Major Changes to Ontario Fire Code in 2026: Is Your Building Ready?

For building owners, facility managers, and property management teams across Ontario, this update brings stricter requirements, more detailed reporting, and a significantly expanded inspection framework. These changes will directly impact compliance workflows, scheduling, and most importantly, this may impact your 2026 operating budgets. Highlights below to help ensure you are in compliance and how Onyx Fire Protection is already prepared to support you.

Why the Shift? Understanding CAN/ULC 536:19

The new standard represents a massive leap in scope, expanding from 44 pages to 73 pages. This includes nearly 90 revisions, over 100 new items, and 23 new glossary definitions.

The goal of this update is to increase the reliability of life safety systems across Ontario. However, for property managers, this means the “status quo” is no longer sufficient. The new standard eliminates the wiggle room for modified templates; standardization is now the strict norm, meaning inspection reports are now formally part of the “body” of the standard.

The Impact on Your Budget and Schedule

Because inspections under the new code are far more granular, especially for complex, networked, intelligent, or multi-zone systems, longer on site times for technicians can be expected.

Consequently, expanded testing and reporting requirements mean that many facilities may anticipate up to a 35% increase in annual inspection budgets for 2026. Planning for this fiscal shift now is critical to avoid surprises in Q1 of 2026.

Key Technical and Reporting Changes

The transition to CAN/ULC 536:19 introduces rigorous new protocols regarding how systems are tested and how data is recorded.

Enhanced Documentation and Accountability

The new standard places a heavy emphasis on documentation and liability. Under the new rules, system documentation (Section 7) must be clearly identified and physically available at the time of inspection. Furthermore, accountability has been tightened for both technicians and building owners. Technicians are now required to maintain specific attendance logs for every inspection day to ensure transparency. Perhaps most critically for owners, there is a new requirement regarding deficiency reporting: property managers must now formally sign off on deficiencies, creating a permanent legal record of acknowledgement and responsibility.

Stricter Testing Protocols

The technical side of inspections is seeing a major shift as well. The standard now formalizes Circuit Fault Tolerance testing, requiring additional supporting documentation to improve system reliability. Battery testing procedures have also been overhauled; the methods allowed have been reduced from five down to three. Notably, the use of battery capacity meters is now prohibited (“OUT”), replaced by the stricter 200W/5 Ohm power resistor method (“IN”). These changes ensure that the backup power for your life safety systems is tested against a much more standardized method ensuring reliability.

How Onyx Fire Protection Can Help

Navigating these changes can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. At Onyx Fire Protection, we are ahead of the curve.

• Trained & Ready: Our technicians are already trained on the new CAN/ULC 536:19 requirements.
• Compliant Documentation: We have updated our inspection processes, documentation, and equipment across Canada to meet the new standards immediately.
• Seamless Reporting: Our reporting systems are already aligned with the new standardized format, ensuring you never face a compliance gap.

We are proactively supporting our clients with budget planning, compliance reviews, and inspection scheduling adjustments to ensure a smooth transition into 2026. Ensure your building is compliant and your budget is accurate.