CBRM fire department to consider getting rid of lie-detector tests to boost recruitment

Some Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillors and fire department officials say the requirement for a lie-detector test for potential firefighters is hurting recruitment.

They say the tests might not be relevant and they should be eliminated.

CBRM's fire and emergency services committee agreed unanimously on Thursday to have staff write on the issue in advance of a future committee meeting.

Deputy Chief Chris March said the fire department is trying to fill up to eight vacant positions now and people are not applying for the job in the numbers that they used to.

Coun. Steve Parsons asked how many candidates had failed a polygraph test over the last few years.

"That's a difficult question to answer," March said. "I don't have the exact number, but ... it's fair to say it's significant."

'We are losing some good people'

The department is losing candidates who pass all the written and physical exams, but fail the polygraph, he said.

"In the very beginning when we first started doing them, I was a huge advocate for them," he said.

But he said that in recent years "we are losing some good people."

March said well over 100 people wrote the test when he applied to be a firefighter 24 years ago. But he said the most recent recruitment effort resulted in only 28 applications.

In 2022, Gilbert MacIntyre, CBRM's deputy fire chief at the time, said the applicant pool has been shrinking for years. 

CBRM requires polygraph tests for jobs with the police, fire department and 911 call centre.

Canadian courts do not allow polygraph results to be admitted as evidence because they are considered unreliable and inaccurate.

CBRM's fire and emergency services committee was told Halifax Regional Police stopped requiring polygraphs for its recruits, and most fire departments are moving away from using the tests to weed out unsuitable candidates.

"If we're limiting ourselves in successful candidates because of something that's passé or soon to be passé, why are we waiting till somebody makes that decision for us?" asked Coun. Parsons.

The committee was not told what kinds of questions are asked in a polygraph test, but Parsons suggested candidates may be asked about things they may have done when they were young.

"We can't afford to make judgments on people and stuff they had done when they were adolescents," he said.

Coun. Darren O'Quinn said he wasn't sure polygraph tests should be eliminated completely because firefighters sometimes go into people's homes when they're not there and the home could contain valuables.

Chief Mark Bettens said he was OK with getting rid of polygraph tests because firefighters already require criminal background checks.

He also said he knew of one potential candidate who went through the interview process several times and was eventually able to pass the polygraph.

"So we lost that candidate for those years," said Bettens.