News Retention
Ontario launches incentive payment of $5,000 to attract, retain wildland firefighters

The Ontario government is spending more than $5 million to attract, retain and recognize wildland firefighting staff for the 2024 fire season to protect people and communities across the province.

The money is coming in the form of an attraction and retention incentive payment of up to $5,000 to employees in front-line fire, aviation and critical support positions to support the 2024 fire season.

“Wildland firefighting staff work tirelessly under very difficult conditions to protect the health and safety of Ontarians, their property and our natural resources. This is a respected and challenging career in our natural resources sector,” said Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “In addition to this incentive, we continue to explore longer-term strategies and solutions to support attraction and retention of critical jobs for future years.”

More than 1,000 workers eligible

More than 1,000 front-line wildland fire rangers and aviation crew members are eligible to receive this attraction and retention incentive. These crews are challenged with the critical work of detecting and fighting fires both on the ground and in the air.

Additional bonus for support staff represented by OPSEU

In addition to the up to $5,000 given to front-line firefighting staff, in recognition of the valuable support they provide, all other OPSEU-represented support staff in the Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services Branch at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will receive a one-time payment of up to $1,000.

“These attraction and retention incentive payments build on the government’s ongoing efforts to support wildland firefighting staff, including expanding eligibility for standby and on-call pay, reimbursing eligible expenses related to training and other mandatory courses, providing up to $500 annually towards the cost of special safety boots and actively marketing summer job and career opportunities in this important public safety program,” the province said in a press release.

More than 100 new positions being created

The government is also taking action to support the wildland fire program with the creation of more than 100 permanent positions to meet the demands of escalated and increasingly complex fire seasons, it said.

“These positions will contribute to building leadership and experience within our wildland fire program by adding new year-round positions that will support career path opportunities for fire rangers and other staff,” it said.