Why do I need a Fire Safety Plan in Ontario?

If you own or manage a building with a fire alarm system in Ontario, you are legally required to have an approved Fire Safety Plan under the Ontario Fire Code (O. Reg. 213/07), Section 2.8. This applies to apartment and condo buildings, commercial offices, retail, restaurants, and warehouses across Toronto, Mississauga, Markham, Vaughan, and Etobicoke. Without an approved plan on site, you risk fire department orders, fines, and delays getting occupancy.

Which buildings actually need a Fire Safety Plan?

The Ontario Fire Code requires a Fire Safety Plan for most buildings with a fire alarm system, plus all assembly occupancies such as restaurants and banquet halls, care occupancies such as retirement and long term care homes, high buildings, and many industrial and storage occupancies. If you are not sure where your building in the GTA falls, send us the details and we will confirm in plain language, at no cost.

What is changing with Ontario fire safety requirements in 2026?

Ontario updates the Fire Code on a regular cycle, and recent changes, including O. Reg. 87/25, mean a plan that was approved a few years ago may no longer meet current requirements. Enforcement is tightening across the GTA at the same time. We review your existing Fire Safety Plan against the current Ontario Fire Code, flag anything out of date, and bring it back into compliance before it becomes a problem with the fire department.

How long does it take to get a Fire Safety Plan approved?

It depends on the size and complexity of your building and your local fire department's review queue, but we are built for speed. Because we know exactly what Toronto Fire Services, Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services, and the other GTA departments look for, our submissions rarely come back for corrections. That is what saves you the weeks of back and forth most owners run into.

Do I need a Fire Safety Plan for a construction or demolition project?

Yes. The Ontario Fire Code (Part 5) requires fire safety measures and a plan for construction and demolition sites before and during the work. We create site specific plans covering fire crew access, hot work controls, standpipe provisions, and muster points for projects across Toronto, Etobicoke, Vaughan, and the wider GTA.

How often do I need to review my Fire Safety Plan?

The Ontario Fire Code requires your plan to be reviewed at least once every 12 months, and updated right away whenever you renovate, change the building's use, or change the layout. We offer annual review packages for property managers and condo boards across the GTA, so your plans never lapse and you are not scrambling the week before an inspection.

We are applying for an AGCO liquor licence. What fire requirements apply?

Before the AGCO issues a liquor licence, your municipality has to confirm your space is safe, and fire approval is a core part of that sign off. For restaurants and bars in Toronto, Mississauga, Markham, and across the GTA, that usually means an approved Fire Safety Plan, a posted occupant load, clear exiting, and confirmation your fire alarm and suppression systems are in good standing. We prepare the documents and handle the fire side so your licence is not held up.

I manage multiple buildings. Can you handle a whole portfolio?

Yes, this is a big part of what we do. Property managers carry fire safety responsibility across a portfolio, where every building has its own plan, its own annual review date, and its own fire department jurisdiction. We standardize your plans, track every review date, and give you one point of contact for all of your sites across Toronto and the GTA, so nothing slips through the cracks.

What areas do you serve?

We are based in the Greater Toronto Area and serve building owners and managers across Toronto (Downtown, North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke), Peel (Mississauga and Brampton), York Region (Markham, Vaughan, and Richmond Hill), and the wider GTA and Southern Ontario.

What is included in your Fire Safety Plan package?

Our Ontario Fire Safety Plan package is built to meet the Ontario Fire Code and your local fire department's requirements. You receive: an on site audit of your fire alarm, sprinkler, extinguisher, and exit systems; a custom site specific plan written to current Ontario Fire Code standards, never a generic template; clear building diagrams showing exits, equipment, and shut offs; full fire department submission and communication with the Chief Fire Official until it is approved; and digital and printed copies of the approved plan for your fire safety plan box and your records.

What is the process for getting a Fire Safety Plan?

We keep it simple, four steps. First, a site visit to map your fire safety equipment and any hazards. Second, drafting, where our team writes the plan and prepares the diagrams. Third, submission to your local fire department's plan review. Fourth, approval and delivery, where once it is approved we deliver the official plan ready to post on site. Call us to get started.

5 Things That Trigger a Fire Code Violation Before an Inspector Even Walks In

Sep 3

3 min read

By the time a Notice of Violation lands on your desk, the problem's already been sitting there for a while. Most fire code violations aren't the result of some rare, complicated failure. They're the same handful of issues, repeated across buildings all over the GTA, usually because nobody was checking for them until an inspector did.

Here are the five that show up most often, and why each one is easier to prevent than to fix after the fact.

1. Blocked or Obstructed Exits

This is the single most common finding on a fire inspection, and it's almost always avoidable. Storage pushed into a stairwell, pallets stacked in front of an exit door, a corridor narrowed by equipment that was "just going to be there for a day." The Ontario Fire Code requires exits and the routes leading to them to be kept clear at all times, not just during scheduled inspections. If it's blocked when your own staff walk past it, it's blocked when the inspector does too.

2. Fire Doors That Don't Self-Close and Latch

Propped-open fire doors are everywhere, usually because someone was tired of holding a door for deliveries or wanted airflow through a hallway. A fire door that's wedged open or has a broken closer isn't a convenience issue. It's a compromised fire separation, and it defeats the entire purpose of the door, which is to hold back smoke and fire long enough for people to get out. Inspectors check door closers and latching hardware as a matter of routine, and a door that doesn't self-close on its own is one of the fastest ways to turn a clean inspection into a violation.

3. Improper Storage of Combustibles

This one covers a lot of ground: flammable liquids stored without proper cabinets, combustible materials stacked too close to ignition sources or electrical panels, storage that blocks access to a fire department connection or hydrant. The Ontario Fire Code is specific about clearance and storage requirements for exactly this reason. Housekeeping that looks fine day to day can still be a violation if it doesn't meet the clearance and containment requirements the code sets out.

4. Tampered or Disabled Life Safety Devices

Covered smoke detectors, disconnected pull stations, extinguishers that have been moved, removed, or left with an expired inspection tag. The Ontario Fire Code is direct on this point: no person shall disable a smoke alarm. The same principle extends across fire alarm devices and suppression equipment generally. This is also one of the violations most likely to trigger enforcement action beyond a warning, because it goes directly to whether the building's life safety systems will actually work if they're needed.

5. An Outdated or Missing Fire Safety Plan

An FSP that doesn't reflect current occupancy, current supervisory staff, or current fire protection systems isn't compliant, even if a plan technically exists somewhere in the building. Under OFC Division B, Section 2.8, the plan is required to be reviewed and kept current, not filed away and forgotten. An inspector who asks to see the FSP and finds one that describes a building from three tenants ago is going to write that up just as fast as a missing plan altogether.

Why These Keep Showing Up

None of these five are complicated fixes. They're not expensive retrofits or major system upgrades. What they have in common is that they drift. A door that closed properly last year gets a bent hinge. A storage area that was compliant when it was set up gets used differently six months later. Nobody's watching for the drift because nobody's assigned to watch for it.

The Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 backs these requirements with real consequences, including fines against both the corporation and, in some cases, individuals responsible. For a property manager or business owner, the cost of a proactive walk-through is nothing compared to the cost of a violation, a re-inspection, and the scramble to fix everything at once under a deadline.

Catching It Before Someone Else Does

A building that gets checked against these five points regularly almost never fails an inspection on them. A building that only gets checked when an inspector shows up unannounced almost always has at least one.

Sterling Safety runs fire code compliance reviews for property managers and business owners across the GTA and Southern Ontario, catching these issues before they show up on a Notice of Violation. If it's been a while since anyone walked your building specifically looking for this, that's a good place to start.