The Diploma in Executive Fire Leadership is designed to help Fire Service Officers further develop their knowledge and skills as leaders within their fire departments. The diploma is offered completely online. Courses are a combination of self-study as well as live online sessions. Successful completion of at least 144 hours of coursework is required to be awarded the diploma.
Graduates of the Diploma in Executive Fire Leadership who have also obtained their Fire Officer III certification will meet the criteria for Fire Officer IV.
Who Should Take This Diploma?
- Graduates of the Diploma in General Fire Leadership
- Firefighters with Fire Officer III certification that would like to obtain Fire Officer IV certification
How Will You Benefit?
The Diploma in Executive Fire Leadership can help:
- provide more advanced knowledge and skills that will enable participants to better manage their fire departments.
Diploma Requirements
The diploma consists of four (4) required courses and a choice of electives. The required courses are as follows:
- OLCD-FIRE0011 Emergency Medical Services Management and the Fire Department (36 hours)
- OLCD-FIRE0013 Fire Department Human Resource Management II (36 hours)
- OLCD-FIRE0022 Program Evaluation and Statistics (36 hours)
- OLCD-LGOV0014 Local Government (18 hours)
Students may choose one of the following electives to total at least 18 hours:
- OLCD-ADED0039 Indigenous Teaching and Learning Perspectives (12 hours)
- OLCD-FIRE0010 Disaster Management and the Fire Department (36 hours)
- OLCD-FIRE0033 Wildfire and Climate Change Adaptation Management (18 hours)
- OLCD-IDEA0001 Understanding EDI: An Organization Imperative (20 hours)
- OLCD-IDEA0002 Inclusive Communications in the Workplace (20 hours)
- OLCD-IDEA0003 Optimizing Diverse Team Performance (20 hours)
- OLCD-LGOV0015 Municipal Law (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0010 Coaching Skills for Leaders (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0012 Leadership Dynamics (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0015 Strategic Communications (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0030 Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0032 Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (36 hours)
- OLCD-PALS0033 Introduction to Occupational Stress and Resilience for First Responder Leaders (18 hours)
Please note: The prerequisite for the Diploma in Executive Fire Leadership is the Diploma in General Fire Leadership.
There is a separate application for Fire Officer IV, which can be found within the student portal here. The application fee for Fire Officer IV is non-refundable. Upon submitting an application for Fire Officer IV, program staff will check your application for completeness. If gaps are found, you will be notified by Dalhousie University staff. Once your application has been approved, your request will be submitted to the Nova Scotia Firefighters School. After all requirements have been verified, you will receive Fire Officer IV certification.
Fees and Schedule
See each course for the applicable tuition fee. Each course is offered at least once a year.
For assistance or more information, please contact openlearning@dal.ca.
Recognition of Prior Learning
- Prior Certified Learning: Assessment of prior coursework or training through a provider, that is neither a university or college, for the purpose of advanced standing. Examples of certified learning may include military courses, accredited certificates, workplace training programs, etc.
- Prior Experiential Learning: Assessment of previous work and life learning that may be equivalent to learning outcomes of university courses / programs, for the purpose of advanced standing. Relevant prior learning may come from work or volunteer experience, participation on committees or boards, independent study, etc.
To discuss how to use your prior learning to apply for advanced standing, please contact rpl@dal.ca.