Uncertainty continues over the future of Lethbridge’s integrated fire and ambulance service following Tuesday’s council vote on proposed provincial funding changes.
Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to maintain its March 24 decision not to pre-approve additional emergency medical services costs tied to the province’s proposed agreement. Councillors also voted 7-2 against extending the current contract beyond Sept. 30, 2026.
City officials said negotiations with the province could continue and the municipality may still participate in a future procurement process.
At the centre of the dispute is whether local taxpayers should absorb higher ambulance-service costs under the province’s revised funding structure.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen said the decision was not about abandoning the integrated fire and EMS model, but about what he described as an unworkable condition imposed by Alberta Health Services Emergency Medical Services.
He said council wants to continue working with the province toward a financially sustainable agreement.
Administration projects the revised model would increase municipal EMS costs by roughly $3.7 million in 2027, with additional increases expected in future years.
According to a presentation from city administration on April 30, provincial support for the integrated model is projected to decline from about $14 million to $11 million under the proposed funding structure. The projected increase is equivalent to a 1.8 per cent tax increase in 2027. City projections show the funding gap widening through 2028 and 2029.
Chief financial officer Darrell Mathews said the owner of a Lethbridge home assessed at $387,000 would pay an additional $182 in taxes over three years to support EMS operations.
“We know the financial pressures this would put on our City budgets,” Mathews said. “These costs will continue to escalate and we know that is not sustainable in the future.”
Union representatives said the vote places the future of the city’s integrated emergency-response system at risk.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Brent Nunweiler, president of Lethbridge Firefighters IAFF Local 237, said firefighters were disappointed with council’s decision.
“What we did hear from Council today was that they value the integrated service,” Nunweiler said. “However, today’s vote makes that process extremely difficult and puts the system in jeopardy.”
Nunweiler said changes to the current response model could reduce ambulance availability and lengthen response times.
“We know that a change to the 114-year-old system we’ve been providing will mean less ambulances, greater gaps in the system, longer response times, and it will mean lives will be lost.”
He added firefighters and paramedics will continue serving the community despite the uncertainty.
“We’ll continue to put our lives on the line for this community,” Nunweiler said. “That’s the oath we took.”
Coun. Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, who introduced the motion to rescind the March 24 decision, argued council should preserve the integrated system while broader budget discussions continue.
“Research shows better health and survival outcomes under this integrated service, and we know that our service is one of the highest ranked in the world,” Schmidt-Rempel told council. “Somehow we seem ashamed of this gold-level service for our residents, when in fact we should be celebrating it and doing everything we can to keep it.”
She cited feedback received through the city’s 311 system and an online Lethbridge Herald poll.
“In checking with 311 last week, they have logged 442 calls in support of the existing service and three that supported the transition,” she said. “Of 1,308 votes, 80 per cent said yes” to paying higher taxes to preserve integrated fire and EMS.
Schmidt-Rempel also recounted how the integrated service responded when her father suffered a heart attack in 2014.
“The members of our service who responded on that fire truck kept him alive,” she said. “It’s because of those individuals and our integrated service that our family had another three years with him.”
She warned the city could lose specialized emergency supports, including tactical response and hazardous materials services, if the integrated model ends.
“We will lose approximately 70 staff members with this decision,” she said. “That’s a loss of social and financial capital to our city.”
After the meeting, Schmidt-Rempel said much of the feedback received by council favoured maintaining the integrated system.
“Over the past seven weeks, I’ve received close to 200 emails from residents stating they would pay the increase in taxes to keep the current service level,” she said.
She argued the additional tax burden remained manageable while future operating and capital budget discussions continue.
“I would suggest that it’s premature to cut this pressure from our budget when we still have service levels to set and years’ worth of budgeting discussions to have, particularly when the increase to taxpayers is zero this tax year and an additional $54 for the average home next tax year.”
However, she said the city is now heavily dependent on the province’s willingness to negotiate.
“What today’s motion means is that we’re gambling on the province to come negotiate with us, and I don’t know that we can gamble on that,” she said.
Councillors who against rescinding the March motion and extending the current agreement past September said the vote was intended to reject the province’s funding conditions rather than end future discussions.
“This motion was to say, no, we’re not accepting what the province is putting forward to us,” Hyggen said after the meeting. “Do we want to pay more, or do we want to not accept that and go down another path?”
He said there is still uncertainty about what will happen after Sept. 30.
“Right now, we know that we have this service until Sept. 30,” Hyggen said. “Beyond that time, the conversations need to happen.”
During debate, Hyggen urged residents to lower the tone of public discussion surrounding the issue.
“We need to be better,” he said. “Fear mongering doesn’t help with any of the situations as we’re going through this.”
Coun. Rajko Dodik said council’s decision reflected concerns about long-term affordability, noting ambulance services are a provincial responsibility under Alberta legislation.
“It’s not that we didn’t appreciate the integrated service,” Dodik said. “I love fire EMS integrated services. I’m just saying that we couldn’t sustain it.”
Alberta Health Services Emergency Medical Services has indicated that if the city refuses to absorb additional costs, the province could seek another provider through a competitive bidding process or assume responsibility for EMS delivery directly.
City officials and provincial representatives are expected to continue discussions as uncertainty remains over the future structure of EMS delivery in Lethbridge.
Lethbridge is one of seven Alberta municipalities that use a combined fire and ambulance model staffed by firefighter-paramedics. The others are Red Deer, St. Albert, Strathcona County, Leduc, Spruce Grove and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Lethbridge, along with Leduc and Spruce Grove, has not accepted the province’s proposed agreement, while Strathcona County accepted the contract and said it plans to maintain current service levels despite higher costs.
