Tax Credit for Volunteer Firefighters and Search and Rescue Volunteers

Both the federal and Quebec tax returns provide specific tax relief for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers through credits and income exemptions. Volunteers may choose to claim either the federal tax credit or the income exemption, but not both.

For 2024 and later years, the Volunteer Firefighters’ Amount (VFA) and the Search and Rescue Volunteers’ Amount (SRVA) each provide a claim of $6,000, reported on line 31220 or 31240 of the federal return, respectively.

To qualify, at least 200 hours of eligible volunteer service must be completed during the year. The credit cannot be claimed if the individual was employed by the same organization for similar duties, unless the volunteer hours were separate from employment.

Hours volunteered for firefighting and search and rescue may be combined to reach the 200-hour requirement. This is a non-refundable tax credit, meaning it can reduce the amount of tax payable but does not generate a refund.

A tax credit of $735.56 (14% of $5,254) can be claimed if the following conditions are met:

• The individual was a volunteer firefighter or a search and rescue volunteer in 2024.
• At least 200 hours of eligible service were performed during the year.
• The individual is including tax-exempt remuneration for volunteer search and rescue services (reported in box L-2 of the RL-1 slip, up to $1,380) in income, as outlined under “Emergency services volunteers” in the instructions for line 101.

Eligible services

Services provided by volunteer firefighters to one or more fire departments offering fire protection on behalf of a government, a municipality or another public authority are eligible if they consist in:

• Being on call for and responding to firefighting and related emergency calls.
• Attending meetings held by the fire department(s).
• Participating in required training on the prevention or suppression of fires.

Important Note

• Do not include the following when calculating your hours:
• The hours during which you performed services as a volunteer firefighter on behalf of a fire department for which you were both a firefighter and a volunteer firefighter;
• The hours during which you performed services as a search and rescue volunteer on behalf of an eligible organization for which you provided services both as a search and rescue volunteer and in a capacity other than as a volunteer.

Example :

Marc is a volunteer firefighter with his local municipality. He performed 250 hours of eligible firefighting service during the year and received $1,200 in tax-exempt volunteer remuneration, which appears in box L-2 of his RL-1 slip.

Answer: Marc includes this amount in his income on line 101 of his Quebec tax return, as required. Because he meets the eligibility criteria—performing more than 200 hours of eligible service and including the volunteer remuneration in income—Marc qualifies for the volunteer firefighters’ amount (VFA).

Quebec tax return: he can claim a tax credit of $735.56, calculated as 14% of $5,254, the 2024 VFA amount.

Federal tax return: he can claim $6,000 on line 31220, which provides a federal credit of $900 (15% of $6,000)