Fire Alarm Work in Manitoba: Who Can Do It and What Governs It

Last updated: August 2026 · All Manitoba sources below retrieved 16 August 2026

Quick answer

Every row is sourced in the sections below. Where we could not open the primary text, we say so instead of guessing.

Manitoba names a qualification — and names CFAA

This is the finding that makes Manitoba different, and it is quotable.

The Manitoba Fire Code, M.R. 82/2023, adopts the National Fire Code of Canada 2020 subject to a Schedule of Manitoba amendments. Item 2(12) of that Schedule adds a new article to Division B after Article 6.3.1.4. Verbatim:

6.3.1.5. Qualifications of Service Personnel

1. Any person who performs inspections, tests, alterations or maintenance on fire alarm systems, voice communication systems and system components must

a) have successfully completed the Fire Alarm Technician Training Program approved by the Canadian Fire Alarm Association,

b) have successfully completed any other program or course acceptable to the fire commissioner, or

c) work under the on-site supervision of a person who has completed the program or course required by Clause (a) or (b).

(Manitoba Fire Code, M.R. 82/2023 · confirmed against the original registered PDF)

We read this twice, in two documents, because it matters. The consolidated text on Manitoba Laws and the regulation as registered on 7 July 2023 carry the same wording. It has been in force since 1 January 2024.

Three things about it that a working electrician should notice.

It names the association. Ontario's equivalent provision says only "a program or course acceptable to the Fire Marshal" and never says CFAA. Manitoba puts the CFAA Fire Alarm Technician Training Program in the regulation as clause (a). That is a materially different drafting choice.

Clause (b) is not a formality. The fire commissioner may accept another program or course. We could not find a published list of what has been accepted — see the honesty section at the bottom.

Clause (c) is the supervision route, and unlike Ontario it carries no numeric cap. Ontario's Fire Code limits a supervisor to two unqualified people at a time. Manitoba's clause (c) says "on-site supervision" and stops there.

What 6.3.1.5 does not cover

Read the four verbs: inspections, tests, alterations, maintenance.

Installation is not one of them. Putting in a brand new system is not an inspection, a test, an alteration or maintenance of an existing system. Nothing in the Manitoba Fire Code or the Manitoba Building Code names a qualification for installing a fire alarm system.

Verification is not one of them either. We searched the entire Manitoba Building Code regulation for the strings "S537", "S524", "3.2.4.5" and "verif". None of them appear anywhere in M.R. 78/2023. So the verification requirement in Manitoba is whatever NBC 2020 says, adopted unamended, and no Manitoba instrument names who may do it.

That puts Manitoba in the same position as Ontario, Alberta, BC and Quebec on verification: the code requires the verification, and no rule says who is competent to sign it. See what an S537 verification involves.

The codes in force

Manitoba Building Code, M.R. 78/2023, made under The Buildings Act, C.C.S.M. c. B93. Registered 7 July 2023. Section 1:

Subject to the amendments set out in the Schedule to this regulation, the National Building Code of Canada 2020, issued by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes of the National Research Council of Canada, is adopted as the building code in Manitoba.

Section 6: "This regulation comes into force on January 1, 2024." Manitoba Laws records it as the first version, in effect since 1 January 2024 — it has never been amended. (M.R. 78/2023)

Manitoba Fire Code, M.R. 82/2023, made under The Fires Prevention and Emergency Response Act, C.C.S.M. c. F80. Section 1:

Subject to the amendments set out in the Schedule, the National Fire Code of Canada 2020, issued by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes of the National Research Council of Canada, as amended from time to time, is adopted as the fire code for Manitoba.

Section 2 is unusually blunt, and worth knowing if you are wondering whether the 2025 national codes arrive automatically:

For certainty, no code issued by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes of the National Research Council of Canada as a substitution or replacement of the National Fire Code of Canada 2020 is adopted in Manitoba.

In force 1 January 2024. It repealed the old Manitoba Fire Code, M.R. 155/2011. The current consolidation has been in effect since 13 February 2026, last amendment M.R. 11/2026 — both 2026 amendments moved retrofit deadlines for care occupancies to 31 December 2028 and left 6.3.1.5 untouched.

Is the text free? The Manitoba amendments are free on Manitoba Laws. The national model codes are free from the NRC — Manitoba's own adoption page states that "the national model codes are now freely available online through the NRC's website." (2020 Construction Codes Adoption)

So unlike Ontario, you can read the whole of Manitoba's building and fire code for nothing. That is a genuine advantage.

One Manitoba amendment worth knowing: the Schedule replaces NBC Sentence 3.2.4.1.(5) with "A fire alarm system is not required in a building containing not more than 4 dwelling units and no other occupancy," and makes the parallel change at 9.10.18.2.(5).

Which CAN/ULC editions

Manitoba's Building Code amends NBC Table 1.3.1.2 only by adding two carbon monoxide rows — UL 2034-2017 and CAN/ULC-S538:2020. It does not touch the fire alarm rows.

The NBC 2020 rows come from the free NRC edition of the code. The NFC 2020 row is a genuine gap: the free federal PDF of the National Fire Code is encrypted, and we could not extract its referenced-documents table. We are not going to infer the S536 edition from Alberta or Ontario. See which ULC edition your province uses.

The electrician trade, and the "Alarm Installers" licence

Manitoba runs two separate systems here, and both matter.

Compulsory certification

Construction Electrician and Industrial Electrician are both compulsory certification trades under The Apprenticeship and Certification Act. Apprenticeship Manitoba states it plainly:

Tradespersons are not legally entitled to work in compulsory certification trades in Manitoba unless they are a registered apprentice or certified journeyperson.

(Facts About Compulsory Certification Trades · Construction Electrician profile)

Licensing, which is a different thing

The Electricians' Licence Act, C.C.S.M. c. E50, in effect since 26 February 2022, section 4: "Except as provided in this section and sections 2 and 14, no person may do electrical work or restricted electrical work." Licences are issued by Inspection and Technical Services, which "works in conjunction with Apprenticeship Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro to licence the Journey electrical trades." (ITS Electrical)

The part that is unique to Manitoba

The Electricians Licensing Regulation, M.R. 186/87 R creates a limited specialized trade electrician's licence. Section 2(2):

In order to be issued a limited specialized trade electrician's licence listed in the Schedule, a person must pass the examination set by the board and satisfy the board that he or she (a) has been employed in the listed trade for at least two years and has completed at least 3,600 hours of related practical experience; or (b) has completed a shorter period of employment and related practical experience that, in respect of the applicable listed trade, is acceptable to the board.

And the Schedule opens with:

Alarm Installers

(French text: Installateur de systèmes d'alarme.) Other entries include Electronic, Technician and Technologist, and Voice Data Video. (M.R. 186/87 R)

Be careful with this one. The regulation says "Alarm Installers". It does not say "fire alarm", and it does not define the scope of the licence class beyond the general limit in The Electricians' Licence Act section 5, which confines a limited specialized trade licence to installations directly associated with the holder's trade. We are reporting that the class exists, not asserting what it authorises on a fire alarm job. Ask the Provincial Electrical Inspector before relying on it.

The electrical code

The Manitoba Electrical Code, M.R. 30/2026, made under The Manitoba Hydro Act, adopts the Canadian Electrical Code, Part I, 26th edition, CSA C22.1:24 and repeals M.R. 76/2018. Its commencement is tied to the proclamation of a section of The Manitoba Hydro Amendment Act — check the current status before citing an edition on paperwork.

The Manitoba Fire Code redirects every CEC reference accordingly. Division A, Article 1.5.3.2: "A reference in this Code to the CSA C22.1, 'Canadian Electrical Code, Part I' is deemed to be a reference to the Manitoba Electrical Code." And "Manitoba Electrical Code" is defined as:

a) for municipalities other than the City of Winnipeg, the most recent version of the Manitoba Electrical Code made under The Manitoba Hydro Act, or

b) for the City of Winnipeg, the most recent version of The Winnipeg Electrical By-law adopted by the City of Winnipeg, or any replacement of that by-law.

If you work in Winnipeg, your electrical code is a City by-law, not the provincial regulation. That is written into the Fire Code definitions. For the circuit rules themselves see CEC Section 32.

Permits and who enforces

The Office of the Fire Commissioner describes itself as the Manitoba Government agency responsible for "Developing new and amending existing Manitoba Fire Code requirements" and "Fire inspections." On the split with municipalities:

Working under the Fires Prevention and Emergency Response Act and associated Regulations, both Municipal Authorities and the OFC share the responsibility of Fire and Life Safety.

Inspection offices are in Winnipeg and Brandon. (OFC Codes · Legislation, Acts and Regulations)

The OFC is also the body that clause (b) of Article 6.3.1.5 points at: the fire commissioner decides what other program or course is acceptable.

Design sign-off. The Fire Code Schedule adds Division C Articles 2.2.1.3 and 2.2.1.4: the authority having jurisdiction may require plans "prepared, signed and sealed by an architect or professional engineer skilled in the appropriate section of the work concerned," and that person "must inspect the completed work and provide the authority having jurisdiction with written assurance that it has been completed in accordance with the plans and specifications."

Electrical permits and inspection sit outside the OFC entirely — with Inspection and Technical Services and Manitoba Hydro outside Winnipeg, and with the City inside Winnipeg.

Manitoba compared

Labelled by province, so nothing here gets read across a border by mistake.

For the two neighbours in full: who can work on fire alarms in Ontario and fire alarm rules in Saskatchewan. Further west and east: Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec.

Alberta is the only one of these that ties fire alarm work to the electrician certificate directly — NFC(AE) Division C Article 2.2.4.3 requires an Alberta journeyperson electrician certificate issued on or after 1 September 1991 for installation, with CFAA certification as an alternative route for inspection, testing and maintenance. Manitoba does the opposite: it names CFAA in the code and leaves installation to the licensing system.

What we could not verify

Stated plainly, because a guess here is worse than a gap.

• The CAN/ULC-S536 edition designated by NFC 2020, and therefore by Manitoba. The free federal PDF of the National Fire Code of Canada 2020 is encrypted and we could not extract Division B Table 1.3.1.2. NOT RETRIEVED. We will not read Alberta's or Ontario's table across to Manitoba.
• Any published list of programs or courses the fire commissioner has accepted under Article 6.3.1.5(1)(b). Nothing on firecomm.gov.mb.ca. If you are relying on a non-CFAA course, ask the OFC in writing.
• The scope of the "Alarm Installers" limited specialized trade electrician's licence. The Schedule to M.R. 186/87 R lists the class and nothing defines what it covers on a fire alarm system.
• Whether the Manitoba Electrical Code, M.R. 30/2026 (CSA C22.1:24, 26th edition) is yet in force. Its coming-into-force is tied to the proclamation of a section of The Manitoba Hydro Amendment Act, which we could not confirm.
• The Winnipeg Electrical By-law and the City of Winnipeg building by-law. Both are referenced by provincial instruments and we did not open either. If you work in Winnipeg this is a real gap for you specifically.
• Any OFC bulletin on fire alarm systems, verification or servicer qualifications. The bulletins index redirected to a 404 when we tried it. The only OFC bulletin we located was 18-011 on carbon monoxide detectors.
• Whether any Manitoba municipality imposes a fire alarm qualification by by-law, as several BC municipalities do. Not checked.
• The Manitoba OFC construction code guide we did open is dated 2013 and predates the current codes; we have not relied on it.

If you can point us at a primary source for any of these, we will correct this page.

Related

• Who can legally work on fire alarms in Ontario
• Fire alarm rules in Saskatchewan
• Fire alarm rules in Alberta
• Fire alarm rules in British Columbia
• Fire alarm rules in Quebec
• Which ULC edition does my province use
• Canadian fire alarm codes and standards
• Verification vs annual inspection

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We are not affiliated with the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner, Inspection and Technical Services, Apprenticeship Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro, the City of Winnipeg, the Canadian Fire Alarm Association, the National Research Council of Canada, or any authority having jurisdiction. We certify nobody. This page reports what published primary sources say and flags what they do not say. It is not legal advice — confirm against the instrument in force for your permit.

Last updated: August 2026. Manitoba sources retrieved 16 August 2026: Manitoba Fire Code M.R. 82/2023 (consolidation in effect since 13 February 2026, last amendment M.R. 11/2026) and the registered 2023 PDF; Manitoba Building Code M.R. 78/2023 (first version, in effect since 1 January 2024); Manitoba Electrical Code M.R. 30/2026; The Electricians' Licence Act C.C.S.M. c. E50 (current to 14 August 2026); Electricians Licensing Regulation M.R. 186/87 R (in effect since 2 December 2013); Apprenticeship Manitoba compulsory trades material; Office of the Fire Commissioner codes and legislation pages; Manitoba 2020 Construction Codes adoption page.