Firefighters’ union denounces proposed 2026 budget for Winnipeg fire service

The United Firefighters of Winnipeg (Local 867) issued a non-confidence vote in the 2026 Winnipeg fire service (WPFS) budget. They hope that increased pressure will force the Winnipeg City Council to reevaluate the future staffing levels of emergency services.

Nick Kasper, president of the union, criticized the proposed budget for underfunding the service despite concerns raised.

“We know what the issues are, the city audits department have told us, the consulates have told us, and the fire chiefs had said the same thing. We are all speaking the same language, city council needs to start listening and start investing in resources where they are needed.”

The vote was cast by one-third of the city’s firefighters and over 99 percent of them expressed opposition to this idea. Local 867 represents 1600 active and retired firefighters and firefighter-paramedics in Winnipeg.

According to firefighters, understaffing has been an ongoing issue. While they requested for 40 positions, they 2026 budget only included funding for 10.

Kasper said that this would cause crews to be overworked and that response times to increase, putting public at risk.

“The chronic overtime is driving burn out, burn out is driving WCB claims and it’s accelerating the issue,” he said.

While the budget includes new wellness clinic employees, Kasper said that preventing injuries and exhaustion would be the better option.

“The root cause of the rising time loss and injuries are the volume of calls and the volume of workload,” Kasper explained. “We have firefighters selling holidays working 70 extra shifts a year in a department that sees more calls than any other department in Canada”

The annual cost of overtime for WFPS has exceeded $10 million, which according to Kasper is more than what it would cost to hire new firefighters.

“We can’t figure it out,” Kasper continued. “For years, they’ve been spending more on overtime then they would have spent otherwise.”

Despite the vote, Kasper assured the public that the firefighters will continue to serve them.

“Your firefighters are going to continue to be here for you the best we can, as we always have,” he said.

CityNews reached out to the City of Winnipeg but did not receive a response in time for broadcast.