Investing in firefighters to cut costs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2025 (255 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Staff shortages at the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service have been a problem for years. Despite that, city council has refused to increase staffing levels while also paying millions of dollars a year in overtime costs.

The result? Increased burnout and mental health anguish for firefighters and rising costs for taxpayers. That’s because while city hall is saving money by keeping WFPS complements below national levels, it is paying out as much — possibly more — in overtime costs to fill scheduling gaps.

It is a classic case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

A new report from the union representing Winnipeg firefighters is proposing the city hire 59 new full-time firefighters, not only to reduce overtime costs but also to lower the risk of staff burnout.

“We’re not asking for more money, we are asking for the money that’s already been spent to be reinvested in a smarter way,” said United Firefighters of Winnipeg president Nick Kasper. “You’re spending that money anyway, but you’re doing it in a way that is at the expense of our members’ health.”

According to the report, Winnipeg has 167 firefighters on shift daily, less than the 171 it did in 1981, making it the “leanest fire service in the country.” It is also among the busiest in Canada, the report found. Winnipeg’s 933 firefighters responded to almost 154,000 fire and medical calls last year.

Among the calls: 200 vacant structure fires, a rate that has increased by 245 per cent since 2018, according to the report.

To fill the staffing gap, the city spent $13 million in overtime costs last year, about $7 million of which was over budget.

A firefighter survey conducted by the union earlier this year found 98 per cent of respondents feel burnout is a serious concern, while the same percentage say they suffer from work-related stress and believe their psychological health is under threat.

Given those statistics, it should come as no surprise that the WFPS reported last year that the number of approved Workers’ Compensation Board claims has tripled from about 40 per month in 2016 to 120 per month in 2024.

City council has been warned about these outcomes for years, dating back to at least 2018 when firefighter overtime costs began to climb.

Despite that, Mayor Scott Gillingham seems unconvinced. He says he wants to see how new hires funded by the province will help alleviate the problem before committing more resources to increase staffing levels.

The NDP government earlier this year budgeted millions in new funding to hire 24 new firefighters. And while a class of 30 new fire recruits will soon be on the job, the union says those new positions will only offset attrition.

The city is also looking at other ways of reducing pressure on firefighters, including cracking down on the growing number of vacant and derelict buildings across the city, many of which have been going up in flames. But that takes time and there’s no guarantee the city will succeed.

In the meantime, it seems obvious the city needs to increase its complement of firefighters, not only to reduce stress and improve mental health among staff, but also to cut down on overtime hours, which are charged at a higher rate than regular salaries.

It’s understandable the city may be reluctant to increase WFPS staffing levels, given the financial stress it’s under. But doing nothing may end up costing taxpayers more in the long run. That’s something city council should examine more thoroughly when it does its multi-year budget planning.