by Maria Driscoll

In a memorandum of understanding signed this morning, the City of Fredericton and Holland College of Charlottetown, PEI have agreed to explore the feasibility of establishing a joint Public Safety Training Centre of Excellence in Fredericton, NB.

If finalized, the training centre could deliver pre-employment fire training courses in Fredericton by 2006. Discussions are also underway about the possibility of also delivering policing courses, and developing curriculum around 9-1-1 communication-centre training as well as training for Emergency Medical Technicians.

"This is right in line with our Smart City status and further identifies Fredericton as an innovative education centre," said Mayor Brad Woodside. "This is an exciting opportunity for us and we are pleased to partner with an organization as well respected and as knowledgeable as Holland College."

"Holland College's Atlantic Police Academy has long been recognized by the Government's of Atlantic Canada as the region's training institution for municipal police officers," stated Les Chipperfield, Executive Director of the Atlantic Police Academy. "Over the years the full-time programs offered at the Academy have grown from Policing to include Conservation Enforcement, Corrections Officer and Private Policing and Assets Protection. In September 2005, the Academy will offer a new 22-week Basic Firefighting program, the only one of its kind in Maritime Canada." Chipperfield also added that the Academy is closely associated with other Holland College training programs, including Paramedicine, that share resources and technical expertise to develop the customized training required by industry partners.

Discussions have been underway with Holland College for several years now about the college running a pre-employment fire-training course in Fredericton. The policing, communications and medical training areas were a natural outgrowth of those talks.

Fire training used to be offered by the City of Fredericton however; recent changes to the curriculum have left a training void that the City of Fredericton was anxious to fill. With the recent announcement of a new fire station on Two Nations Crossing, featuring a dedicated training facility, the partnership became even more logical.

"The Fredericton Fire Department is excited by this opportunity," said Fire Chief Philip Toole. "The establishment of such a facility in Fredericton will allow us to easily transition our training and the savings over time will be significant."

"This is definitely the kind of training Team Fredericton identified as being important when the Greater Fredericton region provided input into modernizing the Province of New Brunswick's community college system," concluded Don Fitzgerald, executive director of Team Fredericton.

The memorandum of understanding is a commitment to explore business models and does not commit either party to any course of action. It does mean, however, that Holland College and the City of Fredericton will negotiate exclusively with one another. Any final deal would need the approval of Fredericton City Council and Holland College.

Holland College has a reputation as a leader in hands-on, skills-based training, specializing in a variety of fields, including business, communication, health, law enforcement, tourism, trades, and technology. The college is based in Charlottetown, PEI. In 2004-05, the college welcomed more than 2,300 full-time and 9,000 part-time students in 13 locations across Prince Edward Island.