Job prospects Fire Chief in British Columbia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "fire chief" in British Columbia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in British Columbia

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers (NOC 40041) in British Columbia for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• Several positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Increasing wildfires and the B.C. Government commitment to establishing a year-round force for the B.C. Wildfire service will further increase demand.

As a result of climate change, B.C. faces an increasing incidence and severity of forest fires, heat domes, and atmospheric rivers, which may result in flooding and landslides. B.C. is also at risk of seismic activity, including earthquakes and tsunamis. Opportunities for employment in this occupation will likely increase to mitigate and/or react to the social and economic impacts of these disasters.

Here are some key facts about Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers in British Columbia:

• Approximately 500 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.
• Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Local, municipal, regional, aboriginal and other public administration (NAICS 913-919): 95%
  • Provincial and territorial public administration (NAICS 912): 5%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 89% compared to 78% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 11% compared to 22% for all occupations
• 89% of fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers work all year, while 11% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 50 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 94% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 6% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 23% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 19% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 40% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 12% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 5% compared to 12% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in British Columbia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "fire chief" Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers (NOC 40041) or across Canada.

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