Mr. Speaker, it is a real privilege to table e-petition 2846, signed by over 2,655 Canadians. The petitioners cite that volunteer firefighters account for 83% of Canada’s total firefighting essential first responders. In addition, 8,000 essential search and rescue volunteers respond to thousands of incidents every year.
Currently, the tax code allows volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers to claim a $3,000 tax credit if 200 hours of volunteer hours are completed in a calendar year. This works out to a mere $450 per year that we allow these essential volunteers to keep as their own income, which equates to about $2.25 an hour. They not only put their lives on the line and give their time for training to protect Canadians, but they also allow cities and municipalities to keep property taxes low.
Petitioners cite that increasing this tax credit would allow these essential volunteers to keep more of their hard-earned money, likely to be spent in the communities in which they serve, and it would also help in retaining these volunteers in a time when volunteerism is decreasing. The petitioners are calling on the government to increase the tax exemption from $3,000 to $10,000. This was reflected in the bill I tabled this morning.