Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
CFO© (Chief Fire Officer)
Designation Program
Application Procedures
&
Working Application Sheets
Revised December 2011
Introduction 3
Fee Structure 3
Application Procedures 3
Documentation 3
Filling in the Candidate Application 4
Deadlines for submitting your application 4
Scoring Procedures and Point Allocations 4
Designation Review Process - Initial Application Review 4
Marking Template Review Process 4
Membership Requirements CFO Professional Designation. 5
CFO DESIGNATION TEMPLATE 1
Assessment Matrix 2
Competency Checklist 7
Candidate Application I
Certification Statement VIII
Introduction
This part of the document serves as orientation on how to apply for the CFO designation. It describes the evaluative criteria the assessor’s use and the points assigned to each criterion. All of this information orients the prospective applicant to the Candidate Application.
Before proceeding with the details, some advice is useful. Our experience has been that the average applicant spends about 40 hours preparing the application over a two-month period prior to mailing. The principal reason that so much time is required is that most of the documentation will have to be extracted from files. Some of the documents such as transcripts or newspaper articles will require the cooperation of other organizations. To illustrate the magnitude of the task examine the Documentation Checklist and the Assessment Matrix to get an idea of the information required for this application.
It is recommended that you read the entire document, noting which items that will require you contact others such as your employer, previous schools, employers, and so on. That way you can contact them at an early stage. This allows you to work on the rest of the application while they are submitting documents to you.
Fee Structure
The CFO Professional Designation Program is financially self-supported and the fee listed below is based on costs to process applicants’ materials and to administer the program.
The CFO Designation application fee is $200.00 and is due upon submission of the application form.
Application Procedures
This section provides direction for completing the application for designation as Chief Fire Officer. It will assist in the clarification of documents and verifications necessary in order to begin the process of an application for designation of Chief Fire Officer.
Documentation
Assessors cannot give you points for things that are not fully explained or documented. The most important thing to remember is to be thorough and to attach all required documents. Incomplete applications will delay the process or result in a rejected application. The Assessment Matrix provides the necessary guidance to ensure your documentation is complete.
Filling in the Candidate Application
The Candidate Application, can be printed out and used as a working copy. All applications are to be submitted online via the CAFC website.
Deadlines for submitting your application
· January 31st
· April 30th
· July 31st
· October 31st
Scoring Procedures and Point Allocations
Designation Review Process - Initial Application Review
The CAFC CFO Committee will confirm the applicant is a member in good standing with the Canadian Association of Fire Chief’s. The application will be reviewed to ensure the candidate meets the criteria for the review process. The CAFC will not entertain applications from individuals who are not CAFC Members in good standing.
On confirmation of membership, CAFC staff will forward the application to the Institution of Fire Engineers, Canada Branch for accreditation review.
The IFE assessors will review the application for academic and technical qualifications to ensure each candidate is deemed qualified to receive recognition and professional designation. The IFE review process will verify the information received on the application and query any additional information from the applicant that may be necessary. The IFE will then confirm if the candidate meets the criteria to achieve CFO professional designation. Further additional professional designations can be applied for through an accreditation of the CFO Professional designation.
Marking Template Review Process
The CAFC/IFE review process utilizes a marking template for the review of the candidate’s application for the CFO Professional Designation. The IFE assessor reviews the application based on the documentation received from the candidate. The candidate for CFO Designation must achieve a minimum of 140 points out of 200 to qualify. The review takes into consideration experience, education, training and accountability for each candidate. The attached marking template is scored based on the information provided by the applicant.
Membership Requirements CFO Professional Designation.
Each successful candidate attaining CFO Professional Designation must continue to maintain a current paid up membership in the Canadian Association of Fire Chief’s. Failure to maintain membership forfeits the right of the individual in using the Professional Designation of CFO. Further, professional development is an ongoing commitment of each CFO and as such, a record of conferences, symposiums must be maintained to demonstrate fire-engineering education in the interest of life safety in serving the Canadian public.
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CFO DESIGNATION TEMPLATE
Candidate’s Name: ______
Date: ______
Reviewer: ______
Work History / Demographics / HR Management / Education & Training / Professional Memberships & Affiliations / Service Delivery / Budget / Accountability / Professional Behaviour / Special Project / References / Total Points20 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 200
Marking criteria for CFO designation:
Maximum points = 200
Minimum for designation = 140
Assessment Matrix
The following section explains how each application is assessed, what the assessors look for in the documentation submitted and how many points each component is worth.
section / experience / points /Work History / · Breadth of experience from current and previous positions (e.g. human resources, fire prevention, operations, marketing and public/media relations, finance, training, strategic planning, volunteer management; fund-raising, codes and by-laws, coordination with other emergency services)
· Level of responsibility of position(s) held. Demonstrated experience with strategic planning, risk management, forecasting.
· Overall fire administration experience (e.g. develop corporate policy; develop/implement capital improvement plans; interact with others having jurisdiction; manage allocation of resource, manage staff, etc.)
Degrees and Courses:
· Level of formal education completed.
· Scored on the basis of level of accomplishment (any master's degree; any bachelor's degree; any two-year diploma; any one year (or equivalent) of formal post-secondary education.
Professional training:
· Level of professional fire officer training completed; designated fire officer programs from across the country have been evaluated and assigned points based on length of each program; other training is rated using designated programs as the comparison basis.
Career and personal development:
· Continuing education courses taken, either for career development - to enhance fire officer career, or for personal development - to enhance personal skills:
· Demonstrated commitment to life-long learning for self (e.g. enrolled in formal education, resume shows consistently learning) and for others (e.g. supporting staff in learning initiatives, implementing programs for same).
· Assessed for breadth and scope of learning
· Experience in other settings, such as military, industrial, marine, forestry / 20
Demographics / · Size of community served
· Population
· Urban, rural / 10
HR Management / · Complexity of duties and responsibilities in positions held (e.g. composite department; unionized environment; dealing with amalgamation; creating new department; dealing with complex policy or environmental issues; need for fund-raising)
· Breadth and scope of human resources management experience.
· Scored for size of operation(s) managed and breadth of experience (e.g. performance management; employee empowerment; develop hr capabilities; labour relations; arbitration; negotiations; conflict resolutions; disciplinary process, etc.) / 10
Education & Training / · Experience with managing training and professional development initiatives (e.g. course development, classroom instruction, educational advising of personnel; coaching; training evaluation, supporting staff development through the implementation of educational programs, career path or succession planning)
· Experience with legislation, regulations and standards (e.g. interpreting/applying research; interpreting statistics; drafting codes and by-laws; working with government policy; developing occupational health safety programs) / 20
Professional Memberships & Affiliations / · Active fire association membership; scored for level of participation, as demonstrated by positions held, committee work done, etc. / 20
Service Delivery / · Experience with fire prevention activities (e.g. fire code enforcement; fire cause determination; obtaining compliance)
· Experience with emergency scene management (e.g. incident command; on scene media relations; emergency care; liaison with other agencies)
· Breadth of experience in managing various fire service programs (e.g. fire suppression; ems, hazmat; light/heavy rescue; aircraft rescue fire fighting; victim extrication) / 20
Budget / · Size of annual budget: operating/capital / 20
Accountability / · Financial management experience (e.g. control operating budget; control capital budget; perform long/short-term financial planning; engage in cost control initiatives; use/implements computerized budgeting tools; perform costs/benefits analysis; understand accounting principles)
· Experience with organizational assessment and evaluation (e.g. needs analysis; system implementation; monitor organizational performance, rationalize organizational structure) / 20
Professional
Behaviour / · Written communication experience; score is based on quality of materials submitted, relevance to fire/emergency services, appropriateness for audience
· Oral communication experience (e.g. submission to council, public presentation, lobbying or fund-raising)
· Public relations experience (e.g. acting as spokesperson; public speaking; media relations; public education; government liaison)
· Demonstrated commitment to the profession (e.g. contributing to professional organization; teaching or evaluating in the field, preparing/publishing papers, conducting research; exemplary professionalism; mentoring; departmental involvement “over and beyond”; exemplary ethics)
· Level of community involvement (e.g. participating in community events; speaking to groups; participating in fund-raising; participating in public safety committees; promoting public safety; doing non-fire-related volunteer work); volunteer fire officers automatically get full marks
· Ability to plan career (e.g. setting goals, having a clear vision on how to achieve them, demonstrating ability to develop and follow career plan) / 20
Special Projects / · Non fire-related management experience.
· Scored for breadth of responsibilities and job complexity; includes paid and unpaid work.
· Community involvement / 20
References / · The references required to support applicant / 20
Competency Checklist
The purpose of the competency checklist is to guide the Senior Officer or Manager who, by signing off on the Checklist, will indicate that the candidate has demonstrated that s/he has mastered the required competencies. The “elements” describe the competencies. The applicant should study each competency and related elements. If documentary “evidence”, other than what is submitted elsewhere, can be added to the application to substantiate mastery of competencies, then such evidence should be attached to the application.
Competency / Elements / Comments /Contributes to formulation of municipal policies, programs and services at senior management level / · Proposals/reports
· Interpretation of community needs
· Resource management/allocation
· Interpretation of legislative requirements
· Hazard analysis/needs assessment
Coordination of corporate policy implementation
Provides leadership to the fire department / · Leadership-volunteer department
· Establishment of service delivery standards
· Corporate profile creation and promotion of a vision
Ensures the development of fire department personnel / · Career path planning/succession
· Performance appraisal
· Employee empowerment
· Standards-education/training requirement
· Development of human resources department
· Counseling/coaching employees
Facilitates effective labour-management relations / · Negotiations
· Conflict resolution
· Opportunities in unionized environments
Establishes and implements departmental planning processes / · Resource allocation
· Decision making
· Time management
· Delegation
· Needs analysis and assessment
· Monitoring/evaluation
· Volunteer considerations
· Master plans
· Forecasting
· Quality control systems
Conducts long and short term financial planning / · Cost control
· Capital finance
· Cost/benefit analysis
· Financial planning
Establishes and implements financial management system / · Operating budget
· Cost control measures
· Computerized systems
Ensures appropriate interpretation of legislation, codes, and bylaws / · Legislation, codes, and bylaws
· Provincial and municipal policy setting
· Local government accountabilities
· Occupational Health and Safety
· Review plans
Promotes and facilitates public education/public and media relations / · Media relations
· Public speaking
· Spokesperson for department
Ensures fire department systems and programs are developed and implemented / · Technologies
· Partnerships
· Networking
· Outsourcing
· Organizational restructuring
· Monitoring/evaluation systems
· Performance outcomes
Demonstrates commitment to personnel and professional development / · Currency
· Lifelong learning
· Adult education
· Use of information technology
Discharges the duties and responsibilities of an incident commander at major emergency scenes / · Interviews
· Emergency care
· Liaison with agencies
Advises council on strategic issues associated with emergency and related services / · Entrepreneurship
· Policy and issues
· Use of research
· Environmental monitoring
· Lobbying
· Municipal politics
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The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs
440 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X6
Tel: (613)270-9138
Fax: (613) 233-9138
Email:
Candidate Application
For the Incumbent Chief Fire Officer
or
For Fire Officers who have completed 20 Years in the Fire Service
with 5 years as a Non-Union Chief Officer
Note: Deadlines for Applications are: January 31
April 31
July 31
October 31
Personal InformationName:
Address:
Contact Numbers:
Employment Information (Work History)
Show all pertaining to fire service experience or other if you think they are relevant for this application process.
Please Note your current area of responsibility within your department:
Community Demographics
Population Served:
# of Fire Stations ______
# of Fire Apparatus ______
# of Utility & Support Vehicles ______
Note: Any exceptional risk or high hazard areas requiring special response:
Human Resource Management
# of Firefighters (Note # or Career & Volunteer) ______
# of Support Staff (Note # Uniformed & Civilian______
# of Unionized Members ______
Please note the number of staff under your area of responsibility ie Fire Chief, All Staff, Divisional Chief (those in Divisions) ______
Education and Training
Please list all education and training relevant to your application for the CFO Designation. Certificates, etc. are not required with your application and must be available if requested by the assessors.
Professional Memberships, Community Involvement and Affiliations
Please note the positions you held with each of those listed.
Service Delivery
Fire - # of fire responses in last year (attach/show stats)
EMS - Yes o No o First Responder - Yes o No o
Paramedic - Yes o No o Transport - Yes o No o
Technical Rescue:
High Angle
Water Rescue
Ice Rescue
Confined Space
Urban Search (Low, Medium or High)
MVA Response:
Hazardous Materials (Awareness, Operational, Technical):
CBRN Team Response (Note existing level or readiness):
Public Education (# of staff dedicated to delivery):
Inspection Services (# of Inspectors & Inspections conducted annually):
Investigation Services (#of Investigators & # of Investigations annually):
Fleet Maintenance - Yes o No o
If Yes # of Staff ______
Training Resources - # of Staff ______
Other Services - Please list:
Budget Responsibility & Accountability
Operating Budget $ ______total
Capital Budget $ ______total
Revenue Generation $ ______total
Please note your area of responsibility and the amount of budget under your control:
Accountability
Write 100 words or less to describe your current level of accountability to your supervisor (Note the Supervisor’s position) and show the reporting mechanism through to Municipal Council or other structure:
Professional Behaviour
Officer Development - Succession Planning developed in Department Yes o No o
If Yes, for which Ranks?
Coaching/Mentoring Programs established Yes o No o
If Yes briefly describe:
Presentations given to Professional Organizations/Associations/Other: (Note any publications you have contributed articles that were published or other communication mediums that used your messages to enhance public safety or knowledge of the fire service.
Special Project
Write no more than 250 words to explain a project for which you had full responsibility and note the expected and achieved outcome.
References:
All candidates must submit three (3) letters of reference from individuals who are knowledgeable of your experience, education and accomplishments during your career. One must be from your immediate supervisor who has reviewed this application.
Certification Statement