Toronto HUSAR will provide a significant number of benefits to all sectors of Emergency Services, our community and to the province and beyond.

The first benefit would be to the Toronto Emergency Services in streamlining the training necessary for the Team. It has been established that the Fire Service in the GTA, and in the province, lacks the capability to provide the type of service that Toronto HUSAR will be able to provide. The Fire Service has, and does, offer components of the overall program but not in the genre of the "Technical Rescue Specialist". This program will facilitate access to a wide variety of technical rescue specialties, adding to the current arsenal. The very nature of the project will enhance the emergency preparedness of our city.

Toronto HUSAR will provide the ability for the city to deal with any type of disaster or threat using its in-house resources before requesting outside assistance. This will ensure a more efficient and more effective response, getting needed expertise and resources to the scene sooner. It will allow us to deal with events similar to Oklahoma City by ourselves and to prepare for events like the hosting of the Olympic games.

Operations within the Urban Search and Rescue Theatre are extremely labour intensive. No one jurisdiction is capable of providing this type of intervention over a prolonged period. It is essential that all jurisdictions with this capability establish a system by which all of the various components share as much common information as possible. Joint training exercises must be encouraged. As well, operational planning for disasters in each jurisdiction represented must be published. Through this type of cooperation Canada's disaster mitigation capabilities will improve, greatly increasing our national image and reputation as a whole.

Our new city, and it’s new organization, view this type of initiative as a great opportunity in terms of the potential for sharing resources and expertise. This cooperation is not mutually exclusive to emergency operations but for day to day operations as well. Our business community will be able to reap the benefits of Toronto HUSAR because of its dedication to the "business continuity" after a major emergency. The Team will stay on the scene and work with local business to re-start the local business economy. The support we are receiving from the business community, and the growing list of stakeholders aligning themselves with this project is largely a reflection of the benefits they see to our community, to other communities throughout the province and to the federal community. In addition to the organizations responsibilities here at home, Toronto HUSAR can provide significant benefits to global humanitarian efforts. At full readiness, the Team will be available for deployment anywhere in the world.

When Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson made a place for Canada in the world’s Peacekeeping efforts, he set the stage for world class cities, such as Toronto, to renew their presence on the humanitarian stage.