TORONTO — The union representing MNR fire rangers says a disagreement over seniority is standing in the way of a new deal that would change the way they are classified.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has been pushing for wildland fire crews to be formally designated as firefighters, similar to how municipal firefighters are classified for the purposes of pay and benefits. Currently, wildland fire rangers are officially technicians, said JP Hornick, the president of OPSEU.
“When you look at why is reclassification important, the current low wages for wildland firefighters in Ontario means that we can't compete with other jurisdictions in Canada — they're literally the lowest paid in Canada,” Hornick said.
“So, it negatively impacts our ability to engage in recruitment and reclassifying them from technicians to firefighters — what title they have — would mean that they have access to more competitive wages for these jobs.”
Hornick added that this is an issue that goes back “years.” In February 2024, David Piccini, the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, committed in the legislature to implementing that reclassification. “We look forward, as we’ve done multiple times in session, to implement working for workers legislation, and I appreciate the input from all members of this place,” Piccini said at the time.
In a statement to Newswatch, Maria Votsis, the spokesperson for Mike Harris, the Minister of Natural Resources, said that “the reclassification work has been completed and the government has been waiting for OPSEU to sign the agreement since early April.”
“We are prepared to implement the reclassification changes immediately.”
Hornick said the reason the union hasn’t signed anything is a disagreement over how seniority would be managed. He said currently, seniority wouldn’t be factored in when people transfer over to the new pay grid, meaning that someone on a higher pay level as a technician would drop down to the base level as a firefighter.
“Years of service are years of service,” Hornick said.
Lise Vaugeois, the MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, said it’s an issue she and her NDP colleagues have been pressing.
“You could hire a thousand new people, but you still would have a problem on the ground because you wouldn't have any experienced people to lead the crews,” she said, adding that Ontario is down 33 per cent of its experienced fire rangers. “Those people are not coming back.”
“What they're looking for is a living wage.”
In October 2024, the province announced a $64 million infusion in partnership with Ottawa to “strengthen the province’s wildland fire program.”
“Our government is making critical investments in our wildland fire program — on the ground and in the air — to keep Ontario at the leading edge of wildland firefighting,” Graydon Smith, then the Minister of Natural Resources was quoted as saying in a media release.
“As an internationally recognized leader in wildland fire safety, we are preparing for more frequent and complex fire seasons to protect our communities now and in the future.”
The government said at the time that the money was, in part, going to efforts to create new permanent year-round positions, provide retention payments and “supporting wildland firefighters and investigators with improved access to benefit entitlements and eligibility for the same presumptive benefits as municipal firefighters and fire investigators.”
Vaugeois said those presumptive benefits are around cancer care.
Hornick, with OPSEU, said the province still needs to do more to invest in improving pay, equipment and job security for wildland firefighters. Much like a parallel issue with a shortage of wildland firefighting pilots and other staff, he said, Ontario is short dozens of forest firefighting crews as well.
“What we're seeing is that the fire season is intensifying across Canada and we cannot rely on out-of-province support or international support to make up the difference,” he said.
“The fires are more volatile, the crews can't keep up with the demand.”
