Incident Command System (I-Series)
ICS Canada Affiliated Programs
The foundational curriculum. Every position on an Incident Management Team or in an EOC starts here.
Where every practitioner starts. ICS-100 covers the history, features, principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System — the management framework deployed across every major emergency in Canada. Half a day, no prerequisites. The foundation for everything that follows.
ICS-200 moves from structure to function — delegation of authority, management by objectives, briefings, organizational flexibility, and transfer of command. Designed for those who fill or will fill a supervisory role within a crisis management team. Two days.
When incidents grow, so does complexity. ICS-300 addresses the unique demands of an expanding or escalating situation: unified command, resource management, the planning process, and transfer of command at scale. Three days. The working level of operational ICS.
Complex incidents — multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional, simultaneous — demand command-level application of ICS. ICS-400 covers the functions of command and general staff during the most demanding operational environments. Two days.
Training Built for the Position. Delivered by Those Who Have Held It.
Position-specific training is where certification ends and qualification begins. Each program below is designed for a specific role on a Type III All-Hazards Incident Management Team — the command-level positions that determine whether an activation succeeds or stalls. Every program is delivered by a practitioner who has held that position on real incidents, at scale.
The most demanding qualification in the catalog. This 26-hour program prepares emergency management personnel for command-level responsibility on a Type III AHIMT — managing the full command and general staff, directing strategy and tactics, overseeing communications, finance, staffing, and the transfer of command. The IC program covers what no classroom-only course can: the judgment and art required to lead an incident management team from the chair.
Four days. The most tactically demanding general staff position on any IMT. This program covers the full scope: translating incident objectives into tactical action, managing resources across divisions and groups, maintaining operational tempo when conditions are changing, and keeping the command picture current. Exercises, simulations, and peer discussion throughout.
Four days. The intelligence engine of the IMT. The Planning Section Chief runs the planning cycle end to end — maintaining situational awareness, coordinating the Resources and Situation Units, structuring meetings and briefings, and producing the operational documentation record that follows every significant activation. Taught by planners who have run the cycle under real operational pressure.
25+ contact hours. The Logistics Section Chief keeps the IMT supplied, sheltered, fuelled, and functional across the full operational period. This program covers every unit within the Logistics Section — Facilities, Ground Support, Supply, Food, Medical, and Communications — and the coordination responsibilities that keep nothing from falling through the cracks when the activation runs long.
20+ contact hours. Division and Group Supervisors are where command intent meets operational reality. This program addresses supervision and personnel management, information gathering and dissemination, risk management, and the coordination required to keep field operations aligned with the Planning Cycle and the objectives above.
19+ contact hours. Strike Team and Task Force Leaders operate at the sharpest edge of the response. This program covers all phases from pre-response through demobilization — with emphasis on leadership and personnel supervision, information dissemination, risk management, and execution within an operational period.
Emergency Operations & Coordination Centres
One day. Built for anyone who operates in or supports an Emergency Operations Centre. This program bridges the EOC-ICS relationship, covers the organizational structure and functions of the EOC, and integrates the human factors that determine whether an activation holds together under pressure — decision making, stress management, situational leadership, and rapid team building.
Modular, 3-hour workshops on specific topics — effective briefings, EOC tools, communications, stress management, decision making under pressure, and rapid team building. Designed to maintain capacity between exercises and build depth across crisis management teams. Topic selection is guided by exercise debrief findings and organizational need. Delivered as required, customized to context.
Leadership in High-Risk Environments
The L-Series develops leaders across the full spectrum — from first exposure to human factors through immersive incident command simulation. Each program is customized to the client's operational context and grounded in Exigent's Order to Chaos model.
Six hours. The entry point. L-180 builds a shared vocabulary of human performance — situation awareness, communication responsibilities, decision making and risk, and team cohesion. Designed to create operators, not followers. Delivered to wildland fire, structural fire and rescue, law enforcement, emergency medicine, and industry contexts.
Two days — one in the classroom, one in the field. L-280 is a self-assessment program for qualified personnel preparing to step into leadership. The Field Leadership Assessment Course places participants in small-team leadership scenarios that reveal what they're ready for — and what they're not. A frank reckoning before the real assignment arrives.
36 hours across four or five days. Three operational variants — Fireline Leadership, Fire Service Leadership, and Leading Emergency Responders — each built for a specific context. Certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (CA-002-PREV), the only program of its kind to hold that designation. Designed for first-line leaders across fire service, emergency management, search and rescue, EMS, public safety, oil and gas, and industry. Half classroom and discussion, half field and simulation.
Five days. The most demanding program in the leadership curriculum. L-381 places participants in leadership positions within a fully simulated all-risk incident — nine sequential simulation blocks, approximately 75% of the program spent in active simulation. Graduates leave with firsthand experience in the human behaviors required to lead an incident management team: command presence, leader's intent, operational tempo, rapid team building, and the decision making demanded when the situation won't hold still. Built for leaders in transition from technical roles to command positions, and for IMTs that need to establish a performance baseline before the next activation.
Custom Programs
Bespoke leadership and crisis management curriculum, built for the operational realities of specific agencies, services, and partner organizations.
Programs delivered through Exigent draw on a body of frameworks developed and refined over more than 35 years of practice — including the Defeat the Beast of Stress framework for performance under pressure, the Know Thyself self-assessment, the 1-3-1 framework for time-constrained decisions, the 80% Rule for high-tempo command, Trust But Verify, Signal-to-Noise prioritization, the DDB Expectations framework, and the Order to Chaos operating system for incident management teams, EOCs, and ECCs.