County Council approved the lease of a commercial property at 805 Upper Canada Drive, near Confederation Street and Modeland Road, to serve as an interim location while work continues on a new permanent headquarters. The site will be staffed by two ambulances during the day and one overnight, beginning in July 2025.
“The temporary station at Upper Canada Drive will not only help to provide improved emergency coverage to the west end of Lambton County, but will also help reduce response times to life-threatening emergencies throughout the County,” said Stephen Turner, Manager of Lambton EMS.
The new facility will support overall service in Sarnia, which continues to be one of the busiest areas for ambulance calls in the county. It will operate in addition to the existing bases on George Street and in Bright’s Grove, helping to meet current demand while a permanent EMS headquarters is under development.
According to the County’s 2024–2028 EMS Master Plan, Sarnia now accounts for more than 60% of all ambulance calls in Lambton County, and local paramedics have seen over 6% annual growth in call volume since 2016.
The new location is also expected to reduce reliance on rural ambulances being reassigned to cover city calls during peak hours — a process known internally as Code 8 standby. These inter-station movements can leave outlying communities with fewer resources and longer wait times.
The staffing model at the temporary station reflects long-term goals for the service, which include phased increases in daytime ambulance availability and a future relocation of EMS headquarters to the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park. That facility will eventually bring administrative, operational, and logistical functions under one roof.
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