Volunteer Firefighter – Ottawa (ON) – 2023

OFS responds from 45 stations located across the City of Ottawa. Collectively, these stations provide service to over 950,000 residents across 2,796 square kilometres.

The OFS team is comprised of career fire fighters, volunteer firefighters as well as inspection, education, safety and communications personnel.

When compared to the largest metropolitan fire departments in Canada, OFS serves a geographic area that exceeds the total combined area served by fire services in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. Additionally, OFS’s coverage is more than four times that of Toronto, Canada’s most populous city.

OFS personnel provide many valuable services to the community including:

• Public fire safety education;
• Application of fire safety standards and enforcement, including thorough fire cause, origin and circumstance evaluations, Fire Code compliance, investigations, fire inspections and risk assessments;
• Effective emergency response, including fire suppression and medical emergency calls, and rescue operations (e.g. water/ice rescue, automobile extrication, confined space, trench, collapse and high angle) and special operations such as responding to hazardous materials calls; and
• Recruitment outreach and community engagement campaigns such as Camp FFIT (Female Firefighters in Training).

Volunteer firefighters are compensated for attending training, emergencies, and station duties.

Volunteer firefighters are responsible for a variety of duties including, but not limited to:

• Responding to calls for rescue and fire emergencies which may include working within hazardous environments when fighting fires, taking part in several rescue scenarios, and administering medical aid
• Participating in regular training and maintenance work of the fire station and equipment
• Working within a chain of command management structure, making decisions as well as to adhering to orders and direction
• Participating in public education opportunities and supporting local community events

• All applicants must be 18 years or older at time of application
• All applicants must have a valid G Ontario driver’s license at time of application
• All applicants must live or work in an area served by a volunteer fire station