Canada's broader manufacturing conversation.
Fire apparatus may be a relatively small industry compared with automotive or aerospace, but the equipment we build is essential.
When someone calls 911, these assets are expected to work.
Every time.
Tariffs have exposed a bigger issue
The current trade environment has added another layer of complexity.
A fire truck assembled in Canada is not made exclusively from Canadian components.
Engines, transmissions, pumps, electronics, valves, warning equipment, chassis components, steel, aluminium and countless other parts may cross borders before the completed apparatus reaches a fire hall.
Canada's latest counter-tariffs include significant categories of steel, aluminium, electronics and other manufactured goods originating in the United States.
For manufacturers, the challenge is not always the tariff itself.
It is uncertainty.
We may quote a truck today that will not be completed for many months. During that period, exchange rates, material prices, tariffs, supplier surcharges and component availability can all change.
A known cost can be planned for.
Uncertainty is much harder.
But tariffs cannot be our business strategy.
Being Canadian is not enough.
We still have to earn the business.
Buy Canadian has to mean compete Canadian
The conversation around Canadian procurement is changing.
The federal government has introduced policies intended to give Canadian suppliers and Canadian content greater consideration in strategic federal procurement. The applicable threshold for one of those policies was reduced to $5 million in June 2026.
Ontario has also introduced its Municipal Buy Ontario Procurement Directive, which requires municipal-sector entities to prioritise Ontario and Canadian goods and services in specified procurement categories.
I believe the bigger issue is not protectionism.
It is capacity building.
Buy Canadian should not mean lowering the bar for Canadian manufacturers. It should mean creating the conditions that allow Canadian manufacturers to raise the bar and compete.
Fire chiefs have a responsibility to their firefighters, their municipalities and their taxpayers.
They should expect quality.
They should expect value.
They should expect reliable delivery.
And they should expect support after the sale.
Canadian manufacturers need to meet those expectations.
A maple leaf does not give us a free pass.
Building the truck is only the beginning
There is another part of the Canadian manufacturing conversation that sometimes gets overlooked.
The fire truck may take months or years to build.
It may then serve its community for twenty years or more.
That changes the question.
Who can build my truck?
Who is going to keep my truck in service?
Who has the parts?
Who has trained technicians?
Who understands the systems?
Who will answer the phone when something goes wrong?
An apparatus sitting in a service shop waiting for a part is not protecting its community.
This is where the relationship between Hub Fire Engines and Safetek Profire becomes important to our strategy.
Hub gives us Canadian manufacturing capability.
Safetek Profire provides the parts, warranty, technical expertise, service and long-term customer support required after that apparatus enters service.
For us, delivery is not the finish line.
It is the beginning of the next phase of the relationship.
Our goal is to build more of that complete lifecycle capability here in Canada, from engineering and manufacturing through to parts, service and technical support.
Government and industry both have a role
Manufacturers cannot build this capability alone.
Government cannot create it through procurement rules alone either.
It takes collaboration.
Investment programmes can help manufacturers improve productivity, develop supply chains, respond to tariffs and become more competitive. The federal Regional Tariff Response Initiative, for example, is providing support through Canada's regional development agencies for companies responding to trade pressures and strengthening their resilience.
But industry also has responsibilities.
We have to invest.
We have to train people.
We have to improve our engineering.
We have to strengthen quality.
We have to become more productive.
And ultimately, we have to build products that Canadian fire departments want to buy.
Three things fire service leaders can do
There are also things fire departments can do as this industry evolves.
One
Plan earlier
The apparatus market has changed. Long-term fleet planning is becoming increasingly important.
Two
Be intentional about customisation
Customise where it improves safety, functionality or operations. Standardise where you can. Every unique requirement can add engineering, complexity, cost and time.
Three
Evaluate lifecycle support as seriously as the truck
The purchase price is only the beginning of a relationship that may last twenty years. Ask who will stand behind the apparatus long after the delivery photographs have been taken.
This is bigger than Hub
I believe Canada has a real opportunity in front of us.
We can build more of the essential equipment our communities depend on here at home.
But it will not happen overnight.
It will not happen through tariffs alone.
It will take investment, skilled people, smart procurement, stronger supply chains, better technology and collaboration between manufacturers, government and the fire service.
Most importantly, it has to remain focused on why this industry exists in the first place.
For more than four decades, I have had the privilege of seeing the Canadian fire service from different perspectives: firefighter, fire officer, deputy chief, apparatus purchaser, supplier and manufacturer.
What has never changed is my respect for the people who serve their communities.
To Canada's fire chiefs, officers, firefighters, emergency service professionals and the teams who support them: thank you for what you do every day.
Our mission
Serving those who keep our communities safe.
Building stronger Canadian fire apparatus capability is one more way we can live up to it.
