City of Hamilton Community Survey

Identifying opportunities to increase participation in Recruitment

Continuing into Winter 2024: https://www.citylabhamilton.com/winter-2024-projects/2024/1/15/hamilton-fire-department-community-survey

Project Description

Building off of a successful CityLAB thematic review of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility relative to the Hamilton Fire Department, the natural next steps would be to conduct a community survey to identify opportunities to increase participation in recruitment processes specific to the City of Hamilton. Led by Fire Chief Cunliffe the scope would be to collect recruitment data that impacts Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility within the Hamilton Fire Department and cross-departmentally within the City.

The methodology would include a survey-based approach, led by the McMaster students with consultation and guidance by City of Hamilton staff.

Research questions and contextual considerations will need to be clarified in collaboration with the City of Hamilton staff and the students.

Challenge Summary

Utilizing data from the survey that will be conducted, develop recommendations on identifying opportunities to increase participation within the City of Hamilton’s and the Hamilton Fire Department’s recruitment and hiring processes.  This includes identifying opportunities in the application process, during competition/interviewing, and what success looks like. 

In Scope:

What are the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) best practices to enhance diversity in the Hamilton Fire Department’s recruitment practices?

Background Research

Researching methods of engaging the public re: recruitment practices, with specific focus on determining the non-represented population(s) and engaging with them

Updating the research tool (e.g., questionnaire and/or survey) based on best practice

City Staff: Fire Chief David Cunliffe, Jodi Koch

Instructor: Shahad Al-Saqqar