Firefighter, Pre-Service and Training
Seneca’s Fire Protection programs are a North American benchmark in providing a comprehensive fire protection education combining the best aspects of both prevention and fire suppression.
Programs
Pathways
The School of Fire Protection has many exciting pathways to further your education. Graduates of the two-year or three-year programs are guaranteed acceptance to our Pre-Service program if students would like to continue their education. Graduates of any Pre-Service program can also enrol in our two-year or three-year programs and receive credits for professional option courses.
If graduates are interested in obtaining a degree, we have educational partnership agreements that allow students to transfer credits for most of their three years with Seneca, towards a four-year degree.
We always consider transferring individual course credits or previous education and work experience that meets the same learning outcomes for particular programs. Contact us if you think this applies to you!
Work Experience
All of our programs provide hands-on experience performing tasks that will be required in the careers you can pursue after graduation. You will gain practical experience in our industry-standard lab spaces, during practical exercises and during optional co-op opportunities, for successful applicants.
Our graduates obtain many industry standard certifications. For students that require work experience, they complete necessary academic requirements so that they can be certified sooner once they join the fire protection industry. For some certifications, some of the work experience is granted for lab work since it replicates industry-required tasks.
Labs
Frequently Asked Questions
These programs have a common first semester, so there is no need to decide right away; as long as you are enrolled in one of them, you are on the right path!
The two-year Fire Protection Engineering Technician program focuses on the fire alarm protection industry.
The three-year Fire Protection Engineering Technology program uses the extra year of studies to prepare students for the alarm industry as well as:
- Sprinklers (Design, Installation, Maintenance)
- Code-consulting
- Insurance / Risk Management
- Fire Inspection/Prevention, Public Education, Fire Investigation
Both programs have high employment rates, but the three-year FPT program provides more diversity in career paths.
Graduating from either program offers acceptance to the firefighter, pre-service education and training program.
As a Seneca Fire Protection Engineering Technician or Technology student, you can obtain the following certifications:
- CFAA from Canadian Fire Alarm Association
- C.E.T. from Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists
- BCIN from Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
- NFPA certifications from Ontario Fire Marshall, IFSAC and ProBoard seal
- NFPA 472 Awareness
- NFPA 1031 Level I and II
- NFPA 1033 (for graduates hired by a fire department)
- NFPA 1035 Level I and II
- NFPA 1041 Level I
- CRM from Canadian Risk Managers
- CIP from Certified Insurance Professionals
Please note: Certifications may require specific courses to be taken, specific grades to be achieved and may require an additional fee for the certification process.
Our programs have intakes starting in September and January. Starting in September, second semester would be from January to April and third semester would be the following September. Starting in January, second semester would be from May to August, and third semester would be the following September with the students who started in September.
Due to the laboratory requirements for sprinklers, alarms and other systems, these program is offered full-time, during the day.
A typical semester has 20 hours per week, Monday to Friday. A typical day will have about four hours of class but these classes can be scheduled anytime between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. We do our best to schedule classes as close together as possible, but this is not always possible.
Yes, you need to take a skills assessment for this program.
Skills Assessment is a tool used to determine academic placement for your math class during your first semester. Students in most certificate, diploma and advanced diploma programs will need to take the assessment to have the correct course added to their timetable.
We have several agreements with universities to allow students to continue towards a degree. You can see all pathways to Seneca programs at Degree and Credit Transfer. Graduates of the Technician or Technology program can continue on to the Pre-service Firefighting program if they would like to pursue firefighting.
If you have previous fire protection education, or work experience, you can submit transcripts to the Degree and Credit Trasnfer team to get credit for similar courses in our program. While at Seneca, if you want to take courses ahead of schedule, this is dependent on having the pre-requisite course as well as the course being offered that term and fitting your schedule of required courses.
Yes, you can apply to enter our co-op program and you will do your co-op as your summer job between second and third year, as a successful applicant. Our program laboratories also offer work experience using the devices and systems you will be responsible for when you start your career!
Each year fire protection students have a dedicated career fair on campus to help graduating students get hired. Companies from across North America attend our fairs. Companies also set up interviews on campus, to find their next employees from our graduating class.
No, every diploma program is required to have General Education courses, mandated by the Ministry of Education. Our programs require college English, three general educations and technical writing courses.
Yes, the better you can make your résumé, the more likely you are to receive interviews and to be successful in the hiring process.