Firefighters in Algonquin Highlands will be getting a raise.

Council unanimously voted in favour of an increase in pay from $17 an hour to $18 this year and to $19.42 in 2019.

A fire services report compared the wages of firefighters in five other rural jurisdictions and found them to be between $17 an hour to as high as just over $25.

Mayor Carol Moffatt says the township does a comparison with other fire departments so Algonquin Highlands is paying its firefighters what they deserve.

Another change is that firefighters will be compensated for three hours of training instead of two.

While firefighters are considered volunteers, Moffatt adds the only volunteer aspect is signing up.