Firefighter Salary in Ontario 2026: What You'll Earn, From Probationary to First Class

Short answer: In 2026, Mississauga, Brampton and Markham start career firefighters at about $68,700 to $74,100 a year, and first-class pay at the large Ontario services we checked is about $114,500 to $123,700, reached after roughly three and a half to four years. Mississauga's April 2026 posting lists $68,690 to $114,483, Brampton's range is $74,096 to $123,493, and Toronto's first-class firefighter base salary is $123,679 from July 1, 2026. On a 42-hour week, that's about $31 to $34 an hour at the start and $52 to $57 at first class, before overtime and premiums.

Salary is one of the first things candidates ask about, and many of the numbers online are out of date or American. Below are 2026 figures from Ontario municipalities' own job postings and council documents, plus federal and provincial wage data. Every salary figure has a date or source attached, because firefighter pay changes with each contract.

2026 Ontario firefighter pay by department

Department	Starting salary	First-class / top of range	Source date
Mississauga	$68,690	$114,483	Posting, April 2026 (rate year not stated)
Brampton	$74,096	$123,493	2026 rates, October 2026 posting
Markham	$74,140	Not listed in posting	2026 rate, October 2026 posting
Toronto	Not in the 2026 documents (65% of first class under the 2019–2023 agreement)	$123,198 (Jan. 1, 2026); $123,679 (July 1, 2026)	Arbitration award, Dec. 2025 (City report, March 2026)

Brampton describes its range as "annual incremental increases over a four-year classification process." In both Brampton and Mississauga, the starting salary works out to almost exactly 60% of the top rate. Most Ontario services move firefighters up through classes (often called fourth, third, second and first class) as they gain service, but the steps and timing are set by each collective agreement.

What that means per hour

Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga all list a 42-hour work week, built around 24-hour shifts. Using 42 hours × 52 weeks = 2,184 hours a year:

Annual salary	Approximate hourly rate
$68,690 (Mississauga start)	$31.45
$74,096 (Brampton start)	$33.93
$114,483 (Mississauga top)	$52.42
$123,493 (Brampton top)	$56.54
$123,679 (Toronto first class, July 2026)	$56.63

These are base-pay conversions only. Real hourly pay depends on the exact hours in each collective agreement, overtime and premiums.

Toronto: how first-class pay got to $123,679

Toronto's 2024 to 2026 contract was settled by interest arbitration. Ontario firefighters can't strike, so when bargaining stalls, an arbitrator sets the terms. (Toronto's previous contract, for 2019 to 2023, was negotiated.) A March 2026 City report shows that a 4.75% raise for 2024 took first-class base salary to $114,532.57, followed by $119,339 on January 1, 2025, $119,936 on July 1, 2025, $123,198 on January 1, 2026 and $123,679 on July 1, 2026. Counting the 2024 raise, base pay rose a compounded 13.12% over the three-year agreement. The contract runs to December 31, 2026, so new bargaining is due.

The arbitrator also awarded a 3% premium, effective January 1, 2026, for members with more than five years of service. Exact wording was sent back to the parties to finalize. On a $123,679 base, 3% is about $3,710, which would bring the total to roughly $127,389. The City's report also mentions existing firefighter retention pay of 3%, 6% or 9%. The thresholds for those tiers are set in the collective agreement.

What the Sunshine List shows

Ontario's 2025 Public Sector Salary Disclosure, released March 27, 2026, lists public-sector employees paid $100,000 or more in 2025. We filtered it for firefighter-rank job titles, leaving out captains, officers, inspectors and similar roles. That left roughly 6,900 records from 77 employers, with a median of about $131,300. Toronto alone accounted for about 1,800.

Read this carefully. The list only includes people earning at least $100,000, and the amounts include overtime, retroactive pay and other earnings. It shows that experienced firefighters often earn over $100,000. It doesn't tell you what a typical firefighter earns.

Federal wage data for Ontario

Job Bank's wages for firefighters in Ontario (2023–2024 data, published November 19, 2025) are $32.00 an hour (low), $48.53 (median) and $64.58 (high). At 2,184 hours a year, that's about $69,900, $106,000 and $141,000. Because this data covers all career stages, the median lands between the starting and first-class figures above.

Beyond base salary

Pension: Brampton's posting lists the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), the pension plan most Ontario municipal employees belong to. Check your employer's plan.
Benefits: postings usually mention a benefits package. Mississauga's recruitment FAQ, for example, lists prescription drugs, vision care, paramedical services and life insurance. The details vary by employer.
Premiums: shift, holiday and specialty premiums, if any, are set by each collective agreement.

How Ontario compares

Calgary publishes its January 2026 rates: $37.32 an hour ($6,818 a month) for a probationary firefighter, rising to $57.41 an hour ($10,489 a month) at Firefighter 1. Halifax's 2026 recruitment listed $55,384.95 for a Firefighter 4th Class recruit. Large Ontario services are competitive at the top of the scale, but they aren't always the highest starting point.

Budget for getting hired, too

Getting to day one costs money. If a department asks for all five OFAI assessments that have listed fees, they total $717, or $810.21 with HST, before vision exams, the swim test or retests. Not every service uses OFAI: Mississauga runs its own assessments, charges external applicants a non-refundable $150 plus tax administration fee, and estimates about $500 more for candidates invited to its physical and/or medical assessments. Most of the Ontario postings we checked also require NFPA 1001 Firefighter I and II certification, and its cost varies by program.

A strong salary starts with getting through the written test. FireStart prepares you for the FACT, CPS, NFST, NTN FireTEAM and OS for $67 CAD for 12 months, less than a single FACT attempt with HST, and it never renews automatically.

FAQ

How much do firefighters make in Ontario in 2026?

At Mississauga, Brampton and Markham, starting salaries are about $68,700 to $74,100, and first-class pay at the large municipalities we checked is about $114,500 to $123,700. Job Bank's Ontario median (2023–2024 data) is $48.53 an hour, about $106,000 a year at 42 hours a week.

How much does a Toronto firefighter make?

A Toronto first-class firefighter's base salary is $123,198 from January 1, 2026 and $123,679 from July 1, 2026. A 3% premium applies from January 1, 2026 for members with more than five years of service.

How long does it take to reach first-class pay?

Usually three and a half to four years. Brampton describes a four-year classification process, and Toronto's 2019–2023 agreement reached first class after 42 months. Timing is set by each collective agreement.

Why are Sunshine List firefighter salaries higher than posted rates?

The list includes only people paid $100,000 or more, and it counts overtime, retroactive pay and other earnings on top of base salary.

Do volunteer firefighters get paid?

Many paid on-call and volunteer firefighters are paid for calls and training, but rates vary widely by municipality. Check the specific posting.