Firefighter search and rescueTraining

You can claim an amount of $3,000 on your return for either the VFA or SRVA; not both. However, if you volunteered as both a firefighter and search and rescue worker, you can combine the hours to reach the 200 hours needed to claim either amount.

Click the links below for more information on your provincial tax credit for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers:

Search and Rescue Firefightersalary

You can claim the VFA or the SRVA on the Special situations page. This page can be found on the left navigation menu under the Required tab by answering the following question:

Firefighter Search and RescuePowerPoint

Note: Even if you had income from a source within any of these provinces, you can’t claim this tax credit unless you were a resident as of December 31st.

If you qualify for the federal VFA or the SRVA amount, you might also be eligible for an additional provincial amount if you’re a resident of British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Québec, or Saskatchewan at the end of the year.

Tax tip: As a volunteer firefighter or search and rescue volunteer, you might be eligible to claim a $1,000 tax exemption on your income. If you choose to claim this income exemption, you can’t claim the VFA or SRVA. Your income exemption amount can be found in box 87 of your T4 slip (or box L-2 of your RL-1 slip, if you’re a resident of Québec). Refer to the CRA website for more information on the income exemption for Emergency Services Volunteers.

Firefighter search and rescuetechniques

The volunteer firefighter’s amount (VFA) or the search and rescue volunteer’s amount (SRVA) is available to volunteer firefighters or search and rescue volunteers who have completed at least 200 hours of eligible services in the year. Eligible services include:

In 2023, did you complete at least 200 hours of service as either a volunteer firefighter or search and rescue volunteer?

If you’re eligible for the corresponding provincial amount, H&R Block’s tax software will automatically claim it for you if you qualify for the federal amount.

Note: As a resident of Saskatchewan, you might be able claim the Volunteer emergency medical first responders’ amount (VEMFR) even if you aren’t eligible to claim the VFA or SRVA, as long as you provided at least 200 hours of eligible services to the provincial healthy authority. Eligible services include:

If, during the year, you provided services to the fire department or the search and rescue organization for which you were paid, you can’t include those hours to meet your 200-hour threshold.