Chris J. Collins

Chris J. Collins has over 30 years’ experience within the emergency field. Chris started his professional career as a medic with the Canadian Armed Forces, Special Services Force, recipient of the Top Candidate Award. He transitioned into policing, serving with the Halton Regional Police. He served in many specialized units: Homicide, Criminal Investigations Bureau, Drug and Morality Bureau, Tactical Rescue Unit as Commander, Training Bureau as officer in charge. He was the Events Coordinator responsible for such events as the Canadian Open, Jazz Festival, numerous parades and other special events. He was the supervisor in charge of security at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Equestrian Venue. Chris developed, trained, and operated the Search Incident Response Team.

As a result of September 11, 2001 incident, Chris joined a number of other subject matter experts responsible for hiring and training specialized nuclear security officers for Canada. He assisted in the developing and training staff in areas such as incident command, emergency response and recovery. Chris developed plans and oversaw operational oversight for large events such as the PanAm Equestrian, Invictus Games at York University and still delivers specialized curricula to entities such as Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, York University, private security firms and other private and public entities in areas of emergency management.

Chris continues his life learning by being a provincial trainer in areas of emergency management for the province of Ontario and continues to travel internationally, delivering training in areas of emergency management. Chris has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, Master’s in Emergency Management and will be completing his doctorate shortly. He is currently a faculty member at Centennial College. Chris is the co-editor of Introduction to Emergency Management in Canada.