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Exploring Trades and Occupations

Fire Chiefs and Senior Firefighting Officers

On this page

  • Job description
  • Advancement and mobility
  • Hourly wage
  • Job prospects for 2024-2028
  • Sectors of activity
  • Training and requirements
  • Main skills and characteristics
  • Personality profiles (RIASEC)
  • Additional information

Job description

These individuals organize, direct, and evaluate firefighting and fire prevention.

Environment

  • Controlled ambient temperature

Main tasks

  • Develop, implement, and evaluate policies and procedures related to the operation of a fire department.
  • Plan, direct, and coordinate firefighting activities.
  • Assess the nature of the fires, the extent of possible damage, and the danger to neighbouring buildings.
  • Lead operations at the scene of a fire.
  • Estimate the damage and investigate the potential causes of the fire once the fire is out.
  • Organize and lead fire prevention campaigns.
  • Represent the department to the government, media, and public.
  • Lead the training of personnel in firefighting methods.
  • Manage budgetary resources.

Advancement and mobility

  • Experience leads to a position as a senior officer.

Hourly wage

Not available.

Job prospects for 2024-2028

Les 2 champs de sélection ci-dessous vous permettent de comparer 2 régions. Les données des régions seront automatiquement mises à jour à la sélection. Par défaut, la province de Québec est sélectionnée pour la première région.

Job prospects for 2024-2028

Job prospects

All of Québec

Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available

All of Québec

Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available

Total jobs for 2023

All of Québec

600

All of Québec

na

Gender distribution

All of Québec

Not available.
5.5% Female
94.5% Male

Not available.
  • 5.5% Female
  • 94.5% Male

Job types

All of Québec

Not available.
Full time
Part time

Not available.
  • Full time
  • Part time

Yearly wage on 2020

All of Québec

$99,000

All of Québec

Other characteristics

All of Québec

  • Non traditional for women
  • None

All of Québec

  • Non traditional for women
  • None

Sectors of activity

All of Québec

Not available.
  1. Public Administration
    NAICS 91
    98% of jobs
  2. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  3. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  4. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  5. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  6. Others
    0% of jobs

All of Québec

Not available.
  1. Public Administration
    NAICS 91
    98% of jobs
  2. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  3. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  4. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  5. Construction
    NAICS 23
    2% of jobs
  6. Others
    0% of jobs

Training and requirements

Formation

Most training programs are offered in French only.

Numerous training and study programs lead to managerial or executive positions.

Secondary

DVS in fire Safety Techniques
Code : 5822
DVS in intervention en sécurité incendie
Code : 5322

Placement rate: 25%

74.5% of graduates pursue further studies

More on graduates’ employment situation

College

ACS in officier d'opérations en sécurité incendie
Code : JCC15
ACS in officier de gestion en sécurité incendie
Code : JCC14
DCS in techniques de sécurité incendie
Code : 311A0

Placement rate: 89%

6.8% of graduates pursue further studies

More on graduates’ employment situation

Also required

  • Training certificate from the École nationale des pompiers du Québec [Quebec National Firefighting School].

Sometimes required

  • Knowledge of the existing computerized system often required.
  • A minimum of 10 years of experience as a firefighter is often required to advance to a senior officer position.
  • A Class 4A driver's licence is often required.

Main skills and characteristics

Skills

  • Data collection
  • Coordination
  • Critical thought
  • Result evaluation
  • Solving complex problems
  • Active listening
  • Oral expression
  • Information processing
  • Social perception
  • Active learning
  • Written expression
  • Human resource management
  • Time management
  • Judgment and decision-making
  • Reading comprehension
  • Service oriented
  • Teaching
  • Learning strategies
  • Systems evaluation
  • Monitoring operations
  • Operations and control
  • System analysis
  • Negotiation
  • Persuasion
  • Operation analysis
  • Quality control analysis
  • Equipment maintenance
More Less skills

Abilities

  • Awareness of issues
  • Oral comprehension
  • Deductive reasoning
  • Verbal skills
  • Information organization
  • Written comprehension
  • Distance vision
  • Inductive reasoning
  • Near vision
  • Processing flexibility
  • Speech clarity
  • Perception speed
  • Written expression
  • Time sharing
  • Speech recognition
  • Classification
  • Limb coordination
  • Manual dexterity
  • Idea generation
  • Control accuracy
  • Static muscle power
  • Hand-arm stability
  • Information processing speed
  • Originality
  • Physical flexibility in extension
  • Reaction time
  • Auditory attention
  • Selective attention
  • Colour perception and distinction
  • Depth perception
  • Endurance
  • Response orientation
  • Visualization
  • Basic numeracy
  • Core strength
  • Digital dexterity
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Memorization
More Less abilities

Knowledge and attributes

  • Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
  • Capacity to work under pressure
  • Diplomacy
  • Leadership
  • Political sense
  • Knowledge of administration and management
  • Knowledge of personnel and human resource management
  • Strategic sense
  • Rigour
  • Availability

Interests

  • Direct, organize, and manage
  • Watch, defend, and secure
  • Work in an office

Personality profiles (RIASEC)

Enterprising
People with this profile prefer having responsibilities, influencing others and responding to challenges.
Investigative
People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
Realistic
People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
Additional information

Official name of the NOC 40041

Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers

Job titles

  • District fire chief
  • Division chief - fire department
  • Fire chief
  • Fire department assistant manager
  • Fire department assistant deputy chief
  • Fire department duty officer
  • Senior firefighting officer
  • Deputy fire chief
  • Firefighters executive officer
  • Airport fire department chief
  • Industrial fire chief
  • Refinery fire chief
  • Sawmill fire chief
More Less job titles

Skill type

Management

Related occupations

  • Firefighters

See also

  • Glossary (PDF 229 Kb)
  • Québec emploi

See also

Non traditional

Hats Off to You!

Last update: January 29, 2026

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