Volunteer Firefighter

Line 362 – Volunteer firefighters’ amount and Line 395 – Search and rescue volunteers’ amount

Volunteer firefighters’ amount

You can claim an amount of $3,000 if you meet the following conditions:

• you were a volunteer firefighter during the year; and
• you completed at least 200 hours of eligible volunteer firefighting services with one or more fire departments in the year.

However, if you provided services to the same fire department, other than as a volunteer, for the same or similar duties, you cannot include any hours related to that department in determining if you have met the 200-hour threshold.

Eligible services

Eligible volunteer firefighter services include primary and secondary services you provided to a fire department.

Primary services include:

• responding to and being on call for firefighting and related emergency calls as a firefighter;
• attending meetings held by the fire department; and
• participating in required training related to the prevention or suppression of fire.

Secondary services you provided as a volunteer firefighter to a fire department are also eligible, such as the maintenance of vehicles and equipment used by the fire department and the delivery of educational sessions undertaken by the fire department.

Calculating eligible hours

You must complete a minimum of 200 hours of eligible volunteer firefighter services with one or more fire departments in the year.

For the purpose of counting the number of eligible hours, the number of hours devoted to primary services must exceed the number of hours devoted to secondary services for a particular fire department.