Build resilience, strengthen performance, and prepare your mission-critical team for the challenges of tomorrow.
Staff burnout is an urgent challenge facing wildfire and emergency response agencies nationwide. We need new tools to navigate the realities of working in increasingly frequent and complex, high-pressure environments where failure can have long-lasting detrimental impacts on decision-makers.
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At the Mission Critical Team Leader Training, Canada Wildfire brings world-class, research-backed resilience and leadership training to Canadian decision-makers on mission-critical teams. Led by renowned instructor Dr. Preston Cline, Director of the Mission Critical Teams Institute (MCTI), this four-day in-person training opportunity goes beyond typical professional development approaches to offer tailored, practical solutions to your team's real challenges.
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This training is an essential opportunity to...
▸Fast-Track Recovery: Apply cutting-edge research, develop action plans for your context, and process the season's experiences for a much-needed reset.
▸Navigate & Adapt: Gain new tools to manage complex situations, make effective decisions under pressure, and lead your team through challenges.
▸Broaden Networks: Foster invaluable connections and shared understanding with key players from across agencies and sectors.
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Participants will be better equipped to detect, recognize, react, respond, and recover from the radical change events caused by high-impact environments.
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Registration full or closed? Click here to add your name to the waitlist or be notified of future course offerings.
Questions? Click here for our quick answers or get in touch at [email protected].
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We understand the importance of this training and are dedicated to providing the best possible value. Our team has donated all administrative and labour costs, and your registration fee directly covers event expenses without any profit margin. To ensure the best experience for everyone, this event will proceed upon reaching a minimum number of participants, and registrations cannot be cancelled. While we're confident in this opportunity, in the case that we do not reach minimum participation, we will notify you of cancellation and issue full refunds. Please take a look at our cancellation policy before booking.
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Nous reconnaissons l'importance d'offrir nos événements en plusieurs langues. Bien que l'événement et l'inscription soient actuellement uniquement en anglais, nous travaillons à rendre nos futurs événements plus accessibles. En attendant, vous trouverez un aperçu de l'événement en français ici. Nous nous excusons pour tout inconvénient.
Event Resources
Preview Document
Schedule
A research-backed curriculum.
Check-In
Check-in available for all attendees at the Front Office (Client Services Office) in the Academic Building. Park in the Admin parking lot while you check in, then move your vehicle to the Resident parking lot. All attendees must check in to receive their building access card.
Please note that the cutoff for check-ins is 9:00 PM.
Meet and Greet with Light Refreshments
If you're here before our opening session, come relax with us and share your pre-event thoughts on our collaborative Wisdom Wall! Light refreshments provided.
Take advantage of specialized, world-class expertise.
We are pleased to offer a rare opportunity to access proven skills development training from the Mission Critical Teams Institute (MCTI). Led by Director Dr. Preston Cline, their experienced instructors work with mission-critical teams worldwide that face complex, high-impact problems every day, including urban and wildland fire, tactical law enforcement, military special operations, and emergency medicine. Recent MCTI-led sessions with USDA fire leadership in California received rave reviews from managers and staff.
Dr. Preston Cline
Dr. Preston B. Cline is the Co-Founder and Principal at the Mission Critical Teams Institute, where he serves as Director of Research. Among numerous other endeavours, he recently assisted in creating the L380 and L381 fireline and incident leadership training courses.
His career began in the late 1980s, leading 60-day remote wilderness trips with adjudicated youth out of New Jersey. Since then, he has experienced being cold, wet, tired, and hungry on all seven continents while leading both terrestrial and ocean expeditions. Training as a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, NAUI Rescue Diver, and Ocean Lifeguard Trainer has led Preston to manage primary, secondary, and tertiary responses to numerous critical and catastrophic incidents.
These experiences catalyzed 30 years of research into human interaction with uncertainty, focusing on why some people succeed while others do not. Preston received a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University, a Master of Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
Since 2008, his primary research and practice have been dedicated to supporting the Instructor Cadres of Mission Critical Teams. These are small (4-12 agents), integrated groups trained by their own organizations. They resolve complex adaptive problems in time-sensitive situations (5 minutes or less) where failure can result in catastrophic loss. These Instructor Cadres form Collaborative Inquiry Communities of Practice within military special operations, emergency medicine, tactical law enforcement, aerospace, and urban and wildland firefighting organizations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
When not working with Cadres, he resides outside Philadelphia with his extraordinary spouse Amy who, when not teaching, plans and leads their international sailing expeditions.
Recharge and reset at a gateway to the Rockies.
The Mission Critical Team Leader Training will take place in the vibrant town of Hinton, Alberta. Located in the scenic foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Hinton offers a welcoming atmosphere and access to breathtaking wilderness, with popular spots including the Beaver Boardwalk and William A. Switzer Provincial Park.
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Training and accommodations are conveniently located at the Hinton Training Centre (HTC) campus, which sits on a 14-hectare (35-acre) ridge in the heart of Hinton.
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Getting There
Hinton is easily accessible via Highway 16, which connects to Edmonton (288 km east, approximately a 3-hour drive) and the iconic Jasper National Park (77 km southwest of Hinton, approximately a 1-hour drive). The closest airports are located in Edmonton and Calgary.
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Transportation to and from Hinton is not included. Please book your travel independently.
Stay involved throughout the event.
.Take advantage of the full training experience at the recently renovated Hinton Training Centre (HTC)! Your registration includes comfortable on-site residency-style accommodations with a private bedroom and shared washrooms. Enjoy meals together in the on-site dining hall, as well as opportunities for social activities and networking.
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Hinton Training Centre (HTC)
1176 Switzer Dr, Hinton, AB T7V 1V3, Canada
The Hinton Training Centre (HTC) offers a site for world-renowned technical and safety training programs and services for forest and wildfire management. The campus sits on a 14-hectare (35-acre) ridge in the middle of Hinton, a town of about 10,000 in the central Foothills region of Alberta. It includes an Academic Building, two residences, in-house meal services, a rappel tower, a wildfire lookout tower, the Historical Training and Public Outreach Centre, and a 1.1-kilometre interpretive trail. The latter two are self-guided.
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HTC is also home to the Alberta wildfire memorial, a monument dedicated to those who have lost their lives protecting Alberta’s forests and forest communities from wildfire.
Your stay at HTC includes:
- Residence-style accommodations with private bedroom (including twin bed, desk, chair, bed linens) and shared washrooms (designated by gender).
- Complimentary meals in the dining hall (dietary needs accommodated upon request).
- Central lounges with comfortable seating.
- Parking in well-lit outdoor lots with power outlets.
- Laundry facilities, including iron/ironing board (bring detergent).
- Fitness room including treadmills, exercise machines, and free weights (bring clean white-soled shoes).
- Wireless internet in the academic and residence buildings.
- Public computers and payphones.
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Plan to bring:
Rooms are cleaned to hotel standards, but HTC does not provide room service. Plan to bring towels and toiletries (shampoo, soap, etc.). We also recommend bringing a refillable water/coffee container.
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For more information, refer to the HTC facilities guide.
Any questions?
If your question isn't answered below, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
Who is this training for?
The Mission Critical Team Leader Training is geared toward active members of or instructors for mission-critical teams (small, integrated groups that adapt to complex problems in time-sensitive situations where failure can result in catastrophic loss). This includes directors, managers, training cadres, type 1 or type 2 incident commanders and section chiefs. While targeted participants are primarily Canadian wildfire agency staff, attendance from equivalent roles in adjacent agencies (emergency management, structural fire, armed forces, aviation contractors, police, international wildfire, etc.) is welcome and encouraged.
What's included in my registration package?
We understand the importance of this training and are dedicated to providing the best possible value. Our team has donated all administrative and labour costs, and your registration fee directly covers event expenses without any profit margin.
Your registration package includes:
- Expert instruction with a tailored curriculum.
- On-site accommodations (3 nights) in Hinton, Alberta.
- Meals and a social event for networking (dinner on Dec 2 through breakfast on Dec 5).
- Course and event materials to enhance your learning.
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Transportation to and from Hinton is not included. Please book your travel independently.
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Can I cancel my registration?
To ensure the best experience for everyone, this event will proceed upon reaching a minimum number of participants. For this reason, registrations cannot be cancelled. While we're confident in this opportunity, in the case that we do not reach minimum participation, we will notify you of cancellation and issue full refunds.
Substitution of another member of your organization is permitted up to the course start date for no additional fee. Due to the limited availability of spaces and planning involved in this summit, we regrettably cannot offer refunds or transfers to future dates for no-shows. We appreciate your understanding.
What's the easiest way to get to Hinton?
Hinton is easily accessible via Highway 16, which connects to Edmonton (288 km east, approximately a 3-hour drive) and the iconic Jasper National Park (77 km southwest of Hinton, approximately a 1-hour drive). The closest airports are located in Edmonton and Calgary.
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Please note that transportation to and from Hinton is not included in your registration package. Please book your travel independently.
What do you mean by residence-style accommodations? Will I need to share a room?
To deliver the best value possible and encourage informal relationship-building opportunities, accommodations are provided on-site at the recently renovated Hinton Training Centre (HTC). Participants will not share bedrooms; each will have a private bedroom and access to shared, single-gender washrooms.
Your stay at HTC includes:
- Residence-style accommodations with private bedroom (including twin bed, desk, chair, bed linens) and shared washrooms (designated by gender).
- Complimentary meals in the dining hall (dietary needs accommodated upon request).
- Central lounges with comfortable seating.
- Parking in well-lit outdoor lots with power outlets.
- Laundry facilities, including iron/ironing board (bring detergent).
- Fitness room including treadmills, exercise machines, and free weights (bring clean white-soled shoes).
- Wireless internet in the academic and residence buildings.
- Public computers and payphones.
What do I need to bring?
Rooms are cleaned to hotel standards, but HTC does not provide room service. Plan to bring towels and toiletries (shampoo, soap, etc.). We also recommend bringing a refillable water/coffee container.
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For more information, check our list of on-site amenities or download the HTC facilities guide.
Planner Info
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Canada Wildfire
We respectfully acknowledge that our headquarters is situated on Treaty 6 territory, in Amiskwaciwâskahikan / ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᕀᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ / Edmonton, the territory of the Papaschase, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. With that acknowledgement comes responsibility.
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