Hope Lompe
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
Nanaimo Regional District board directors met with an MLA last month at the UBCM conference in Victoria to discuss their vision for provincial matching of the federal volunteer first responders tax credit.
Vanessa Craig, RDN board chair and director for Electoral Area B, and Sean Wood a director for the City of Parksville, met with parliamentary secretary for rural development, Steve Morissette to present the idea, endorsed by the UBCM in 2024.
“Steve has a background in rural communities, and he has a strong understanding of some of the challenges that that we’re facing with getting people to volunteer is more and more challenging,” says Craig.
“They put hours and hours into training, let alone getting call outs at any time of the day or night. So it’s a big request on for them to serve like that on behalf of the community, and it’s happening more frequently now with the increasing number of fires,” she says.
“It seems like a small thank you, so I think Steve and understands that.”
The federal tax credit was doubled from $3,000 to $6,000 in 2024, and amounts to up to $900 in a savings for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue workers who have worked at least 200 hours during the year.
The provincial tax credit for these worker remains at $3,000, an amount up to $450 per year for workers come tax time. The RDN is hoping the provincial government will choose to match the federal increase as part of the next provincial budget.
Wood previously served as a volunteer firefighter in Parksville and was involved in getting the federal increase last year. Now, Wood says the province should match the federal government as a token of thanks for volunteer first responders.
“It doesn’t add up to much but it’s a little less money that goes into the government coffers and a big thank you to the 100,000 volunteer firefighters across the country and also search and rescue volunteers as well,” says Wood.
Wood reports Morissette saw the validity of their proposal. Optically, Wood doubts increasing the credit would be an unpopular decision among tax payers.
“It would be a win, win. The province, B.C. NDP will look great if and when they say yes to it, because the optics are really good. It’s actually a really easy issue to push. There’s no one who says it’s not a great issue to push. So in that sense, it’s kind of low hanging fruit to be an advocate of this issue,” says Wood, who adds the MLA did not make any promises in their meeting.
“He didn’t say yes. Of course, he loves the idea the chances of it being in the budget in the Spring. …Let’s say an 80 per cent chance. I try to be optimistic.”
Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department Chief,Will Sprogis, says he is in support of this idea. Retention is a problem for the department, with many firefighters working up to three jobs to support their families, while also giving up time to attend fires.
“It will help with fatigue… some of our firefighters work two, three jobs, so hopefully they don’t have to commit to a third job or second job with better tax credits,” says Sprogis
Measures like this are important for his retention concerns, he adds. The department is having a recruitment drive until Oct. 15 to fill up to seven vacant positions for the Gabriola department, whose paid-on-call firefighters qualify for the credit.
Sprogis also hopes the government will follow through on a 2024 endorsed UBCM resolution to allocate funding for departments to purchase PFAS-free gear for firefighters for when they are are on non-fire related calls, at concern of prolonged exposure to the fire-retardant “forever chemicals.”
“You have to recognize they are giving up their day jobs to often go on fires, or they are losing sleep or losing time with their family,” says Sprogis.
“So it’s got to somehow make that lost revenue up, or take time off work to catch up with their family… every little bit helps to keep them, and retention is very important.”
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