East Gwillimbury striving for 'diverse and inclusive' fire service

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The Town of East Gwillimbury aims to attract more candidates from “minoritized genders” to add to its roster of firefighters.

So, in an effort to be more inclusive, the town plans to hold a separate information night next month specifically for women and trans candidates interested in becoming paid-on-call firefighters.

“This dedicated information session is in alignment with EG’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Framework and aims to encourage diversity and inclusion within the fire service,” Rachel Thompson, a digital and marketing coordinator for the Town of East Gwillimbury, said Wednesday.

“Recognizing that women and trans people are often underrepresented in fire services, providing a supportive environment for potential candidates to learn and ask questions about EG’s Fire and Emergency Services is important.”

Paid-on-call firefighters for the Town of East Gwillimbury — located about 30 minutes north of Toronto off Hwy. 404 — are called upon when needed and paid for any time spent working, training or conduction public education.

Interested candidates are invited to attend an information night that is open to everyone and will be at 6:30 p.m. on June 5.

However, a separate information night will be held just for women and trans candidates at 6:30 p.m. on June 12.

“In accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Town of East Gwillimbury seeks to increase the number of women and trans paid-on-call firefighters to achieve gender equity,” a job posting on workforcenow.adp.com states. “As such, women and transgender candidates have the option of instead attending the Information Night for Women and Trans Candidates, which aims to intentionally create an inclusive environment and foster a sense of belonging for minoritized genders.”

The job posting further explains that the second information night is meant only for “cisgender women, transgender women, genderqueer and gender non-binary people, and all additional minoritized gender identities that fall under the transgender umbrella.”

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Anyone interested in either information night can email hr@eastgwillimbury.ca indicating the date they want to attend.

“All candidates have the option to attend the general information session on June 5 and we hope the June 12 information session for Women and Trans Candidates Only will help to reduce barriers that may arise by creating a sense of belonging,” Thompson said.

Thompson did not say if there has been a low turnout from women and trans candidates at past information nights, if there has been increased interest from those communities since the second information night was announced, or if this approach has been attempted previously to attract candidates from other minority groups.

However, she did say the town’s commitment to “building a diverse and inclusive fire service” does not mean women and trans candidates will be considered above others when it comes to hiring new paid-on-call firefighters.

“All qualified candidates will be equally considered during the hiring process,” Thompson said.

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette