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Government Boosts Support for Volunteer Firefighters

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (volunteer firefighting and search and rescue volunteer tax credit)

Summary

  • Increases the federal non-refundable tax credit base for volunteer firefighters and search-and-rescue volunteers from $6,000 to $10,000.
  • Updates the definition of "eligible volunteer firefighting services" (specifics not provided in the text excerpt).
  • Keeps the existing calculation method (the credit equals the "appropriate percentage" of the $10,000 amount) to determine individual tax relief.
  • Applies starting in the 2026 taxation year and for subsequent years.

Builder Assessment

Vote Yes

Overall, the bill modestly aligns with Build Canada’s tenets by incentivizing critical volunteer services and potentially improving service delivery efficiency, though its impact is narrow. It supports incentive-driven policy and government efficiency but does not deliver large-scale productivity or competitiveness gains.

  • Aligns with incentive-based tax policy and cost-effective public service delivery (Tenets 6 and 7).
  • Neutral on growth, productivity, exports, and investment given limited scale and indirect effects (Tenets 1, 3, 4, 5).
  • Conflicts with the call for large-scale, non-incremental reforms (Tenet 8).
  • Consider improvements to strengthen alignment:
    • Make the credit refundable to reach lower-income volunteers and maximize recruitment/retention impact.
    • Pair with streamlined national training/certification standards to cut red tape and improve readiness.
    • Tie funding to measurable outcomes (response times, retention) and integrate into a broader emergency-resilience and equipment modernization plan.
    • Consolidate or sunset low-impact boutique credits elsewhere to preserve tax simplicity and fiscal room.

Question Period Cards

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Principles Analysis

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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

A narrow, targeted credit with minimal macroeconomic impact; effects on national wealth are indirect and small.

✓

Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Reduces tax burden for individuals who take on demanding, high-responsibility volunteer roles; does not add new red tape.

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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

May improve community resilience and reduce losses from disasters, but it is not a direct productivity or competitiveness policy.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

No direct link to export growth; any benefits would be indirect via better protection of infrastructure and communities.

—

Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Could indirectly support resource communities by strengthening emergency response, but the causal impact on investment is unclear.

✓

Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Strengthening volunteer first response can be a cost-effective alternative to expanding paid services and may reduce disaster-related costs.

✓

Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

Uses tax incentives to reward high-risk, socially valuable service; though targeted, it aligns with incentive-based policy.

✗

Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

A boutique credit with limited scope; it does not materially shift growth, productivity, or tax-system simplicity at scale.

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C-204

PartyNDP
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedJun 4, 2025
TopicsSocial Issues
Parliament45