Topics
Keynote Presentations
1. Protecting Canada’s Tallest City
As Canada’s most vertical city, Toronto faces unique and evolving fire protection challenges. Deputy Chief Marla Friebe and Division Chief Steven Wilson will explore how Toronto Fire Services is responding to emerging risks, including lithium-ion battery fires, the needs of a growing aging population, and the complexities associated with encampments. Learn how innovation, collaboration, and data-driven strategies are helping protect one of North America’s largest and most dynamic urban environments.
Speaker: Marla Friebe, Toronto Deputy Fire Chief
Steve Wilson, Division Chief, Toronto Fire Services
2. TBD
Speaker: Laura King, Regional Director, Canada, NFPA
Presentations
1. Sprinkler Trade-offs in Canada
Modern building regulations permit significant active-for-passive sprinkler trade-offs. The National Building Code of Canada allows reductions in fire-resistance ratings, relaxed spatial separation requirements, larger compartment sizes, and extended travel distances when automatic sprinkler systems are provided. While these provisions can reduce construction costs, they also modify building fire dynamics by potentially increasing fire spread potential, fuel loads, and vulnerability to adverse outcomes when active suppression systems are impaired.
This presentation introduces a practical mathematical fire-risk framework for assessing the technical reasonability of sprinkler trade-offs using a conceptual building model. Attendees will explore a structured methodology for estimating these variables through the integration of fire department incident statistics, insurance loss data, and Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) modeling.
Speaker: Honggang Wang, PhD, Associate Research Officer, National Research Council Canada
2. Special Hazard Suppression Systems
Automatic sprinkler system is great, but it is not suitable in many special hazard applications. In this presentation, we will walk you through the many different types of special suppression system for special hazard, including clean agents, inert gasses, mist systems, foam systems, dry chemical, CO2 ands condensed aerosol. We will explain each type in detail, and do a comprehensive comparison on the advantages and disadvantages of each system. We will also do a quick live demonstration of a typical special suppression system.
Speaker: Ehsan Emrani, P. Eng., Business Development Director, InControl Systems Inc.
Panel Discussions
1. Egress Designs
Sub-topic 1: Egress Design for Human Behaviour
This presentation will discuss the impact that Human Behaviour can have on evacuation and how we should take this into consideration when designing egress components for our buildings. As part of the discussion, the Grenfell Tower timeline will be reviewed and shown how design changes could have been made if human behaviour had been accounted for as part of the fire safety analysis over the years. We will also conduct a review of OFC requirements (Objective and Functional Statements) and their connection to human behaviour.
Speaker: Derek Gruchy, Program Coordinator, Seneca Polytechnic
Sub-topic 2: Emergency Egress & Area of Refuge for People with Disabilities
Accessibility Standards Canada is developing new national standards and guidelines addressing the life-safety requirements for building occupants who are unable to evacuate independently. The standard establishes technical requirements for accessible egress design, emergency communication systems, and evacuation planning procedures. A separate standard is in the works specifically addressing areas of refuge. This presentation provides an overview of the standard's key provisions and the research informing its development, with a focus on practical implications for fire engineers, code consultants, and building officials.
Speaker: Ghassan Marjaba, PhD, P.Eng., PMP, Principal Engineer & Researcher, Engineers in Motion
Sub-topic 3: Smoke Controlled Egress in Modern Arenas
Large arenas present unique fire safety challenges due to high occupant loads, long travel distances, and interconnected volumes. Prescriptive code requirements in the NBC/OBC can be difficult to apply effectively in these spaces. This presentation explores smoke-controlled egress as a performance-based design strategy using NFPA 101 smoke-protected assembly provisions and NFPA 92 smoke control principles. Engineered smoke management systems and CFD modelling are used to maintain survivable conditions, including acceptable visibility, temperature, and air quality, along egress routes. Through practical examples and lessons learned, this session highlights how integrated design and system coordination can enable code-compliant, flexible, and safe arena environments.
Speaker: Adam Gillies, P.Eng., Associate, LRI Engineering
2. Emerging Technologies
Sub-topic 1: Fire Safety in Data Centres
The rapid expansion of AI-driven and hyperscale data centres is reshaping fire risk in mission-critical environments. Increased power densities, lithium-ion battery systems, and advanced cooling technologies introduce new challenges for fire detection and suppression.
This session explores the evolving fire risk landscape, the potential impact of fire events on uptime and business continuity, and effective mitigation strategies including early detection and suppression technologies. It also examines the role of independent third-party certification in validating performance and enhancing resilience.
Speaker: Tess Espejo, Program Manager, Codes and Regulatory Services, UL Solutions
Sub-topic 2: Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement System
Speaker: Ryan Duggan, Director of Safety & Compliance, City of Toronto