Fire and emergency response: Barrie's six-minute standard, the stations, and who runs ambulances

Who runs fire, ambulance and dispatch in Barrie?

• Fire: the City. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service (BFES) is a City department, now governed by By-law 2025-122, passed December 10, 2025, which repealed By-law 2012-200. Its organization chart shows 4 platoon chiefs, 24 captains and 143 firefighters; the 2026 budget counts 207 full-time-equivalent staff in the department.
• Fire dispatch: the City. BFES's communications centre also dispatches for other fire services. In 2025 it dispatched to 34,679 emergency incidents across 22 municipalities.
• Paramedics: the County of Simcoe. The County provides paramedic services as one of the City's service partners, which set their own budgets and levy them through Barrie's tax rate. Barrie's share was $9.41 million in 2024, budgeted at $9.15 million for 2025, and $10.38 million is requested for 2026, a 13.42% increase.
• Ambulance dispatch: the Province. Ambulances are dispatched by the Ministry of Health's Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre.

Sources: By-law 2025-122, to establish and regulate the Barrie Fire and Emergency Service, City of Barrie, dated December 10, 2025. Original document. Repeals By-law 2012-200. Schedule B: "a desired standard of a 6 minute road response to emergency incidents 90% of the time". The organization chart shows 4 platoon chiefs, 24 captains and 143 firefighters. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Service Areas — Tax Rate (2026 Business Plan & Operating Budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Service Partners Budget and Financial Overview 2026, City of Barrie. Original document. Covers the Barrie Police Service, County of Simcoe, library and other partner budgets as presented to the City. Retrieved August 9, 2026. City Council Minutes, April 15, 2026, City of Barrie — City Council, dated April 15, 2026. Original document. Public Safety Telecommunicator Week: the Fire Chief acknowledged telecommunicators at Barrie Fire, Barrie Police and "the Ministry of Health Central Ambulance Communication Centre". Retrieved October 7, 2026. County of Simcoe Paramedic Services 10-Year Planning Update (CCW 2026-032), County of Simcoe, dated April 14, 2026. Original document. The Medical Priority Dispatch System began at the Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre in November 2024; the share of 911 medical calls classed as high acuity fell from about 68% under the old triage model to about 45%. Plans three more paramedic posts in Barrie. Retrieved October 7, 2026.

What response standard has council set?

A 2004 council motion directed the department to have "a less than 6 minute road response to structure fires and alarms sounding, 90% of the time". In 2012 the establishing by-law extended it to all emergency responses. By-law 2025-122 keeps it: "a desired standard of a 6 minute road response to emergency incidents 90% of the time".

The six minutes is the drive, not the whole wait. Barrie Fire's annual reports measure it as a "6 Minute Maximum Travel Time", and the City's 2020 budget book describes the service as "achieving a travel time under 6 minutes". The time before the truck leaves (taking the call, dispatching, crews getting into gear) is counted separately.

Sources: Fire Master Plan Update 2016-2025, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. Adopted in principle by council on December 14, 2015 (15-G-261). Records the 2004 council motion (under six minutes' road response to structure fires and alarms, 90% of the time) and its 2012 extension to all emergencies; schedules Station 6 for 2018 to 2020 and a permanent Station 5 for 2020 to 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2026. By-law 2025-122, to establish and regulate the Barrie Fire and Emergency Service, City of Barrie, dated December 10, 2025. Original document. Repeals By-law 2012-200. Schedule B: "a desired standard of a 6 minute road response to emergency incidents 90% of the time". The organization chart shows 4 platoon chiefs, 24 captains and 143 firefighters. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2020 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2019 APPROVED Service Partner amounts, with one exception. Its County of Simcoe detail table is a stale copy of the 2019 book's, down to the same "$1,923,00" typo, so it is not used for the 2019 approved County figure. The summary table's 2019 County net of $18,473,000 leaves out the County Capital Reserve contribution, so it is on a narrower basis than the site's Total - Tax Funded figures. The 2019 County row uses the 2021 book's "2019 Actuals" column instead. Retrieved August 18, 2026.

How often has Barrie met its six-minute standard?

No year-specific figure was found for 2018, 2019, 2020 or 2022. The budget books of 2018 to 2022 describe the service in general terms, such as "achieving a travel time under 6 minutes 90% of the time", without saying which year that describes; the 2021 book says 91%. The 2014 to 2016 figures are worded as the first truck on scene in under six minutes. The 2026 budget gives 89% for 2023 and 88% for 2024, matching the annual reports, forecast 86% for 2025, and plans 90% for 2026.

Sources: Budget and Financial Overview — Tax Rate (2015 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Real text layer. The first year whose book prints a per-partner net Tax Impact table beside the gross one. Carries 2013 actuals. Retrieved August 18, 2026. 2016 Business Plan — Executive Summary, City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget, not approved. "TOTAL RECOMMENDED TAX OPERATING BUDGET" net figure (PDF p27) includes Service Partners for this and every year through 2023 -- unlike the 2024 book onward, where the same-named row excludes them. The site therefore never charts this printed total directly: the city-operations figure for 2016 to 2023 is the total minus the same table's Service Partners & Grants section net, so the partner lines are not counted twice. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Executive Summary (2017 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2016 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. Retrieved August 18, 2026. 2017 Year End Report (Staff Report EMT002-18), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The only surviving report of its kind: net divisional spending, actual against budget, for tax-supported services, on the same basis as the site's levy figures. Carries a 2016 actuals column. Council minutes show an equivalent report was presented each spring, but no other year's report survives online. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Executive Summary (2018 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2017 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2019 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2018 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. The Divisional Tax Operating subtotal is printed as a blank header band in this book -- no 2019 divisional requested figure exists. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2020 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2019 APPROVED Service Partner amounts, with one exception. Its County of Simcoe detail table is a stale copy of the 2019 book's, down to the same "$1,923,00" typo, so it is not used for the 2019 approved County figure. The summary table's 2019 County net of $18,473,000 leaves out the County Capital Reserve contribution, so it is on a narrower basis than the site's Total - Tax Funded figures. The 2019 County row uses the 2021 book's "2019 Actuals" column instead. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2021 budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2020 APPROVED Service Partner amounts, and its per-partner Base Budget Change Report adds a "2019 Actuals" column -- the source of the 2019 County of Simcoe actual ($19,948,986 Total - Tax Funded), the only documented 2019 County figure on the site's basis. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2022 budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2021 APPROVED Service Partner amounts; the column itself is mislabelled "2022 - Budget" in the document but its values match the 2021 approved figures found elsewhere, not 2021 requested. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2021 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 87% road response; 90th-percentile response 9:15, average 6:09; emergency incidents 2016 to 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2023 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 90th-percentile response 8:50 (0:32, 2:10, 6:08); emergency incidents 2018 to 2023; "completed our Comprehensive Community Risk Assessment to support and inform our 2025-2035 Master Fire Plan". The 89% road response figure is read from a page image (this site's OCR). Retrieved October 7, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2024 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The address now serves the 2025 report; this is the Internet Archive copy. The response-time graphic gives 9:20 at the 90th percentile (0:37, 2:18, 6:25); the text beside it says "less than 8.50 minutes", the previous year's figure. The incident-type table and the 88% road response figure are read from page images (this site's OCR). Retrieved October 7, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Service Areas — Tax Rate (2026 Business Plan & Operating Budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Retrieved August 9, 2026.

How long from a 9-1-1 call to a truck at the door?

Barrie Fire's annual reports give the whole interval, from receiving the call to arriving on scene, as an average and as a 90th percentile: the time within which 90% of responses arrived. In 2025, 90% of responses arrived within 10 minutes 5 seconds, up from 8:50 in 2023. All three parts grew: call processing from 0:32 to 0:53, turnout (crews putting on gear and leaving) from 2:10 to 2:32, and travel from 6:08 to 6:40.

The three parts are 90th percentiles too, and are printed only from 2023; a dash means the report does not give them. The 2022 annual report was not found. The 2024 report's text says "less than 8.50 minutes", the previous year's figure; its graphic, used here, gives 9:20, and its three parts add up to that.

Sources: Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2020 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy of an image-only PDF; the text is this site's OCR. 90th-percentile response 8:50, average 5:42. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2021 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 87% road response; 90th-percentile response 9:15, average 6:09; emergency incidents 2016 to 2021. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2023 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 90th-percentile response 8:50 (0:32, 2:10, 6:08); emergency incidents 2018 to 2023; "completed our Comprehensive Community Risk Assessment to support and inform our 2025-2035 Master Fire Plan". The 89% road response figure is read from a page image (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2024 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The address now serves the 2025 report; this is the Internet Archive copy. The response-time graphic gives 9:20 at the 90th percentile (0:37, 2:18, 6:25); the text beside it says "less than 8.50 minutes", the previous year's figure. The incident-type table and the 88% road response figure are read from page images (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How does that compare with the NFPA benchmarks?

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) writes consensus standards for fire services. Its standards 1221 and 1710 set time targets for each part of a response, all at the 90th percentile. They are a benchmark only. Barrie's standard is its own six-minute drive, and this site found no council decision adopting the NFPA 1710 times. Barrie Fire does report against the NFPA call-processing target: it met it for 93% of emergency incidents in 2025.

The NFPA times are as summarized in a 2012 City of Toronto budget briefing note; later editions were not checked. NFPA's travel time is for the first engine at a fire, while Barrie's figures cover all emergency incidents, so the comparison is a rough one.

Sources: Toronto Fire Services' Response Times (2012 Operating Budget Briefing Note BN #28), City of Toronto (Toronto Fire Services). Original document. Used only for its plain statement of the NFPA 1221 and 1710 time benchmarks (2010 editions): 60 seconds call processing, 80 seconds turnout for fire calls (60 for medical), 240 seconds travel for the first engine, all at the 90th percentile; 6 minutes 20 seconds in total. Later editions were not checked. By-law 2025-122, to establish and regulate the Barrie Fire and Emergency Service, City of Barrie, dated December 10, 2025. Original document. Repeals By-law 2012-200. Schedule B: "a desired standard of a 6 minute road response to emergency incidents 90% of the time". The organization chart shows 4 platoon chiefs, 24 captains and 143 firefighters. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Where are the stations, and when were they built?

Sources: About Barrie Fire (fire stations), City of Barrie. Original document. The six stations, their addresses and opening years; Station 5 "is an interim hall" leased from a private owner. Barrie Fire & Emergency Service Station 6 (project page), City of Barrie. Original document. Ground broken August 12, 2024; officially opened November 17, 2025; a crew of five per shift. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

Station 6, at Mapleview Drive East and Prince William Way, opened about five years after the end of the window the 2016 plan set for building it (this site's arithmetic). The 2016 Fire Master Plan listed its construction among its objectives for 2018 to 2020, and its station-location analysis said it should be operational in late 2018 or early 2019. The 2017 budget expected it "to go into service in 2019". In January 2018 General Committee directed that nothing be spent on its construction phase until a separate staff report was approved. The 2023 budget pre-approved 20 firefighters for a 2024 opening; they accounted for $1.8 million of the 2024 budget's increase in labour costs. Ground was broken on August 12, 2024, and the station opened on November 17, 2025. The capital plan shows an approved budget of $11.92 million, of which $8.62 million had been spent by August 2025. The Fire Chief said twenty firefighters were hired to staff it.

Sources: Fire Master Plan Update 2016-2025, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. Adopted in principle by council on December 14, 2015 (15-G-261). Records the 2004 council motion (under six minutes' road response to structure fires and alarms, 90% of the time) and its 2012 extension to all emergencies; schedules Station 6 for 2018 to 2020 and a permanent Station 5 for 2020 to 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Executive Summary (2017 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2016 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. Retrieved August 18, 2026. General Committee Minutes, January 22, 2018, City of Barrie — General Committee, dated January 22, 2018. Original document. 2018 capital budget motion: no expenditure on the Station 6 New Building Development Project (FC1084) construction phase until a separate staff report has been presented and approved. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Operating Budget and Financial Overview 2023, City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2022 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. The 2023 APPROVED figures themselves are sourced from the 2024 Service Partners book's comparator column. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Executive Summary — 2024 Business Plan & Operating Budget, City of Barrie. Original document. States the recommended 2024 operating budget: a 1.06% increase for City Operations and 2.00% for the Infrastructure Investment Funding (IIF) levy, with Service Partner budgets presented separately. These are recommended figures: Council instead froze City operating spending (City release, December 6, 2023). No City statement of the overall approved 2024 increase has been found. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Barrie Fire & Emergency Service Station 6 (project page), City of Barrie. Original document. Ground broken August 12, 2024; officially opened November 17, 2025; a crew of five per shift. Retrieved October 7, 2026. 2026–2035 Capital Plan (summary tables), City of Barrie. Original document. Per-project ten-year spending tables: total spent to Aug 2025, previously approved budget, and 2026–2035 by year. Retrieved August 9, 2026. New Fire Station 6 opens in southeast Barrie (media release), City of Barrie, dated November 17, 2025. Original document. The Fire Chief: "Twenty firefighters have been hired to staff the new station", and the station will help meet "the city council-mandated six-minute road travel time, 90 per cent of the time". Retrieved October 7, 2026.

Station 5, on King Street, opened in 2012 in leased space the City calls "an interim hall"; a permanent location "is planned for the future". The 2016 plan scheduled a permanent Station 5 for 2020 to 2025. Instead, in December 2019 council approved extending the lease for 15 years from January 1, 2020, and moved the permanent station's capital project from 2023 to 2035.

Station 7 appears in the capital plan for 2026 to 2035 as a $16.25 million new building, with spending from 2030 to 2034. Barrie Fire's 2025 annual report lists "Early discovery for Fire Station 7" among its priorities.

Sources: About Barrie Fire (fire stations), City of Barrie. Original document. The six stations, their addresses and opening years; Station 5 "is an interim hall" leased from a private owner. Retrieved October 7, 2026. Fire Master Plan Update 2016-2025, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. Adopted in principle by council on December 14, 2015 (15-G-261). Records the 2004 council motion (under six minutes' road response to structure fires and alarms, 90% of the time) and its 2012 extension to all emergencies; schedules Station 6 for 2018 to 2020 and a permanent Station 5 for 2020 to 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2026. General Committee Minutes, December 16, 2019, City of Barrie — General Committee, dated December 16, 2019. Original document. 19-G-374: extends the Station 5 lease at 361 King Street for 15 years from January 1, 2020, and re-forecasts the permanent Station 5 capital project (Z255) from 2023 to 2035. Retrieved October 7, 2026. City Council Minutes, December 16, 2019, City of Barrie — City Council, dated December 16, 2019. Original document. Section "B" of the General Committee report, including 19-G-374 (Station 5 lease renewal), adopted. Retrieved October 7, 2026. 2026–2035 Capital Plan (summary tables), City of Barrie. Original document. Per-project ten-year spending tables: total spent to Aug 2025, previously approved budget, and 2026–2035 by year. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. Retrieved October 7, 2026.

Has a new master fire plan been adopted?

The current framework is the Fire Master Plan Update 2016–2025, which council adopted on December 14, 2015 "in principle as a framework to move the department forward in conjunction with the annual Business Plan process".

Barrie Fire's 2023 annual report says it completed a Comprehensive Community Risk Assessment "to support and inform our 2025-2035 Master Fire Plan". The 2024 report lists "Initiate and complete a long-range master fire plan" for 2025 to 2035 among its priorities, and the 2025 report lists "Implement master fire plan to support and guide BFES from 2025-2035". This site found no council adoption of a plan for 2025 to 2035.

The risk assessment is a provincial requirement. Ontario Regulation 378/18 requires every municipality to complete a community risk assessment at least every five years, review it at least once a year, and use it "to inform decisions about the provision of fire protection services".

Sources: General Committee Minutes, December 14, 2015, City of Barrie — General Committee, dated December 14, 2015. Original document. 15-G-261: "That the Fire Master Plan Update 2016 - 2025 be adopted in principle as a framework to move the department forward in conjunction with the annual Business Plan process." Adopted by council the same evening. City Council Minutes, December 14, 2015, City of Barrie — City Council, dated December 14, 2015. Original document. Section "B" of the General Committee report, including 15-G-261 (Revised Fire Master Plan), adopted. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2023 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 90th-percentile response 8:50 (0:32, 2:10, 6:08); emergency incidents 2018 to 2023; "completed our Comprehensive Community Risk Assessment to support and inform our 2025-2035 Master Fire Plan". The 89% road response figure is read from a page image (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2024 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The address now serves the 2025 report; this is the Internet Archive copy. The response-time graphic gives 9:20 at the 90th percentile (0:37, 2:18, 6:25); the text beside it says "less than 8.50 minutes", the previous year's figure. The incident-type table and the 88% road response figure are read from page images (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. O. Reg. 378/18, Community Risk Assessments (Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997), Province of Ontario (e-Laws). Original document. Consolidation from July 1, 2025. Every municipality must complete a community risk assessment at least every five years, review it at least yearly, and use it "to inform decisions about the provision of fire protection services". All retrieved October 7, 2026.

What does the fire service cost the tax levy?

The requested 2026 levy, $34.80 million, is about 49% more than the 2015 budget of $23.29 million (this site's arithmetic, before inflation). For 2026 the budget book explains the rise in salaries and benefits: the 2025 budget covered Station 6 firefighters for part of the year, 2026 carries the "full annual cost for 12 firefighters", and there is a retroactive salary adjustment under the collective agreement for 2024 to 2028 with the firefighters' association.

Sources: 2016 Business Plan — Executive Summary, City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget, not approved. "TOTAL RECOMMENDED TAX OPERATING BUDGET" net figure (PDF p27) includes Service Partners for this and every year through 2023 -- unlike the 2024 book onward, where the same-named row excludes them. The site therefore never charts this printed total directly: the city-operations figure for 2016 to 2023 is the total minus the same table's Service Partners & Grants section net, so the partner lines are not counted twice. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Executive Summary (2017 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2016 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Executive Summary (2018 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2017 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2019 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2018 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. The Divisional Tax Operating subtotal is printed as a blank header band in this book -- no 2019 divisional requested figure exists. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2020 budget), City of Barrie. The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2019 APPROVED Service Partner amounts, with one exception. Its County of Simcoe detail table is a stale copy of the 2019 book's, down to the same "$1,923,00" typo, so it is not used for the 2019 approved County figure. The summary table's 2019 County net of $18,473,000 leaves out the County Capital Reserve contribution, so it is on a narrower basis than the site's Total - Tax Funded figures. The 2019 County row uses the 2021 book's "2019 Actuals" column instead. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2021 budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2020 APPROVED Service Partner amounts, and its per-partner Base Budget Change Report adds a "2019 Actuals" column -- the source of the 2019 County of Simcoe actual ($19,948,986 Total - Tax Funded), the only documented 2019 County figure on the site's basis. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Budget and Financial Overview (2022 budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2021 APPROVED Service Partner amounts; the column itself is mislabelled "2022 - Budget" in the document but its values match the 2021 approved figures found elsewhere, not 2021 requested. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Operating Budget and Financial Overview 2023, City of Barrie. Original document. Requested/recommended budget. Its comparator column carries the 2022 APPROVED Service Partner amounts. The 2023 APPROVED figures themselves are sourced from the 2024 Service Partners book's comparator column. Retrieved August 18, 2026. Service Areas — Tax Rate (2026 Business Plan & Operating Budget), City of Barrie. Original document. Retrieved August 9, 2026. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. Retrieved October 7, 2026.

What did the fire service actually spend?

Salaries, wages and benefits were between 74.9% and 84.2% of actual fire spending in these years (this site's arithmetic). The budget page sets fire against everything else the City spent.

• ¹ From 2020 to 2022 the fire line carries a negative inter-functional adjustment (column 12): minus $1,088,658 in 2020, $1,096,483 in 2021 and $1,236,076 in 2022. The police line carries positive adjustments of similar size in the same years ($1,230,757, $1,117,989, $1,255,468). Fire totals for these years are lower by that amount. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.
• ² The negative inter-functional adjustment on the fire line in 2020-2022 (about $1.1-1.2 million a year) is not filed in 2023. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.

Source: Financial Information Return, Schedule 40 (Consolidated Statement of Operations: Expenses), City of Barrie, 2010 to 2025, Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (as filed by the City of Barrie), dated June 15, 2026. Original document. The Province's open-data files fir_data_2010.zip to fir_data_2025.zip, Barrie rows (MUNID 43042). Function totals are column 11, "Total Expenses After Adjustments", of each subtotal line: 0299 general government, 0499 protection (0410 fire, 0420 police), 0699 transportation, 0899 environmental, 1099 health, 1299 social and family, 1499 social housing, 1699 recreation and culture, 1899 planning and development; 9910 is the total. Police salaries are line 0420, column 1. 2025 is the City's return as last updated on June 15, 2026; earlier years can be revised by later filings. Retrieved October 8, 2026.

How many emergencies does Barrie Fire attend?

Incidents peaked at 10,778 in 2023 and fell to 8,749 in 2025. Barrie Fire's 2025 report attributes the drop to the new dispatch system, "which resulted in revised dispatch protocols and a corresponding change in the types of calls to which fire services are dispatched". Medical incidents went from 7,690 in 2024 to 5,788 in 2025. The County reports that under the old system about 68% of 9-1-1 medical calls were classed as high acuity; since the change, about 45%.

Sources: Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2021 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 87% road response; 90th-percentile response 9:15, average 6:09; emergency incidents 2016 to 2021. Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2023 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. Internet Archive copy. 90th-percentile response 8:50 (0:32, 2:10, 6:08); emergency incidents 2018 to 2023; "completed our Comprehensive Community Risk Assessment to support and inform our 2025-2035 Master Fire Plan". The 89% road response figure is read from a page image (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2024 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). The publisher's own copy is gone; this links to the Internet Archive. The address now serves the 2025 report; this is the Internet Archive copy. The response-time graphic gives 9:20 at the 90th percentile (0:37, 2:18, 6:25); the text beside it says "less than 8.50 minutes", the previous year's figure. The incident-type table and the 88% road response figure are read from page images (this site's OCR). Barrie Fire and Emergency Service 2025 Annual Report, City of Barrie (Barrie Fire and Emergency Service). Original document. 8,749 emergency incidents in Barrie; 87% road response under six minutes; 90th-percentile response 10:05 (0:53 call processing, 2:32 turnout, 6:40 travel). The report attributes the drop in incidents to the Ministry of Health's Medical Priority Dispatch System. Its "net operating budget" of $33,879,021 is the 2025 gross expense budget in the City's budget book. The City replaces this file each year at the same address. County of Simcoe Paramedic Services 10-Year Planning Update (CCW 2026-032), County of Simcoe, dated April 14, 2026. Original document. The Medical Priority Dispatch System began at the Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre in November 2024; the share of 911 medical calls classed as high acuity fell from about 68% under the old triage model to about 45%. Plans three more paramedic posts in Barrie. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

How fast do ambulances arrive, and how long do they wait at RVH?

City council does not decide this. Paramedic response times are planned and reported by the County, which runs the service for the whole county, and the Ministry of Health publishes the results. In 2022, the latest year with results, the County's paramedics reached patients at the most urgent triage level (CTAS 1) within 8 minutes 60% of the time, against a plan of 70%. The Ministry lists 2023 as "TBD". This site found no Barrie-only figure published by the County.

Ambulances also wait at the hospital. Under a 2014 agreement between the County and the area's hospitals, hospitals are expected to take over a patient from paramedics within 30 minutes, 90% of the time. In 2024 that handover took 50 minutes at the 90th percentile at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, and the County counted 848 hours of paramedic time spent waiting beyond the target there, the most of the seven hospitals in its report.

The County plans three more paramedic posts in Barrie, in the south east, central west and south west of the city. As of April 2026 it was still looking for land for the south-east post, and the other two were in design.

Sources: Land Ambulance Response Time Standard: Paramedic Services Response Time Plans and Performance, Ontario Ministry of Health (data.ontario.ca). Original document. Each upper-tier municipality's planned and actual response, by patient category. Simcoe rows are county-wide; no Barrie-only figure is published here. 2023 performance is shown as "TBD" (dataset last modified October 2, 2024). Simcoe County Hospital Alliance Update (Committee of the Whole report CCW 2025-136), County of Simcoe, dated May 27, 2025. Original document. Tables 4 and 5: Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre's 2024 transfer of care took 50 minutes at the 90th percentile against the County's 30-minute target, 848 hours of offload delay beyond target. County of Simcoe Paramedic Services 10-Year Planning Update (CCW 2026-032), County of Simcoe, dated April 14, 2026. Original document. The Medical Priority Dispatch System began at the Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre in November 2024; the share of 911 medical calls classed as high acuity fell from about 68% under the old triage model to about 45%. Plans three more paramedic posts in Barrie. Paramedic Services Facility Plan Update (CCW 2026-011), County of Simcoe, dated April 14, 2026. Original document. South East Barrie post: still looking for land; Central West: in design; South West: on County-owned land, in design. All retrieved October 7, 2026.

What can council actually decide?

• Council decides: the response standard in the fire by-law; the fire budget and the number of firefighters; when and where stations are built, through the capital plan; whether to adopt a master fire plan; and fire dispatch agreements with other municipalities.
• Council does not decide: paramedic staffing, posts and response-time plans (the County of Simcoe, which Barrie pays through its levy); ambulance dispatch and how 9-1-1 medical calls are triaged (the Ministry of Health); how quickly the hospital takes over patients (RVH, under its agreement with the County); the NFPA benchmarks (a standards body); or the community risk assessment requirement (the Province).

See also health care and capital projects.