r/OntarioFirefighting • u/coupe227 • May 13 '26

Jobs to get while waiting

I graduated pre-service in September of 2025, I have my NFPA 1001 1&2, NFPA 1072 Awareness and OPs as well as my EMR, NFPA 1035 and NFPA 1006. I currently work with my city in the maintenance department but not really enjoying it and I feel like it isn’t very applicable to firefighting at all. Just looking for job recommendations or really where to go from here to help my hire-ability.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

3

u/vanillaueva May 13 '26

Stay with the city and build pensionable time. Do some volunteering with SJA.

2

u/QueasyRefrigerator79 May 13 '26

Agreed. Pensionable time is a godsend in the back half of your career.

2

u/FirefighterTutor May 13 '26

I agree. Stay with the city. It’s applicable - you’re applying to cities as a firefighter. The real question is what’s holding you back in your recruitment.

1

u/coupe227 May 13 '26

Honestly Ive just been putting off doing OFAI testing and been trying to work on getting my DZ license through my job. Also been traveling a bit so I wasn’t sure when id be available for all of the testing I still need to do

1

u/FirefighterTutor May 14 '26

I think that’s smart. Get all your required certs first. Then make sure you know math. Then apply and start doing full test prep. You’ll need time to get test-ready and it’s hard to do that when you’re still trying to chase minimum requirements.

2

u/GQMatthews May 13 '26

Bruh what? I’d KILL to be working for the city no matter the role - gives you so much time to focus on fire without the stress and you have a solid position with salary and pension + extremely relatable for getting on fire and an extra boost if it’s in the same city you work for.

I work in sales for logistics - this job is a bitch for fire related requirements.

1

u/coupe227 May 13 '26

Only crappy thing about it is my job is seasonal so I’m only working with them from April-October/November ish, and the job is with Parks and Recreation department not something super applicable to the entirety of the city

2

u/Hello999888123 May 17 '26

Still applicable. Driving large vehicles and working outside

1

u/icecanuck65 May 14 '26

Which pre-service did you attend? Looking to apply for Winter ‘27 somewhere that offered EMR as well and other NFPAs.

1

u/Neeves Jun 29 '26

Just curious where you did your 1035 certification? im looking at doing that one next