Vulnerable Occupancy

A vulnerable occupancy is a building or organization that is either a care and treatment occupancy, a care occupancy or a retirement home.

The following are definitions on what each occupancy contains:

Care and treatment: means an occupancy in which persons receive special care and treatment.

Some examples of special care may include, making and reminding residents of appointments, intervening in the event of a resident experiencing a crisis, supervising in the areas of nutrition and medication, or providing transitional medical care.

Care occupancy: means an occupancy in which special care is provided by a facility, directly through its staff or indirectly through another provider to residents of the facility.

1. Who require special care because of cognitive or physical limitations, and
2. Who, as a result of those limitations would be incapable of evacuating the occupancy, if necessary, without the assistance of another person

Retirement home: means a retirement home regulated under the Retirement Home Act 2010, regardless of whether it is a care occupancy or a residential occupancy. home regulated under the Retirement Home Act 2010, regardless of whether it is a care occupancy or a residential occupancy.

Vulnerable occupancies are a top priority for fire safety. The office of the Ontario fire Marshal has set out certain regulations that must be followed.

When inspecting vulnerable occupancies, they are carefully inspected following directives and checklists from the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.

Ontario Regulation 364/13: Mandatory Inspection - Fire Drill in Vulnerable Occupancy 

This regulation sets out specific obligations for municipal Fire Chiefs and other prescribed persons responsible to ensure the following:

• A fire department representative observes the fire drill
• An inspector conducts a fire safety inspection
• Required information is filed with the Fire Marshal  

Ontario Regulation 365/13: Mandatory Assessment of Complaints and Requests for Approval 

This regulation sets out specific obligations for municipal Fire Chiefs and other prescribed persons responsible to ensure the following:

• An assessment and, if deemed necessary, an inspection is conducted upon receipt of a fire safety complaint
• An assessment and, if deemed necessary, an inspection is conducted upon receipt of a request from an owner for assistance to comply with the Fire Code when the approval of the Chief Fire Official is required
• Required information is filed with the Fire Marshal if the complaint or request for assistance is in regard to a care occupancy, care and treatment occupancy or retirement home  

Fire Marshal Directive 2014-01  

Directs the process by which information is filed in the registry of care occupancies, care and treatment occupancies, and retirement homes, which is administered by the Ontario Fire Marshal Emergency Management (OFMEM).

Fire Marshal Directive 2014-02 

Directs the process by which a fire drill scenario is to be developed and observed and the process for assessing Fire Code compliance through application of a checklist.

An overview of the fire drill scenario and mandatory inspection is available on the OFMEM Web site.

Staffing Levels in Care Occupancies, Care and Treatment Occupancies and Retirement Homes (TG-01-2013)

This guideline incorporates a number of significant changes, most notably the following:

• A broadened scope to include care occupancies, care and treatment occupancies, and retirement homes.
• References to changes introduced by Ontario Regulation 150/13, such as revised and new definitions, and amendments to Section 2.8 of Division B of the Fire Code.
• New commentary on “point of safety”, as used in the guideline.
• Enhanced discussion on “Identification of scenarios”, “Time required to evacuate to a point of safety (TRequired)” and “Time available to move to a point of safety based on tenability levels (TAvailable)”.
• Additional appendices to support understanding and application of the guideline

Training Strategy to Enhance Fire Safety in Occupancies Housing Vulnerable Ontarians-Communiqué 2013-14  

On May 9, 2013, Ontario Regulation 150/13 was filed. It amends the Fire Code Ontario Regulation 213/07 to enhance fire safety in occupancies housing vulnerable Ontarians. It mandates that certain persons successfully complete a program or course approved by the Fire Marshal in order to be able to fulfill their fire safety responsibilities competently.

These persons are the following:

• Persons required to implement emergency planning provisions (Section 2.8 of Division B) of the Fire Code in care occupancies, care and treatment occupancies and retirement homes regulated under the Retirement Homes Act, 2010. They are the owners and operators of such facilities, or their delegates, and are responsible for developing and putting into effect a fire safety plan. The titles of these persons can vary: manager, general manager, executive manager, executive director, chief executive officer, and chief operating officer, to name a few.
• Chief Fire Officials responsible for approving fire safety plans for buildings containing care occupancies, care and treatment occupancies, or retirement homes.

Although the regulation took effect on January 1, 2014, the mandatory training must be completed by December 31, 2016.

Persons designated as “supervisory staff” as defined in the Fire Code must also be trained in regard to their fire safety responsibilities. Under the Fire Code, these responsibilities are set out in a building’s fire safety plan. The fire safety plan also specifies what training supervisory staff must receive in order to be able to carry out their assigned duties competently in the building where they are employed.

The compliance schedule for vulnerable occupancies can be found at the following link: 

View here for compliance schedule for vulnerable occupancies