'Nuisance' fire alarm fees coming for Ottawa building owners and managers

Ottawa firefighters respond to more than 10,000 false fire alarms annually.

Published Feb 15, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read

Ottawa Fire Services estimates the fees would reduce false alarms by 10 to 20 per cent from the current total of about 10,000 annually. Photo by Chris Roussakis /POSTMEDIA

Ottawa building owners and managers will be paying if they activate repeated “nuisance” fire alarms.

False alarms are costing Ottawa Fire Services time and money and are distracting from potentially deadly emergencies, the city’s emergency preparedness and emergency services committee heard on Thursday.

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The committee then voted to introduce fees of up to $1,500 per alarm for four or more infractions.

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Under the strategy, which will kick in on July 1, if approved by city council, there would be no charge for the first call in a calendar year. The second call would cost $500, the third would cost $1,000. The fourth and every other subsequent call would cost $1,500.

The fees will only apply to nuisance alarms in buildings that must have fire alarm systems under the Ontario Building Code, a category that includes buildings with 300 or more occupants and other large public buildings, such as shopping centres. It will not apply to individual homes.

Ottawa Fire Services has worked for years to try to reduce the number of nuisance calls, Chief Paul Hutt told the committee. About 37 per cent of total calls in Ottawa are false alarms. Of these, 13 per cent are nuisance alarms.

Sometimes fire alarms are activated because the alarm system is poorly maintained. In other cases, Ottawa Fire Services has not been notified when testing or maintenance is being done on an alarm system, which might activate it.

In both cases, firefighters and trucks are dispatched to the scene of a false alarm, diverting resources from real emergencies. Repeated false alarms also create a sense of complacency, making people slow to respond and placing them in danger if there is a real fire.

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Ottawa firefighters respond to more than 10,000 false fire alarms annually. Ottawa Fire Services estimates the fees will reduce false alarms by 10 to 20 per cent. “That’s huge for our organization,” Hutt said.

Fees for false alarms are a common measure used by other cities, including Toronto, Markham, Mississauga, London and Brampton, Hutt said. Ottawa Fire Services has also consulted with building owners, management associations, landlord and property managers of post-secondary institutions and shopping centres.

Leading up to July 1, the plan includes deploying two full-time staff members to educate building owners and managers. Revenues from fees that exceed cost recovery would be invested in fire prevention programs.

Nuisance fire alarms are a different category than “malicious” fire alarms, in which alarm are activated for mischievous reasons. That can be subject to a charge under the Criminal Code, Hutt said.

City of Ottawa facilities with nuisance alarm calls will also be subject to false alarm fees, but Hutt noted that city workers typically notified the fire department ahead of time about work on those alarm systems.

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