2024 Great Canadian Fire Census Report: Results- Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs

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2024 Great Canadian Fire Census: Results

Veuillez appuyer ici pour la version en français.

The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC), in partnership with the Answer the Call committee, the Data committee, and the National Advisory Council (NAC), is pleased to announce the results of the 2024 Great Canadian Fire Census. This Census describes the state of the fire and emergency sector, and is the most complete up to date data set known.

Based on the surveys used in previous years, the 2024 version of the Census survey was expanded to include questions on key issues from wildfire experiences to the implications of housing development to civilian emergency response, among others. Departments that completed the survey in previous years had the option of updating data already provided and then responding to new questions. Six hundred and fourteen (614) fire departments, serving over twenty-two million (22.5M) Canadians, participated in the 2024 survey. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Read the press release here
Read the written report here

Read about the Census at GR Week 2024

Read our Government Relations Leave-behind

Read our report Towards A National Fire Administration Model for Canada here

Read the table of statistics

Read related media here

Read the 2023 Census Results here

Or watch the 2024 Census results below:

Part I: #CanadaNeedsaNationalFireAdminstration

Part II: #Canada needs to Modernize Fire & Emergency Equipment

Here is a snap shot of the key findings

Table I: Personnel, vacancies and demographics, estimates, all department types (2022-2024)

Data element	2022	2023	2024
Total number of firefighters	125,991	125,628	123,608
Number of volunteer firefighters	89,595 (71%)	88,214 (71%)	87,372 (71%)
Number of career firefighters	36,396 (29%)	37,414 (29%)	36,236 (29%)
Number of vacant positions	14,963 (10%)	14,591 (10%)	15,362 (11%)
Number of women firefighters	13,779 (11%)	14,095 (11%)	15,036 (12%)
Number of firefighters over 50	30,739 (25%)	38,208 (30%)	31,992 (26%)
Number of volunteer firefighters retired in the past year	.	9,415 (8%)	8,927 (7%)
Number of years of service lost retirements represent	.	102,219	99,272

Table II: Call volume and breakdown of calls by department type (2022-2024)

Data element (n=3248)	2022 (Estimates)	2023 (Estimates)	2024 (Estimates)
Total number of calls	2,021,218	1,959,597	2,157,867
Percentage of calls related to fire suppression	7%	10%	10%
Percentage of calls related to extreme weather events	9.5%	10%	4%
Percentage of medical-related calls	44%	48%	49%
Total Fire Department Expenditure	$5,885,419,607	$5,894,646,358	$6,253,000,000

Table III: Expenditures and the State of Fire and Emergency Equipment in Canada (n=3248)

Number of fire departments that…	2023	2024
deferred equipment (44% in 2022)	1740 (54%)	1804 (56%)
primary turn-out gear older than 10 years old	787 (24%)	718 (22%)
self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) older than 15 years old	935 (29%)	858 (26%)
hoses older than 15 years old	159 (5%)	1699 (52%)
pumpers older than 15 years old	1998 (62%)	1963 (60%)
radio network older than 15 years old	965 (30%)	1121 (35%)
rescue-unit older than 20 years old	890 (27%)	886 (27%)
tankers older than 20 years old	1087(33%)	1211(37%)
no dedicated or industrial washing machine for turnout gear or PPE extractor	678 (21%)	573 (18%)

Table IV: Expenditures and the State of Fire and Emergency Equipment in Canada (n=3248)

Number of departments that used	2023	2024
departments that need a new fire truck	1381 (43%)	1495 (46%)
fire trucks, other vehicle 838 (26%) in 2022	1512 (47%)	1561 (48%)
new stations, station upgrades 604 (19%) in 2022	999 (31%)	958 (29%)
comms and computer software, radio, satellite equipment 586 (18%)	717 (22%)	732 (23%)
battery operated tools, compressors, imagers, lighting, power 530 (16%)	586 (18%)	834 (26%)
diving suits, protective clothing, SCBA masks, filters 445 (14%)	844 (26%)	870 (27%)
hoses, nozzles, pumping equipment 376 (12%)	406 (13%)	664 (20%)

Table V: Key indicators related to the state of wildfire and emergency management (n=3248)

Number of departments that:	2024
don’t have access to adequate specialized wildfire firefighting training	1041 (32%)
don’t have wildland structure protection training	1715 (53%)
are in an area that is excluded from protection of the provincial wildland agencies	591 (18%)
have been provided with resources for wildfire equipment from the prov/territories	586 (18%)
need wildfire specific equipment and material to deal with wildfire threat	1647 (51%)
need training to operate recently acquired wildfire equipment	611 (19%)
have trained trainers for FireSmart	658 (20%)
need additional resources for FireSmart purposes	1450 (45%)

Table VI: Housing Development and its impact on city fire departments

Number of departments (composite, career, metro,) n= 555 with	2024
increased caseload due investments in housing development and infrastructure	383 (69%)
additional resource given the expected increase in infrastructure and housing development	94 (17%)

Recommendations:

The purpose of the Great Canadian Fire Census is to present data that encourages evidence-informed policy and programs. Over the next week, Fire Chiefs will again be on the Hill for their annual advocacy days and will make recommendations in the following areas:

Install a National Fire Administration: A national fire administration will coordinate between Canada’s local fire departments, the majority of which are involved in emergency management and a) federal priorities from housing to zero emissions technologies, wildfire, explosives, and transportation; b) nationally between fire departments and wildfire agencies; and c) nationally between organizations making up a civilian emergency response workforce or humanitarian workforce and authorities having jurisdiction locally.
Re-stimulate investment in emergency preparedness equipment: Canada needs to re-stimulate the investment in equipment and training. This has implications for insurance rates, fire protection ratings, housing, new types of fires, and safety. A modernized version of the former Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) could be a cost-shared program intended to encourage reinvestment in equipment and stimulate economies of scale.