Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach hails recent move to double tax credits for volunteer fire fighters

Members of the Port Edward Volunteer Fire Department and other
Volunteer services received welcome news from Ottawa this week.
That of a doubling of their allowable tax credit for their work in 
service to their communities

Those who volunteer their services for fire fighting and Search and Rescue work can now gain a bit more of a tax credit at tax time.

That as the Federal Government has announced that the Tax Credit for those community minded residents has now been doubled.

The Federal Government announcement was released on April 10th.

"In recognition of this, today the federal government announced that Budget 2024 will propose to double the Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit and the Search and Rescue Volunteers Tax Credit. 

This means the tax credit will increase from $3,000 to $6,000 for 2024 and subsequent tax years, saving volunteer firefighters up to $900 per year. This increase will particularly benefit rural communities where firefighters are most often volunteers and they are confronting increasingly more frequent wildfires due to climate change. 

Over the next six years, this represents about $105 million in new support for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers across the country. 

Today’s announcement also includes $166.2 million over five years in new funding in support of First Nations emergency management and preparedness. Recognizing that many First Nations communities are especially vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters, this investment will better support First Nations to protect their communities."

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bacharach who had been advocating for the change in Parliaemt this past year shared word of the announcement through his social media stream on Thursday.

The MP's shout out to Northwest volunteers missed out on the District of Port Edward fire fighting component who will benefit from the new tax credits, while the note  towards  the Prince Rupert Department was somewhat misdirected,  as that is a fully paid professional force and won't qualify for the tax credit measures.

Mr. Bachrach nd Vancouver Island MP Gord Johns also provided a video to celebrate the announcement. 

More notes on the work of Mr. Bachrach in Ottawa can be explored here.

The work of those who respond to fires, search and rescue calls and other Emergency responders in the Northwest can be reviewed here.