Request more info
Find speakers by:
Request more info

Matthew Pegg

Former Toronto Fire Chief | Crisis and Risk Management | Leadership Expert | Mental Health Champion

Chief Matthew Pegg Headshot Aug 2024

Chief Matthew Pegg served more than 32 years as a first responder, including eight years as the chief of Canada’s largest fire and emergency services. In March 2020, he was appointed the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 Incident Commander, where he led the development and operation of one of the largest and most complex incident management systems in North American history. In short, Pegg is at his best when things are at their very worst. Drawing from his extraordinary career, he shares important life and leadership lessons learned while facing immense pressure, imminent danger, and intense public scrutiny.

Hailing as a farm kid from rural Ontario, Pegg’s career in fire services began in 1992, when he became a firefighter for the town of Georgina at the age of 18. He negotiated the first collective agreement with the town on behalf of IAFF Local 3691 as the association’s president. After becoming the deputy chief in Georgina, he was recruited by Ajax Fire and Emergency Services in 2002 to serve as their deputy chief, followed by Brampton in 2008. He joined Toronto Fire Services in 2013 and was promoted to Fire Chief in 2016.

Pegg has been at the helm of some of the largest emergencies Toronto’s seen. His efforts have left him the recipient of several honours including the Heroism and Community Service Medal, Ontario Medal of Firefighter’s Bravery, the Canadian Fire Service Exemplary Service Medal, the Ontario Fire Services Long Service Medal, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal for public service. In 2021, Toronto Life ranked him the 6th most influential person in the city.

Pegg is also a licensed mechanic and commercial pilot, having worked in both industries. He is a graduate of Dalhousie University in both leadership and administration, Queen’s University in labour relations, and the Schulich School of Business in public management. Pegg frequently works with both public and private sector executives on developing and implementing inspirational and transformational leadership and management strategies.

In November 2025, Pegg assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer of Warrior Health, implementing the province of Ontario’s Mental Health Supports for Public Safety Personnel strategy. In this role, he is leading the provision of mental health and resilience supports for Ontario’s more than 80,000 public safety personnel.

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

  • Good Sleep Requires Shiny Shoes: Six-Alarm Leadership

    Chief Matthew Pegg built and maintained an extraordinary reputation and unparalleled level of public, staff, and elected official trust and confidence throughout his 32-year career as a first responder. This included eight years serving as chief of the largest fire and emergency service in Canada, where he was independently ranked as the sixth most influential person in Toronto and maintained a global media profile and presence through some of the nation’s most significant issues and events.

    In this candid, entertaining, and raw keynote, Pegg will share some of the most powerful and important life and leadership lessons learned from his prolific career overseeing some of the largest and most complex emergencies in North American history. They are truly a collection of lessons learned the hard way.

  • Resilience Under Fire

    As the former chief of one of North America’s largest and most complex fire and emergency service organizations, Chief Matthew Pegg is a global expert and champion of personal and professional resilience. His ability to remain calm, focused, and effective under pressure served as the foundation for his successful leadership through some of the largest and most challenging situations in global history, including a global pandemic. Today, Pegg is the Chief Operating Officer of Warrior Health, where he is leading the provision of mental health and resilience supports for Ontario’s more than 80,000 public safety personnel.

    In this keynote, Pegg will share candid truths about life and leadership and how they impact our personal resilience. Drawing from personal and candid experiences during his time as a fire chief, pilot, and emergency incident commander, he will distill practical and effective strategies for maintaining personal resilience in the face of pressure and stress.

  • Leading Through Crisis

    Chief Matthew Pegg is globally respected as being an extraordinary “architect of how” and renowned for delivering exceptional results when things are at their very worst. As the Incident Commander for a global pandemic, Pegg created solutions in the face of daunting pressure and amidst a sea of disinformation and confusion. His experience as an emergency incident commander is largely unparalleled in North America and beyond.

    In this keynote and training session, Pegg will share the skills that emergency incident commanders use to manage and lead through emergencies and crises. He will explore why these skills are largely absent from the c-suite today and how they are found in the uncomfortable space between risk management and crisis communications. Through this, audiences will learn the recipe for results when they matter the most, and leave equipped with the basis for a crisis management playbook to help them thrive under pressure.

  • Chasing Gold: Uncommon Leadership

    Over the course of a 32+ year career, Chief Matthew Pegg has served in some of the highest profile, highest risk, and most demanding roles. This includes serving as a frontline firefighter, the chief of one of North America’s largest fire and emergency services organizations, a corporate pilot, and a licensed mechanic.

    As chief, Pegg led a $530 million dollar organization that employed more than 3,300 people and has personally hired and promoted thousands of people across numerous roles and at all levels of the organization.

    In this keynote, Pegg will share the straight truth about achieving career success today that nobody else will tell you. Drawing on real-life examples and experiences, audiences will learn the skills to propel their career forward, how to navigate today’s recruitment and promotional processes, and how to avoid the pitfalls that derail prospective leaders every day.

Need assistance?

Related Content

More great information and resources.

Articles

Client reviews

  • The J.M. Smucker Company

    Your talk exceeded my expectations and was one of the highlights of our event. The feedback we received from our team was overwhelmingly positive. They were inspired by the stories you shared and your authenticity. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have met you and created this opportunity to be part of our summit.

  • OMERS

    Matthew has spoken at several OMERS and Oxford events, enlightening us about various aspects of his career, including leading through a crisis in 2020 when he was the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 incident commander on the emergency management team. He is an action-oriented speaker who has been at the helm of numerous situations that many of us only read about in newspapers. He always offers relevant leadership takeaways and tips that can be applied to our work, while also highlighting the importance of caring for your mental health and helping to eliminate the stigma associated with this.

  • Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs

    Chief Pegg’s “Good Sleep Requires Shiny Shoes” keynote address at the annual fire chiefs conference brought a heart-felt, hard-earned, and memorable set of insights from the Chief’s experience as head of Canada’s largest emergency operations centre and the country’s largest fire department. His memorable words and visuals, delivered with warmth, wisdom, and candour, can apply as much to everyday life, as they do to leadership, emergency management, and the fire sector.

  • BC Fire Chiefs Association

    Chief Pegg’s keynote presentation was not only engaging and insightful but was also inclusive and relevant to everyone.

  • KEL Consulting Services

    Chief Pegg was the opening keynote speaker at the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association 2024 Annual Conference and Trade Show in Calgary with almost 500 delegates and trade representatives.  The feedback from our delegates was overwhelmingly positive. His focus on life and leadership was insightful and engaging and many commented they wish they could have spent more time with him. Chief Pegg was a pleasure to deal with and a consummate professional.

You might also like

Related speakers.