For decades, the Courtenay Fire Department has provided fire protection and emergency response from a single fire hall.
That model has served our community well, but Courtenay has changed.
Today, approximately half of the city's population lives east of the Courtenay River. By 2031, Courtenay is expected to add more than 4,500 residents and 2,900 homes, with much of that growth occurring in the area furthest from the existing fire hall.
That creates a straightforward public-safety challenge.
When there is a fire, rescue or other emergency, response time matters.
The new East Courtenay Fire Hall is intended to ensure our fire service can keep pace with the community it serves.
Why East Courtenay?
Courtenay's existing fire hall is located at 650 Cumberland Road, west of the Courtenay River.
The new satellite fire hall is being constructed at 220 Waters Place, near Lerwick and Ryan roads, on the site of the City's existing fire training facilities.
This places emergency equipment and firefighters much closer to a large and growing portion of the city's population.
The location is also important from an emergency-preparedness perspective.
Currently, all of Courtenay's primary fire resources operate from the west side of the river. A major earthquake, flood or other event that disrupted transportation across the river could affect the department's ability to move resources quickly from one side of the community to the other.
Having emergency equipment and personnel based on both sides of the river provides additional resilience during a major emergency.
Response time matters
Fire protection is a service where minutes can make a significant difference.
The East Courtenay Fire Hall is intended to improve response times for fire suppression and rescue services, particularly in neighbourhoods and commercial areas on the east side of the city.
Response time can also have financial implications beyond the operation of the fire department.
Fire protection and proximity to emergency services can affect insurance classifications and building requirements. The City has identified the 10-minute response threshold used for insurance purposes as one of the considerations supporting the project.
A strategically located satellite hall therefore has benefits for residents, businesses and future development as Courtenay grows.
Supporting Courtenay's volunteer firefighters
One of the strengths of the Courtenay Fire Department is its volunteer firefighter model.
The department combines full-time staff with a substantial complement of highly trained volunteers.
Those volunteers make an extraordinary commitment.
In 2025, Courtenay firefighters responded to 1,306 incidents. Volunteer members contributed more than 13,700 response hours, while department members completed more than 4,900 hours of training.
The department's training requirements reflect the complexity of modern emergency response, including fire suppression, medical response, technical rescue, vehicle extrication and incident command.
Maintaining a strong volunteer complement is therefore essential to maintaining the level of fire protection Courtenay residents receive.
Location affects volunteer recruitment
Where a fire hall is located also affects who can realistically volunteer.
The existing Cumberland Road location makes it more difficult for residents living in East Courtenay to reach the hall within the required response time.
The new satellite hall changes that.
Once operational, the East Courtenay facility is expected to allow the department to increase its volunteer firefighter capacity from 55 to 67 members.
That creates opportunities to recruit volunteers from a much larger part of the city while strengthening emergency-response capacity where much of Courtenay's future growth is expected.
A satellite hall, not a replacement
The new facility will not replace the existing Courtenay Fire Hall.
It will operate as a satellite facility supporting the department's existing operations.
The building will include two drive-through apparatus bays capable of accommodating up to four emergency vehicles, with the ability to expand in the future.
It will also provide dormitory and wellness spaces, accessible facilities, firefighter support areas and a dedicated decontamination area for cleaning equipment after emergency calls.
The building will be constructed to post-disaster standards under the B.C. Building Code and designed to meet current National Fire Protection Association standards.
That means it is being designed not only for everyday emergency response but also to remain operational following a major disaster.
Getting the cost down
A project of this scale requires careful attention to cost.
In the City's 2025–2029 Financial Plan, the East Courtenay Fire Hall had been budgeted at more than $23 million.
Rather than simply proceeding with that figure, the City looked for a more practical approach.
One important step was examining the recently completed Dashwood Fire Hall in the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Its design provided a useful starting point that could be adapted to Courtenay's operational requirements rather than developing an entirely new concept from the ground up.
The City also brought the construction manager into the process before construction began so the design team and builder could work together on constructability, cost and project risk.
Following further design, procurement and tendering, the estimated construction cost is now $14 million.
That represents a substantial reduction from the amount previously identified in the financial plan while maintaining the project's key operational objectives.
Fiscal responsibility is also about how projects are delivered
The East Courtenay Fire Hall provides a useful example of the approach I believe should be taken with major municipal projects.
First, clearly establish the need.
Then examine whether there are practical alternatives or comparable projects that can reduce design costs and risk.
Develop the project far enough to obtain realistic construction pricing rather than relying indefinitely on preliminary estimates.
Use competitive procurement.
Look for opportunities to simplify the design without compromising the project's essential purpose.
And pursue outside funding wherever possible.
That process does not guarantee that a major infrastructure project will be inexpensive.
It does give Council and taxpayers greater confidence that the project has been examined carefully before millions of dollars are committed.
How will the fire hall be paid for?
The current plan is to fund construction through municipal borrowing.
At the same time, the City continues to pursue grant opportunities that could reduce the amount ultimately funded locally.
This is another reason major infrastructure needs to be planned well in advance.
Grant programs are competitive and often have specific requirements. A municipality with a clearly defined, well-developed project is in a much better position to pursue funding when an appropriate program becomes available.
There is no guarantee that grants will cover a particular project.
But every reasonable opportunity to reduce the local cost should be explored.
Building for long-term operating efficiency
Capital cost is only one part of the financial equation.
Municipal buildings can remain in service for many decades, which means their ongoing energy and operating costs also matter.
The East Courtenay Fire Hall will be an all-electric facility designed to meet the province's highest standard for carbon emissions in new buildings.
According to the City's project information, the design is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 88 per cent compared with a standard building of its size.
It will incorporate high-efficiency heating and cooling, improved insulation, efficient lighting and ventilation, and infrastructure that can support electric fire vehicles in the future.
These features support Courtenay's climate objectives, but they should also be viewed through the lens of lifecycle planning.
When constructing a building intended to serve the community for generations, the cost of operating that building matters as well as the cost of constructing it.
Preparing for a changing community
The need for the East Courtenay Fire Hall ultimately comes back to growth.
Courtenay's population is increasing.
New homes are being built.
Commercial areas have expanded.
More people live and work east of the river.
And the demands placed on emergency services continue to evolve.
The City's 2025 Fire Department Annual Report noted that service demand continues to shift east of the Courtenay River, reinforcing the importance of the new facility.
Infrastructure has to respond to those changes.
Waiting until emergency response times become unacceptable or the existing fire service is unable to recruit enough volunteers would leave the City reacting to a problem that we can already see developing.
Investing before capacity becomes a crisis
Construction of the East Courtenay Fire Hall began in summer 2026, with completion expected by the end of 2027.
It represents a significant investment.
Residents should expect Council to scrutinize an investment of this size, control costs, pursue grants and ensure that the building being constructed is appropriate for the service required.
They should also expect the City to plan ahead.
Courtenay is growing, and emergency infrastructure has to grow with it.
The objective is not simply to build another fire hall.
It is to improve emergency response, strengthen our volunteer fire service, increase our resilience during a major disaster and make sure Courtenay's fire protection continues to meet the needs of the community for decades to come.
That is the balance major infrastructure decisions require: understand the need, control the cost and make the investment before a predictable capacity problem becomes an emergency.