At Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition Canada, our goal is to support and guide fire service advocacy and education. Often, our discussions with members of the fire service reveal many personnel are reluctant to start a dialogue about home fire sprinklers. They support the lifesaving technology but they cannot envision how to start getting sprinklers accepted in their communities. Among their reasons are lacking local resources, and often a lack of personnel knowledge and confidence. As the old saying goes: a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. We want to help you and your department just as we have helped many others. So let’s begin the journey.


Become a Built for Life Fire Department
The first step should be to ensure that your department joins the HFSC Canada Built for Life Fire Department (BFLFD) Program. All that’s required is your department’s commitment to making home fire sprinklers a part of your public education outreach. Registration is simple and the program is free.
As a BFLFD department, you are kept up to date with timely information, new resources and exclusive benefits. Our annual stipend program is one of the most helpful perks. Only BFLFDs are invited to apply, and each year qualifying departments are awarded 20 stipends that support their local public education programs in Canada.
Tap Into HFSC Canada’s Library of Resources
The wealth of data, information and resources from HFSC Canada will quickly build your confidence in sprinkler advocacy. We’ve created content to help you gain an understanding of how home fire sprinklers are installed; residential water supply; how sprinklers operate to prevent injuries, save lives and protect property; their environmental benefits; how they can be part of the affordable housing solution; and their role in achieving Community Risk Reduction (CRR). When questions arise, we are happy to help.


Get the Word Out
Now you’re ready to let your community know that your department is one of the nearly 200 BFLFDs in Canada that are committed to home fire sprinkler advocacy. We have a customizable press release to help you announce this distinction. And you’ll want to start sharing HFSC’s turnkey content on your website and through your social media channels. From there, you have many more options.
Reach out to educate your key stakeholders. HFSC’s virtual reality home fire and sprinkler videos are a smart strategy for showing the danger of home fires and the lifesaving power of installed sprinklers. Next, inform this important audience about the value of sprinkler incentives for new construction homes. Incentives play a big role in offsetting sprinkler installation costs. You may want to share national research, such as the CAFC White Paper on Sprinklers, which dives into the many benefits of using sprinkler incentives to increase safety. The HFSC Canada website has a dedicated section on home sprinkler incentives with detailed information as well as case studies on local incentive successes. You might also consider reinforcing your support of sprinklers by adding simple home fire sprinkler messaging in your fire department’s Master Plan.


Empower Local Stakeholders
One common denominator in successful sprinkler installations is ongoing fire service engagement with city planners and developers. The power is in building these relationships ahead of development planning and approvals. When sprinklers are introduced at the earliest stages of development there’s adequate time to address questions about sprinkler installation, concerns, and to review significant cost savings that can be realized when sprinklers thwart expensive construction obstacles. We have also found that when the fire service and local officials meet early in the process, the inevitable anti-sprinkler hurdles are more easily overcome. As you’ll see in the incentive case studies, everyone wins: developers and builders save money and often build more homes, increasing their revenue; the fire service boosts CRR; and homeowners purchase sprinklered homes that protect the occupants for generations.
Another benefit of BFLFD is local HFSC-sponsored “Lunch and Learn” seminars. These are simply an education session for all players to get together over lunch and discuss sprinklers. Myths and misconceptions are readily dispelled, and incentives and other opportunities are explored. When you are ready to hold a Lunch and Learn session, let us know and we can coordinate this for you.

Bishop’s Falls Fire Rescue used a stipend to purchase educational banners.

Public Education
Remember that consumers are key stakeholders too. You already educate about the dangers of home fires. Increasing public awareness about the need for more sprinkler installations should be another key element of your strategy. In fact, during the preparation of the CAFC White Paper on sprinklers, 81% of CAFC members who responded to a survey reported that lack of public awareness was the leading impediment to seeing sprinklers installed.
In addition to your annual Fire Prevention Week campaign, participating in Home Fire Sprinkler Week creates focused national attention on sprinklers. This year the campaign will run from 12-18 May. It’s easy to get involved. HFSC Canada has done all the heavy lifting for you with ready-made social media messaging for each day. All you need to do is share the messaging with your community through your department website and social media posts. Some departments have featured HFSC Canada materials in open houses. Others have conducted public events during the week with live and HFSC’s virtual side-by-side demonstrations. Whichever route you follow, we can provide the free materials to support your educational outreach.


As you go forward with your sprinkler advocacy, consider following HFSC on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media platforms. We provide regular and meaningful updates, commentary and announcements of new materials related to fire safety and sprinklers. Engage or simply repost to tap into the viral marketing benefits. With our accurate and turnkey life-saving information, public education is easier.
Every journey begins with just a single step. And you are not alone. At HFSC Canada, we are ready to support you along the way. We ask that you join us and the other Built for Life Fire Departments as we help to protect Canadians and expand the number of families protected by sprinklers.