For years, forest firefighters in Ontario have been calling on the provincial government to reclassify their jobs to recognize them as an emergency service in a bid to stem recruitment and retention issues.

It’s a change the Ford government promised it would take on after sustained pressure from front-line staff and union officials.

The province now says work to reclassify forest firefighters — officially called resource technicians — has been “completed,” and is blaming the Ontario Public Service Employees Union for a delay in announcing the move.

Whether the terms the government has put forward address the substantive changes called for by forest firefighters is contested.

Draft information seen by Global News shows the reclassification involves renaming positions within the existing union structure — and moving people one category further up the grid, for a raise of roughly $3 per hour.

For example, those currently categorized as Resource Technicians will be moved up to Resource Technician 2. Their job title will then be changed from Resource Technician to “Wildland Firefighter 2.” If signed by the union, the change would be backdated.

According to the information seen by Global News, the changes will lead to an hourly pay increase of roughly $3 per hour, which will be backdated. More senior crew members, whose pay is calculated on a weekly basis, will see an increase closer to $5 per hour.

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It will not majorly change working conditions, rights or benefits.

The government said it was “ready to implement changes immediately,” but the union isn’t happy with the terms.

OPSEU President JP Hornick said they were concerned the new deal would not guarantee the number of years someone has worked will be copied over from the previous deal.

“What’s actually really bad about this current offer is that it will not recognize the years of service in the implementation of a new wage grid,” they said.

The risk of excluding years of service means long-term employees who have built up better terms and pay within a certain union bracket over time could find themselves back at the same point as much newer colleagues who have less experience.

“Without that guarantee, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” Hornick said.

Ontario Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon chided the government for not meeting the union’s request.

“Wildland fire rangers risk their lives to successfully fight fires that are larger, and longer, with fewer resources, and lower wages. They are absolutely essential to our province’s survival, especially as the frequency, and unpredictability of wildland fires grow due to the climate crisis’ extreme weather conditions,” she said in a written statement.

“Their compensation must reflect their immeasurable worth to our society, and their singular experience. To propose anything less is a dismissal of the invaluable work of wildland fire rangers, and a demonstration of willingness to risk the safety of our province.”

Reclassification is something forest firefighters have pushed on the government amidst crew shortages and front-line inexperience. They have argued that being reclassified as firefighters should give them better job security, pay and benefits.

Internally, the government acknowledged Ontario has an issue with the recruitment and retention of forest firefighters through a series of reports and communications.

In July 2022, for example, the director of Ontario’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services issued a memo saying he had “noticed both a decline in the number of people applying for positions” as well as an increase in the number of people leaving.

Hornick said $3 an hour would do little to address the recruitment and retention issues. OPSEU says the new deal would take Ontario from the lowest to the second-lowest paid firefighters in the country.

Last year, the province also offered a one-time $5,000 bonus to attract forest firefighters.

Hornick said the reclassification demand, which the union feels hasn’t been met, is a minimal request.

“They’re not asking for the moon — we’re not looking for these people to be jumping into the stratosphere on wages,” they said. “But we do need these other things if we’re going to actually make it a viable option for people to stay as wildland firefighters in Ontario.”

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