British Columbia is expanding workers’ compensation cancer coverage for firefighters, adding eight cancers to the existing list of presumptive occupational diseases under the Workers Compensation Act.

The province will amend the Firefighters’ Occupational Disease Regulation to bring the total number of covered cancers from 18 to 26. The additions are: skin cancer, mesothelioma, soft tissue sarcoma, and laryngeal, tracheal, bronchial, nose, and pharynx cancers. B.C. will have the most comprehensive firefighter cancer presumptions in Canada once the changes take effect.

Who is covered

The expanded coverage applies to more than 15,000 workers, including career, volunteer and federal firefighters, provincial wildfire fighters, fire investigators, and firefighters employed by First Nations and Indigenous organizations in B.C. The breakdown includes approximately 4,320 career firefighters, 8,800 volunteers, 700 employed by First Nations or Indigenous organizations, and more than 1,500 provincial wildland firefighters.

Firefighters make up 0.5 per cent of the provincial workforce but account for 35 per cent of all accepted cancer claims at WorkSafeBC between 2010 and 2025.

How the presumption works

Under presumptive cancer coverage, a firefighter who develops a listed cancer after a minimum employment period is considered to have acquired it through workplace exposure. That firefighter can then claim workers’ compensation benefits without having to prove the cancer is work-related.

The province is also reducing the minimum employment period for the existing esophageal cancer presumption from 20 years to 15 years.

Firefighters remain eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for work-related cancers outside the presumptive list, including cancers not on the list or cases where the minimum employment period has not been met.

“Expanding the list of presumptive cancers and lowering the cumulative service for esophageal cancer acknowledges the risks we face on the job,” said Todd Schierling, president of the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters’ Association. “This is the strongest set of protections in the country, and the BCPFFA will continue to advocate for the health, safety, and support for all members.”

Sebastian Kallos, Component 20 vice-president of the BC General Employees’ Union, noted the significance for wildland firefighters. “As fire seasons become longer and more intense, exposure becomes a greater risk for wildland firefighters. British Columbia is one of only five provinces in the country that provides this coverage for wildland firefighters.”

Background

The Workers Compensation Act was first amended in 2005 to establish cancer presumptions for firefighters, listing eight cancers at that time. Further changes in 2018 and 2019 extended coverage to fire investigators and firefighters under federal jurisdiction working in B.C.

The province says it will bring the new changes into force as soon as possible following cabinet approval, and will continue reviewing emerging scientific research when considering future updates.

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