Rocky View County firefighter recruitment guide

Where Rocky View County hiring stands

The County accepts applications only when a competition is open. You can build a profile on its careers page at any time and sign up for email alerts for Fire Services postings.

Rocky View Fire Services is a composite service with career full time, part time and paid per call members. The County lists about 110 part time and 120 paid per call firefighters, and 24 full time firefighters, four battalion captains, two deputy chiefs and a fire chief. It runs four full time composite stations, in Springbank, Elbow Valley, Balzac and Bearspaw, and three paid per call stations, in Langdon, Irricana and Madden. Full time firefighters work 24 hour shifts on a rotation at one of the four composite stations.

The full time page says competitions for full time firefighters are posted internally first and filled by firefighters already serving the County. Joining as a part time or paid per call firefighter puts you among the serving members when a full time competition opens.

A 2020 Council policy says the County works with Alberta Health Services to provide Medical First Response. The County's minimum medical qualification for its firefighters is Standard First Aid and CPR C.

Who can apply

The County lists these requirements for every firefighter:

• 18 years of age or older.
• Physically fit.
• A non GDL driver's licence.
• A clean criminal record, medical clearance and a driver's abstract.
• A Standard First Aid and CPR C certificate.

Full time firefighters also need:

• A Class 3Q licence, or equivalent.
• NFPA 1001 Level 2 certification with an IFSAC or Pro Board seal.
• NFPA 1002 Driver/Operator.
• WHMIS.
• High school graduation.

Part time firefighters need three of those: the Class 3Q licence or equivalent, NFPA 1001 Level 2 with an IFSAC or Pro Board seal, and high school graduation.

Check that your NFPA 1001 Level 2 certificate carries the seal, since the County asks for one in both streams.

Firefighter Resume Guide

The full time process, step by step

A full time application needs a resume and cover letter, and copies of the training certificates listed above. The County says that once your complete package is received and reviewed, you may be selected to begin six stages, in this order.

Step 1: Exam

A two hour exam based on the content covered in NFPA 1001 Level 2. Study from the Level 2 material you certified on.

Step 2: Report Completion Exercise

The County lists this stage by name. Ask about the format when you are invited, and keep your report writing in practice in your current role.

Step 3: Personality assessment

You complete either a Hogan or a DISC personality assessment. The County says it gives insight into your behavioural style in leadership, management and other workplace situations, and provides input into your fit for the position. Answer honestly and consistently.

Step 4: Reference check

A reference check with your supervisor or pool Captain.

Step 5: Interview with presentation

The interview uses behaviour based and scenario based questions and is held with a small panel. A presentation is part of it, and the County supplies the topic before the interview with adequate time to prepare.

Behaviour questions need real examples from your own work, told with a clear result. Scenario questions ask what you would do, so practise reasoning out loud through priorities, safety and who you would tell. Rehearse the presentation to time once you have the topic.

Firefighter Interview Preparation

Northline Interview preparation options

Step 6: Selection committee

Your file goes to the selection committee. If you are selected, the County sends an offer package, and it notifies unsuccessful candidates.

The part time process, step by step

Part time firefighters are casual employees who work a minimum of 168 hours per quarter at one of the four full time stations. The County publishes seven numbered stages, in this order. The physical test comes near the end, after the interview and references.

Step 1: Exam

A two hour general aptitude test.

Firefighter Aptitude Test Guide

Step 2: Beep test

The beep test measures aerobic capacity (VO2 max). You run continuously between two points 20 metres apart, and 8.6 is the passing mark. Train with a 20 metre shuttle recording so you know the pace well before test day.

Firefighter Physical Preparation Guide

Step 3: Skills testing

You are evaluated on five firefighting skills. The County links an evaluator's sheet for each, with the steps scored and a pass mark. The sheets are labelled Recruitment 2022, and four were printed in March 2022 and one in May 2019, so check them again when a competition opens.

The scored steps are public, so you can drill each skill against the County's own sheet. Where a sheet gives two standards, train to the stricter one: every ladder step correct, and SCBA on in a minute.

Candidates who pass skills testing go on a prequalified list, ranked by the marks they have accumulated to that point, so a higher score in each early stage moves you up it. When positions become available, the County contacts candidates in list order.

Step 4: Interview

Behaviour and scenario based questions, held with a small panel. Bring:

• Contact information for three references.
• A criminal record check with vulnerable sectors, from within six months of the competition opening date.
• A five year commercial driver's abstract, from within one month of the date of the interview, covering every province you have lived in for the past five years.

If you have lived in more than one province, order an abstract from each one early.

Step 5: Reference checks

Completed by Rocky View County.

Step 6: CPAT

You submit a CPAT result current within one year. The County says testing opportunities will be made available through the City of Calgary, and it also gives a University of Alberta contact.

The CPAT comes after the interview, so keep your fitness up through the whole process. Book early to have the result in hand when the County asks for it.

Firefighter Physical Testing in Alberta

CPAT preparation

Step 7: Selection committee and recruit class

If you pass every final stage, your file goes to the selection committee. If you are selected and accept the offer, you are scheduled for a 10 day recruit class. The County reported 20 part time firefighters graduating on 23 May 2025, and a recruit class of 2026 graduating on 26 June 2026 at Station 107.

Paid per call firefighters

The County's third stream staffs the paid per call stations in Madden, Irricana and Langdon. Applicants must live within a 15 minute drive of one of those stations, and the County says intake is clustered twice a year, in spring and fall. For candidates in that area it is a third way to join the County.

What the County says about the work

The County careers page asks you to join a team that values excellence, community and innovation, and says its staff deliver quality services to a unique and diverse community.

The full time personality assessment looks at your behavioural style in leadership, management and other workplace situations. Prepare interview examples that show how you lead, follow and handle conflict on a crew. If you already serve with the County, draw them from your own shifts.

Rocky View County preparation priorities

• Confirm your NFPA 1001 Level 2 carries an IFSAC or Pro Board seal, and add NFPA 1002 and WHMIS if you are aiming for full time.
• Build a profile on the County careers page and turn on Fire Services alerts.
• For part time, train the 20 metre beep test past 8.6 and drill the five skills against the County's sheets.
• Treat every early part time mark as ranking, since the list is ordered by accumulated marks.
• Line up three references, a recent criminal record check and abstracts for every province you have lived in.
• Keep a CPAT result current, or book one, before the County asks for it.
• For full time, study NFPA 1001 Level 2 content and practise a presentation to time.