Section 118.06

The CRA position regarding the concept of "volunteer firefighter" for purposes of ss. 81(4) and 118.06 as indicated in 2012-0444461E5 F remains in force following the decision in Bourgeois 2015 QCCQ 1962.

After indicating that s. 118.06(1) establishes a distinction between “Primary Services” and “Secondary Services,” and that:

The number of hours used to calculate the volunteer firefighter tax credit will therefore include Primary and Secondary Services, although the number of hours spent on Primary Services must exceed the number of hours spent on Secondary Services.

CRA went on to indicate that Secondary Services included “training that is not related to the prevention or suppression of fires but related to emergencies,” and “prevention visits, such as fire alarm verification visits.”

In response to an inquiry as to the interpretation of the expression on-call as used in the definition of eligible volunteer firefighting services, CRA stated:

When certifying volunteer firefighter's eligible hours, it is the CRA's view that a fire department should assess each volunteer's on-call availability for response in accordance with its own departmental expectations, operational requirements, and applicable policies and procedures. Although a volunteer may carry a pager or a phone to receive notifications of an emergency, carrying such a device in itself does not establish that the individual was on call....

Time spent by individuals fundraising for equipment replacement and maintenance would not qualify as eligible firefighter services when the activity is similar to other general community fundraising activities (e.g. selling raffle tickets) because there is no requirement for any training or skills as a firefighter.

In finding that firefighters in a particular town were not entitled to the credit, CRA stated:

If the amounts paid represent only a small amount for the services rendered compared to what it would have cost under the same circumstances to have the same work performed by a regular full-time or part-time employee, we will generally consider the firefighter to be acting as a volunteer.

In the event that, without being equivalent, the hourly rate of a volunteer firefighter is comparable to that of a regular firefighter, we are of the view that the amount paid would not be considered "minimal". As a result, the firefighter in this situation would not be considered to be acting as a volunteer for the purposes of subsection 81(4) and section 118.06.

In considering the definition of the word "volunteer" [bénévole] in Le nouveau Petit Robert de la langue française 2009 dictionary, we are of the view that the firefighter must also act without obligation in order to be considered as a volunteer firefighter for the purposes of paragraph 81(4) and section 118.06.

Thus, an individual who is required to work a minimum number of hours in a given period of time, except for a very limited number of hours, is generally not considered to be a volunteer firefighter for the purposes of subsection 81(4) and section 118.06.

In the course of a general discussion as to whether firefighters in a Town who received remuneration for their work were volunteers, CRA stated:

In the event that, without being equivalent, the hourly rate of a volunteer firefighter is comparable to that of a regular firefighter, we are of the view that the amount paid would not be considered "minimal". As a result, the firefighter in this situation would not be considered to be acting as a volunteer for the purposes of subsection 81(4) and section 118.06. ...

[A]n individual who is required to work a minimum number of hours in a given period of time, except for a very limited number of hours, is generally not considered to be a volunteer firefighter for the purposes of subsection 81(4) and section 118.06.

Before addressing the volunteer firefighter tax credit for “volunteer” firefighters working on a part-time basis for more than $17,000 per annum, CRA addressed whether amounts received by volunteers with modest remuneration might be exempt on general principles, stating that such payments:

are not very representative of the amount of work done or the quality of the services rendered.

They are not in themselves real motivators for volunteers to get involved and do not reflect the fair market value of services rendered. Therefore, those payments are not taxable.

However, the volunteer firefighters to which we were referred are not necessarily volunteers as defined above. If that had been the case, the $1,000 exemption and the volunteer firefighter tax credit would be meaningless as they only apply to taxable income.

Nowadays, there are almost no volunteer firefighters who can be qualified as volunteers in the true sense of the word, that is to say, unremunerated. In addition, the compensation paid to those workers in exchange for the work performed strongly suggests that they are employees.