Lloydminster city council approved more than $1.29 million in retroactive pay to Lloydminster Fire Rescue members in a recent council meeting, closing out two overdue rounds of wage negotiations with the union representing the department’s firefighters.
The payments settle two separate agreements with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 5182. The first covers 2022 through 2024 and was reached through arbitration. The second covers 2025 alone and was reached through direct negotiation, ratified by union membership on Aug. 6.
Combined, the two agreements bring firefighter pay current through the end of 2025. But the 2025 agreement’s term has already expired, meaning Lloydminster firefighters have been working without a ratified contract since Jan. 1, 2026.
The 2022 to 2024 agreement, approved by council at its June 15 meeting, resulted from an arbitration hearing that set wage increases of three per cent in 2022, three per cent in 2023 and 3.15 per cent in 2024. Retroactive payments under that agreement total $1,029,289.96, covering wages owed from January 2022 through June 8 of this year, the date council formally ratified the deal.
Of that total, $837,399.77 comes from the Fire Rescue Services Operating Reserve. The remaining $191,890.19, covering the January to June 2026 stretch, is being paid from the 2026 salaries and wages budget.
Council approved that reserve commitment without discussion. The motion, moved by Coun. Michael Diachuk and seconded by Coun. Justin Vance, carried unanimously.
The second agreement covers 2025 on its own, a one-year deal reached after the prior contract expired Dec. 31, 2024. The city’s and union’s negotiating committees signed a memorandum of agreement on July 28, setting a 3.5 per cent wage increase for 2025. Under the deal, the first-class firefighter rate rose from $115,813.43 to $119,867, with other ranks adjusted proportionally.
Retroactive payments under the 2025 agreement total an estimated $258,000, covering wages owed from January 2025 through Monday’s meeting. Of that, $143,000 comes from the same fire services reserve, with the remaining $115,000 paid from the 2026 wage budget.
Council approved both the agreement itself and the reserve commitment in separate motions, both moved by Vance, seconded by Coun. Michele Charles Gustafson. Neither drew questions or debate.
Combined, the city has now paid out $1,287,289.96 in retroactive firefighter wages this year, covering January 2022 through the current meeting date.
With the 2025 agreement’s term already closed, the city and the union have not yet reached a deal covering 2026. Firefighters are currently working without a ratified collective agreement, a situation that will likely require another round of retroactive payments once a new contract is settled.
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