SP105 or SP106? Choosing the Right Industrial Wildland Fire Training

If your operation works in the Ontario bush, you have probably run into two course codes that look almost identical: SP105 and SP106. Both are industrial wildland fire suppression courses, both are developed under Ontario Regulation 207/96 (Outdoor Fires) of the Forest Fires Prevention Act, and both are MNRF-accredited. So which one do your crews actually need? This guide breaks down the difference in plain language.

The deciding question: do you maintain a fire cache?

The choice between SP105 and SP106 comes down to one thing: whether your operation is legislated to maintain a fire equipment cache.

A fire cache is a stock of pumps, hose, and suppression equipment that certain operations are required by regulation to keep on hand. If your operation is not required to maintain a fire cache, SP105 is the course for you. If your operation is required to maintain a fire cache, you need SP106, because your crews have to be trained to actually run that equipment. Everything else about the two courses follows from this single distinction.

SP105 at a glance

SP105 is a one-day course with a small field component. It is built for industrial operations that are not required to maintain a fire cache but still need crews who can respond quickly and safely to fire near their activity.

The course covers fire behaviour, basic suppression techniques, and how to work safely around aircraft and aerial suppression crews. The goal is to give your people the skills to act until larger resources arrive, rather than to run a full suppression effort themselves.

SP106 at a glance

SP106 is a two-day course. Day one is theory, and day two is a larger field component with hands-on work. It is designed for operations that are required to maintain a fire cache.

SP106 includes all of the SP105 content, then adds the skills a cache-holding operation needs: fire pump operations, and hose deployment, handling, and maintenance. In other words, SP106 is everything in SP105 plus the practical equipment training required to operate your own cache.

A quick comparison

Who is now required to train

For a long time, the forest industry has been expected to have crews trained in wildland fire suppression. Updated provincial regulations now extend that expectation to more sectors. Mining, railway, pipeline, and hydro companies working in the bush are now required to have this training, similar to what the forest industry has always required.

If your operation falls into one of those sectors and works in wildfire-prone bush, the question is no longer whether to train, but which course fits: SP105 if you are not required to maintain a fire cache, SP106 if you are.

Frequently asked questions

We are not sure whether we have to maintain a fire cache. How do we decide between the courses? The cache requirement is what determines the course. Operations that are not legislated to maintain a fire equipment cache take SP105. Operations that are required to maintain a fire cache take SP106, because those crews need the added pump and hose training to operate the cache.

Do our crews need to take SP105 before SP106? No. SP106 already includes all of the SP105 content, so cache-holding operations can train directly on SP106.

What about municipal fire departments? Is SP105 or SP106 the right fit? Neither. SP105 and SP106 are industrial wildland fire suppression courses. SP103 is the separate course developed for municipal fire departments, or fire agencies, rather than for industrial operations.

Ready to train your crews

Ontario's fire season runs April 1 to October 31, so the best time to certify crews is before the season begins. If you know which course you need, you can read more about SP105 and SP106, or see an overview of our Wildland Fire Suppression Training. If you are still not sure which one fits your operation, get in touch and we will help you sort it out.

Book wildland fire training · Call 705-806-SAFE