Certificate in General Fire Service Administration

By the time fire service officers are promoted to administrative positions in their departments, they have years of fireground training and experience. At this point in their careers, they need a new kind of training to prepare them for the new challenges they face. The Certificate in General Fire Service Administration (CGFSA) consists of four (4) fully online courses designed to help fire service officers develop their administrative and managerial skills.

Courses

This certificate consists of three (3) required courses and one (1) elective course. Learners can expect to spend a minimum of three (3) hours per week on their studies for each course.

Click on each course name for more details and specific learning outcomes:

Required courses:

• OLCD-FIRE0012 Fire Department Human Resource Management I (12 weeks / 36 hours)
• OLCD-FIRE0016 Fire Service Strategic Planning (12 weeks / 36 hours) 
• OLCD-LGOV0037 Municipal Finance (6 weeks / 18 hours)

Electives (choose one):

• OLCD-FIRE0033 Wildfire and Climate Change Adaptation Management (6 weeks / 18 hours)
• OLCD-PALS0033 Introduction to Occupational Stress and Resilience for First Responder Leaders (6 weeks / 18 hours)

Please note: The Certificate requires a passing grade of 70% in each course. See each course for applicable tuition fees and schedule. You must register for each course individually to reserve your spot. Courses can be taken in any order. Courses can only be used towards one certificate.

Prerequisites

The prerequisite for the Certificate in General Fire Service Administration is the Certificate in Fire Service Leadership.

Language Requirement: University-level English language proficiency required in writing, speaking and reading comprehension. It is recommended that students have an IELTS Academic score of 6.5 overall or a TOEFL-IBT score of 90 overall for this program. Please see the following guidelines from Dalhousie University for more information: English Language Requirements For Undergraduate Admissions - Admissions - Dalhousie University.

Program Delivery

The program is delivered through the flexibility and convenience of Dalhousie's enriched and engaging online learning platform (OpenDal). Courses include group activities, live streaming lectures and project work. Course delivery is designed to provide maximum benefit and flexibility through online study.

Who Should Take This Certificate?

• Graduates of the Certificate in Fire Service Leadership
• Firefighters who are new to or aspire to management roles within their departments

Career Opportunities

The Certificate in General Fire Service Administration can help:

• provide participants with skills that enable them to be better managers and leaders within their fire departments.
• instill a breadth and depth of knowledge that will enable participants to better manage their fire departments.

Recognition of Prior Learning

It may be possible to receive advanced standing in this certificate based on your prior learning from work or life experience. We provide two types of 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.