NFPA releases stats on Canadian departments

May 8, 2018 – The National Fire Protection Association released profiles on Canadian fire departments. The report includes statistics from 2014 to 2016 on the departments and firefighters as well as information on the numbers of fire stations, pumps, ladders and more that each department has access to.

Here are some of the statistics and research the NFPA shared:

• There were 152,650 local firefighters in Canada.
• Seventeen per cent (26,000) were career firefighters and 83 per cent (126,650) were volunteer.
• Compared to the U.S., Canada had 17 per cent career firefighters while the U.S. had 30 per cent. Canada had 83 per cent volunteer firefighters and the U.S. had 70 per cent volunteer firefighters.
• Firefighters in smaller communities are more likely to be volunteers.
• 3,672 fire departments were active. Sixty-six were all career, 44 were mostly career, 501 were mostly volunteer, 3,061 were all volunteer.
• Canadian fire departments generally protect larger land areas with less stations and equipment then those in the U.S.
• Fifty-one per cent of Canadian fire departments provided basic life support, five per cent provided advanced life support and 44 per cent provided no emergency medical service.

Visit www.nfpa.org/research to see the full report.