Benjamin Segobaetso – Local Journalism Initiative
Published online September 23, 2026, at www.pontiacjournal.com
Campbell’s Bay — A program training high school students to become firefighters is being held up as one possible answer to a challenge confronting rural fire departments across Pontiac: finding the next generation of people willing and qualified to serve.
Students and a vice-principal from École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge (ESSC) appeared before the MRC Pontiac Council of Mayors on September 17 to present the school’s firefighter training initiative, now welcoming its second group of students.
The program introduces young people to firefighting while they are still in high school, providing training that could eventually help replenish municipal fire departments as experienced firefighters retire.
Warden Jane Toller told the students that their participation provides reason for optimism about the future of firefighting in Pontiac. She applauded the students for participating in the initiative.
“We know that the future for firefighting in Pontiac is going to be in great hands,” Toller said, adding that the region hopes the initiative will also encourage participating students to remain in Pontiac.
Recruiting and retaining firefighters is an important concern for small rural municipalities, where departments rely heavily on local residents to provide emergency services across large geographic areas.
The ESSC initiative attempts to address that challenge earlier by exposing students to firefighting as a potential career and community-service opportunity before they leave high school.
Toller also credited leadership behind the initiative and said other regional county municipalities are looking at the model as they confront similar challenges within their own fire departments.
Mansfield-et-Pontefract Mayor Sandra Armstrong also welcomed the students. ESSC is located within her municipality.
The students attending the meeting represented the second group to participate in the firefighter program, according to the presentation.
Beyond producing potential recruits, municipal leaders said the initiative could contribute to another longstanding challenge facing Pontiac — encouraging young residents to build their futures in the region.
The presentation came as municipalities across the region consider how essential local services can be maintained as experienced workers and volunteers age out of their roles.
For fire departments, developing recruits locally could provide one way of building that workforce from within.
The students received applause from the mayors following their presentation, with municipal leaders encouraging them to continue their training and eventually put those skills to work in Pontiac communities.
For the MRC, the initiative is increasingly being viewed not simply as a school program, but as a potential rural workforce-development model that could be replicated elsewhere.
