Greater Sudbury paramedics are grappling with options as they seek to fill the training gap Cambrian College left when they ended their Advanced Care Paramedic program last August.
“We have an adequate, stable staffing level right now with ACPs, but without a college program in the northeast with September 2024 enrollment, there are no graduates in the northeast available to us in the spring of 2025,” city Paramedic Services deputy chief Melissa Roney said.
Roney updated members of the community and emergency services committee of city council on the situation during this week’s meeting.
Cambrian spokesperson Dan Lessard told Sudbury.com that they suspended the program in August 2024 because there were not enough qualified participants to meet the minimum of new students for a fresh intake.
"What we are doing instead is applying to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to transition to a new three-year paramedicine degree program. This is a provincewide initiative for all public colleges in Ontario that offer a paramedic program," he said.
"If we receive Ministry approval, we hope to begin offering the three-year degree program starting in September of 2026. In the meantime, we will continue with our existing two-year paramedic diploma program."
The Advanced Care Paramedic program is a two-semester follow-up to the four-semester Paramedic program.
Advanced-care paramedics have specialized training beyond primary-care paramedics, and have been stationed strategically throughout Greater Sudbury for high-acuity calls, including such things as sudden cardiac arrest, seizures, choking, respiratory and cardiac distress or failure and major trauma.
Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services has 52 full-time and six part-time advanced care paramedics and 54 full-time and 48 part-time primary care paramedics, of which 23 are under temporary full-time contracts.
Despite paramedic advocacy, Cambrian said they have no plans on reinstating the Advanced Care Paramedic program, but that it’s being internally reviewed, Roney said.
As such, paramedics are turning to other options.
To help fill the short-term training gap, paramedics are working with other colleges to restart or initiate a compressed-delivery Advanced Care Paramedic program with a September 2025 intake.
Collège Boréal is currently working with Confederation College to offer an Advanced Care Paramedic Program, with a potential bilingual version starting in September 2025. In the 2026-27 municipal budget, paramedics will table a business case seeking $90,000 annually to support six candidates to go through training.
A provincial grant currently covers primary care paramedic training, but doesn’t cover advanced care paramedic training.
Georgian College also offers an Advanced Care Paramedic program, but it’s at their Barrie campus, during which participants are expected to work..
Should existing colleges fail to meet local needs, Roney said she’d return to city council to seek direction in developing a business case to create an internal training program.
“The delivery and shortage of ACP program options remain a critical challenge within the education sector in the north, directly impacting the ability of paramedic services to address workforce needs,” according to Roney’s latest report.
“While the responsibility for program availability lies with educational institutions, our paramedic service recognizes the need to advocate for and support solutions that align with our staffing requirements.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.