New partnership aims to bring advanced firefighting classes to Yorkton
A new partnership promises to bring advanced, innovative and top-tier instructional classes to Yorkton’s Parkland College in the field of professional firefighting.
The college is partnering with the Saskatchewan Safety Council to teach and facilitate its classes, which will be housed and operated by Parkland College. It is expected to welcome its first fleet for the new program at some point in 2023.
“We’re trying to make it easily accessible for anybody in the province,” said the Safety Council’s Occupational Safety Specialist, Reagan Coppicus.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a lot of people heading south of the border to try to get accredited training. Well, you know what? We can do that right here in Saskatchewan, right close to home, and you don’t need to break the bank trying to find a condo in Southern California, where you can actually do it right here in Saskatchewan.”
Parkland College has housed firefighting courses since 2008. Since then, over 1,000 individual classes have been taught to professional firefighter hopefuls.
Students learn both at the Parkland College campus in Yorkton, along with a specialized training site just outside of Melville.
This partnership will allow them to continue top tier teachings to those who move to the parkland, or those existing already in the community.
Connie Brown is the Manager of Business Development at Parkland College, and she said the college has offered both professional and industrial firefighter training.
“Because of the emerging needs for this specialized training, which requires specialized instructors and equipment. it just makes sense to work together and be able to achieve more by pooling resources, and working together,” Brown said.
The existing program at Parkland College is 14 weeks in length, with students attending a full-time course load.
Eighteen different groups have gone through the existing training, graduating throughout the program’s 14 years of operation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
BREAKING McGill University seeks emergency injunction to remove pro-Palestinian encampment from campus
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.