Safety First

Red Deer Emergency Services continues to provide exceptional emergency response, with crews arriving within established service targets and prioritizing community and employee safety.

• From January 1 to November 30, the average response time was approximately 7 minutes and 24 seconds for all call categories (excluding EMS).
• From January 1 to November 30, the average response time for structure fires was approximately 6 minutes and 54 seconds. 
• Alberta Health Services target response time for ambulance (emergency medical response) is 12 minutes. (City has a contract with Alberta Health Services to deliver ambulance until September 2026)

Call Volumes

By the end of November, crews responded to more than 17,834 calls.

• Total Calls - 27,834
• EMS Calls - 20,964
• Fire Related Calls - 6,870
  • Of the 6,870, 58% are medical, of the remaining calls - 43% are alarms, 18% are outside fires, and 12% are vehicle collisions 
  • Structure Fires - 2% of all fire related calls 

Resources at Your Door

When Dynamic Staffing is in place, four or more firefighters are dispatched to all fire related calls; in some cases, this means more resources arriving at your door, spread across two trucks instead of one.

Overtime Costs

In 2024, overtime in Red Deer Emergency Services totaled more than $3.2 million - the highest per capita in Alberta.

• Dynamic staffing has reduced the money spent on overtime by more than $1 million between January and July this year.
• In 2024, there were 1,920 overtime shifts. In 2025, to date, there have been 215 overtime shifts.
• Dynamic staffing has been used 117 times.

Tax Impact

Every $1.5 million added to the budget equals about a 1% property tax increase. Reversing Dynamic Staffing would result in additional tax increases over and above what is already expected, for Emergency Services alone - without increasing service levels.

Competitive Pay

Approximately + benefits & pension (set in collective agreement through bargaining)

• First-Class Firefighter: $109,853
• Captain: $134,020
• Platoon Chief: $148,301.

New Temporary Positions

Following a Letter of Understanding signed in June between The City and the IAFF, The City is now able to hire up to 12 temporary paramedics in EMS-only roles for terms of up to 12 months. This is the first time The City has been able to hire temporary employees to cover leaves. To date, 7 paramedics have been hired, with recruitment underway for the remaining positions.

Dynamic staffing is a flexible way of managing our staffing by adjusting where and when employees work based on real-time needs. This approach ensures emergency personnel are available while still meeting department service levels with no job cuts.

In emergency services, dynamic staffing helps manage overtime shifts and costs, keeping operations efficient and responsive. It allows us to adapt quickly to changing demands, ensuring both firefighter well-being and financial sustainability while maintaining strong fire response capabilities.

Dynamic staffing addresses two major concerns:

• Financial Sustainability: It ensures that emergency services remain financially viable without cutting essential services.
• Employee Well-being: It reduces excessive overtime, which previously led to fatigue and burnout among our emergency responders.

No. Dynamic staffing does not result in job cuts. All emergency services personnel retain their positions, and the initiative focuses on optimizing shift assignments related to fire response rather than reducing staff numbers.

There are currently 194 firefighter/paramedic positions within The City of Red Deer’s emergency services department. The City’s emergency services team is integrated, meaning they provide fire and medical response.

It may, in some circumstances affect ambulance services though it is highly unusual for ambulances to be affected by staff unavailability. Since 2022, The City is aware of three occurrences where ambulances were unstaffed for a full shift.

Dynamic staffing helps control overtime expenses within the Emergency Services department, which in comparable cities have been a significant financial burden. In 2024, the City of Red Deer (emergency services) had higher overtime costs ($3.2 million) than any other city, per capita, By reducing unnecessary overtime, The City of Red Deer is ensuring the long-term financial health of emergency services and the organization, minimizing growing costs and impacts to taxpayers.

Yes. With the implementation of dynamic staffing, Emergency Services has seen a decrease in the number of staff who are unavailable for their regular shifts, enabling emergency services to operate additional fire trucks/equipment. Prior to this change, this was rarely possible whereas, in January 2025, it occurred 34 times, which means we exceeded our typical staffing level of 31 staff per shift.

Additionally, data from January 2025 shows a significant reduction in overtime shifts:

• Before Dynamic Staffing (Jan 1-5, 2025): 11 overtime shifts
• After Dynamic Staffing (Jan 6-31, 2025): 3 overtime shifts
• Projected without Dynamic Staffing (Jan 6-31, 2025): 10 overtime shifts
• This demonstrates a clear reduction in overtime.