Things are about to heat up for Meadow Lake firefighters – at least as far as their regular paycheques are concerned. During the regular meeting of Meadow Lake city council held Monday, Oct. 26, a new firefighter remuneration and training policy was adopted. “The City of Meadow Lake does not presently have a formal policy in place to guide the compensation or training of firefighters, nor for city staff who are volunteer members of the Meadow Lake Fire Department,” explained city manager Amanda Flasch in her official recommendation to council. “This policy is reflective of the present compensation methods used by the fire department – base hourly pay, qualifications pay, years of service pay, on-call rate, designated acting fire chief pay, early morning premium, winter premium and annual bonus.”
Flasch went on to note a comprehensive review of the Meadow Lake Fire Department’s compensation rates was last conducted in 2015. “Since then, the only adjustment has been a $3 increase to the base rate in 2023 (17 to $20),” she said in her recommendation. “The Meadow Lake Fire Department is instrumental in providing emergency services to the city and several neighbouring communities. The department continues to see challenges with recruitment of new members, and it is imperative the city support the fire department and act as a prime employer example to encourage other businesses to value the importance of supporting their staff who choose to join and to allow them to attend to emergency calls during working hours.”
This policy was presented to formalize the present practices of the Meadow Lake Fire Department and to update the remuneration rates for fire department members. Flasch said it is necessary to formalize the remuneration methods for the department, while also setting regulations for city employees who are members of the fire department. “For at least the past decade, the city has had several employees as Meadow Lake Fire Department members,” she stated. “With the increasing demand for emergency services, the city has seen a growing interest from staff to join the fire department. This policy will clarify the regulations required of city staff who are also Meadow Lake Fire Department members, in terms of responding to emergency calls during scheduled work hours, outside of scheduled work hours and the subsequent means of compensation. In 2025, of the 221, only 13 calls occurred during city work hours.”
Based on the emergency calls from 2025, the wages for the fire department would be expected to increase by approximately $30,000. “Formalizing the remuneration for the Meadow Lake Fire Department may help with attraction and retention of members,” Flasch continued. “It also recognizes the Meadow Lake Fire Department members are contributing their personal time in support of the city’s responsibility to provide emergency response services to our community and neighbouring municipalities. The attendance of city staff to emergency calls during their scheduled work hours will require approvals from direct supervisors to ensure city operations are not negatively impacted by their absence.”
According to the new policy, the hourly base rate for firefighters will increase from $20 to $25, the on-call rate will increase from $90 to $120, the designated acting fire chief rate will increase from $110 to $150, the early morning premium will go from $30 to $40 and the annual bonus will increase from $240 to $300. The motion to approve the new policy was made by councillor Marty Bishop and seconded by councillor Mauri Young. “What this is all about is recruiting and retaining firefighters,” reiterated councillor Tom Harrison. Councillor Conrad Read agreed. “I think a lot of it is,” he said. “The only thing I maybe have a concern with is the part (of the policy) regarding city employees that states, when attending an emergency call during scheduled work, a city employee shall receive both their wage from the city and their wage from the fire department. To me, that sounds like double dipping… Ron, you would have some employees (on the fire department). Do you pay them their wages plus the city?” Councillor Ron Dishko, who serves as operations manager with the Meadow Lake Co-op, wasn’t 100 per cent certain. “I want to say yes, but I’m not 100 per cent sure,” he said. Flasch said, part of the discussion on that point specifically, was the city wants to set an example for other employers in the city by allowing staff to attend emergency calls when they are supposed to be at work. “I don’t think there has been enough calls during work hours where firefighters would be called away for more than an hour to three hours at most,” she said. “Any calls that go beyond that are often calls we are already invoicing out anyway because they’re outside our boundaries. The attendance costs for employees would be reimbursed in these cases.”
Mayor Merlin Seymour, meanwhile, turned the conversation back to the importance of recruiting and retaining firefighters. “We can entice our city staff as long as we don’t put our city work at risk by having too many people gone (to attend a call),” he noted. “That’s why it has to be approved by a team manager. If you have five people in parks and recreation on the fire department, all five can’t attend the same call.” The policy was subsequently adopted and will take effect Jan. 1, 2027.