On Monday, 28 April 2025, Dr. Julia Sunday, the High Commissioner for Canada in Australia visited the AFAC office in East Melbourne to formally present AFAC CEO Rob Webb with two artworks gifted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

CIFFC gifted the artworks as a token of appreciation to the AFAC National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC) and all emergency service personnel who travelled to Canada in 2024 to assist in wildfire suppression operations.

From July to September 2024, the AFAC NRSC coordinated a deployment of 312 personnel to travel to Alberta and British Columbia in Canada.

AFAC is honoured to receive these tokens on behalf of the deployed personnel and is proud of the teams that worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to help our Canadian counterparts.

There is a long tradition of fire management resource sharing between Canada and Australia. In 2019-20, 239 Canadian personnel were deployed to multiple Australian locations to support the Black Summer bushfire response, and in 2023, the AFAC NRSC coordinated a deployment of 746 Australasian personnel to Canada.

The AFAC NRSC continues to work closely with international emergency service agencies to improve operating plans and procedures to ensure that capability is available to be shared when significant events impact our communities.

The two pieces of artwork by local Canadian indigenous artist Jason Carter, will be displayed in the AFAC office to represent our ongoing international partnership with Canada.