The fire service in Ontario offers a variety of career opportunities with
unlimited potential for personal challenge and growth.
Most cities and towns throughout Ontario have personnel departments responsible
for the recruitment and selection of firefighters for the municipal fire
service. However, the fire service may hire directly without the benefit of a
municipal personnel department. Although the Office of the Fire Marshal of
Ontario does not recruit firefighters, we offer you some tips and general
information that you may find useful in pursuing a career as a firefighter. The
fire service in Ontario utilizes volunteer or part-time firefighters, and
recruits firefighters on a regular basis.
Although qualifications may vary, a hiring municipality or fire service may
require that you:
In addition you may be given aptitude tests designed to measure your:
There are numerous candidates applying for firefighter positions with the
full-time service throughout Ontario. As a result, candidates possessing
qualifications including theory and basic firefighting skills have a better
chance of being successful in the hiring process.
In order to provide this educational opportunity to potential candidates,
several community colleges throughout the province have been endorsed to deliver
the Pre-Service Firefighter Education & Training Program.
This program was developed through a partnership with the Ontario Association of
Fire Chiefs (OAFC,) the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM,) the fire service and
the community colleges.
This partnership provides an opportunity for the OAFC and the OFM to form
dynamic collaborative agreements with the fire service and community colleges to
best meet the needs of the fire service and the future firefighter. While
completion of the Pre-Service Firefighter Education & Training Program
does not guarantee employment, it certainly provides a more qualified pool of
candidates for selection.
Benefits of the Pre-Service Firefighter Education & Training Program
The Pre-Service graduate:
The Pre-Service graduate receives:
The Pre-Service graduate is also eligible, upon successful completion of the
course and upon being hired by a fire service in Ontario, to apply for and
receive the Ontario Fire College “Firefighter Certificate of Achievement.”
Mandatory Orientation
All community colleges offering this program must provide a mandatory
orientation/information session for prospective students. This session would
cover valuable information for prospective students, such as:
To view the most up-to-date list of endorsed colleges, please go to
http://www.oafc.on.ca/Prof_develop/courses.html