Cape Breton

Chief Mark Bettens

FSANS Director for Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Chief Mark Bettens
Director of Fire and Emergency Services, Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Chief Mark Bettens is a veteran leader with over 45 years of experience in emergency services. Appointed as Director and Chief of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) Fire Service in March 2024, he oversees a comprehensive fire and emergency response network composed of career personnel and more than 800 volunteer members.

Throughout his career, Chief Bettens has been a staunch advocate for firefighter health and safety. While a member of the Sydney IAFF Local he worked Halifax IAFF Local in collaboration with the provincial government to introduce landmark legislation for presumptive cancer coverage in 2003. At the time, this initiative made Nova Scotia only the third province in Canada to implement such comprehensive protection for all firefighters both career and volunteer.

His diverse career began in 1979 as a paramedic at Curry's in Glace Bay and later with Dartmouth Ambulance, Metro & District, and EHS. He entered the fire service as a volunteer in 1987 while simultaneously serving as an underground paramedic at the Lingan Colliery (DEVCO) until 1991. He transitioned to the full-time fire service in 1995 and later expanded his administrative expertise during a notable eight-year secondment as Executive Assistant in the Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2020.

Chief Bettens has focused on modernizing CBRM operations by implementing critical interoperability programs, including the standardization of Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) across all stations to ensure equipment compatibility between career and volunteer crews. Beyond his municipal role, he serves as Co-Chair of the Nova Scotia Fire Training Advisory Committee, where he assists with the development of a standardized provincial firefighter education and training framework.

A lifelong resident of the community, Chief Bettens has been married for 37 years and is the proud father of two children, Morgan and Hunter.

Email: mhbettens@cbrm.ns.ca