CPAT, OFAI FPAT, or Another Test: Which Firefighter Physical Test Do You Need?

The physical test you need is the one named on the posting of the department you are applying to. There is no single Canadian firefighter physical test, and no national body that sets one. A handful of administrators each run their own protocol, and departments choose one and can change it between recruitments. Find out which test your department uses before you train for a specific one.

Choosing the wrong test mainly costs you time. A test result expires, sittings have to be booked, and a posting can close before your test date arrives.

Which firefighter physical tests are used in Canada?

Five cover most of the country's career hiring.

The CPAT. Eight events in sequence, in a weighted vest, against one clock with a ceiling of 10 minutes and 20 seconds. Departments including Calgary, Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor, Burlington, Moncton, Abbotsford, Prince George and Nanaimo use it, and others accept it.

The OFAI FPAT. Ontario's career departments hire largely through Ontario Fire Administration Inc. Stage One is the FACT written assessment. Stage Two includes an encapsulated treadmill test done in equipment with the airway covered. Stage Three is the FPAT job-related circuit. The 12-week program for the OFAI pipeline trains the treadmill stage and the circuit separately, because each stage tests different capacities.

The University of Alberta evaluation. Administered by the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation in the Work Physiology Laboratory on the Edmonton campus, performed in roughly 23 kg of protective equipment, with candidates receiving their results before they leave.

The York assessment. Run by Fitness York at York University and used well beyond Ontario. Saskatoon and Regina both require it current within six months, and Regina administers it through the University of Regina. Plan for roughly four hours: a maximal treadmill test with expired air analysis, then eight job-related stations.

The Gledhill protocol. Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency tests in house, and its recruitment page lists no candidate fees. It opens with a VO2 max test on a treadmill, measured by expired air analysis, against a published requirement of 42.5 mL/kg/min.

Beyond those: Red Deer Polytechnic tests for Red Deer, Spruce Grove, Lethbridge and Wood Buffalo among others, the Canadian Forces Fire Marshal's FPFE stands behind military hiring and Winnipeg's, and wildland agencies use WFX-FIT.

How do you find out which one applies to you?

Check these sources in this order, because the later ones are more likely to be out of date:

1. The current posting. It governs, and it states the window your result must fall inside.
2. The department's recruitment page. Between postings this is the best guide to what the last cycle required.
3. The administrator's own site. Red Deer Polytechnic and Fitness York both publish the departments they test for, which is useful when a department page is vague.
4. The recruiter. Email the recruiter with one specific question: whether a result from another administrator is accepted.

What differs between the tests?

The tests measure many of the same capacities, but they differ in four ways that a general gym plan does not cover:

• The load. A weighted vest is not the same as full protective equipment with a cylinder on your back, and neither is the same as a treadmill in running shoes.
• The airway. Ontario's Stage Two covers the face. Working while your breathing is restricted takes practice, so train for it before test day.
• The clock. The CPAT is one continuous run against a single ceiling. Other protocols score stations separately with rest between them, which needs a different kind of pacing.
• The aerobic standard. Halifax opens with a treadmill VO2 max test against a published standard, so a candidate can be eliminated before touching a job-related station.

The capacities underneath repeat: loaded stair or incline work, grip endurance, dragging and carrying, and keeping a steady pace under load.

When should you book it?

Plan the booking before the training. If you train first and book later, you can miss a posting and have to wait for the next recruitment.

Start from the posting dates and plan backwards. If a department posts roughly annually, look at when its last posting opened and closed, and place your test date inside that window rather than after it. Booking a sitting is not instant: administrators run testing on set dates, popular sittings fill, and a result takes time to reach the department.

Then check the expiry. A result is commonly good for about a year, but the administrator and the hiring department set the window, and some windows are much shorter. Saskatoon and Regina both want the York assessment current within six months of the start date, so testing too early can leave you with an expired result.

A result that expires before a posting closes cannot be used for that posting.

What happens if you fail?

You can usually retest, but you will have to wait, and the administrator sets the waiting period.

Retest waiting periods vary from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, and each attempt is paid for again. Some administrators cap attempts inside a single competition, so a candidate who fails twice may be waiting for the next recruitment rather than the next available date.

For that reason, we recommend training until you can pass with a margin. If you can only just pass on a good day, a bad day can mean a failed attempt, another fee, travel costs and a wait of weeks before you can retest.

What does it cost?

Candidates pay the fees almost everywhere. Halifax is an exception: it tests career and volunteer candidates in house at no cost at any stage.

Budget for three costs: the fee itself, travel to the testing site, and a possible retest. For candidates in smaller centres, travel can cost more than the fee, because testing is concentrated at a handful of sites.

What if you do not know your test yet?

Train the capacities the tests share. Our Fire Test Foundation program is built from what every Canadian firefighter physical test demands rather than any single one, so it is a suitable starting point when your department has not published its test or you are applying to more than one.

Switch to the specific program once you know the test and have a date. We plan on twelve weeks of specific training for most candidates, so check whether you have a booked test date about twelve weeks away.

Planning for test costs

Candidates pay the test fees, travel to the testing site and any retest, with Halifax the main exception. For that reason, prepare to pass on your first attempt rather than using it as a practice run. If you are weighing what to spend on preparation, the Fitness section and what it includes lists every program and what unlocks together.