Fire knows no borders in Canada — but firefighters’ workplace compensation for some types of cancer does. A new federal law could change that.
How provinces compensate firefighters for workplace-related cancers — the most deadly occupational risk they face — varies widely.
Provincial workplace safety boards link different cancers to firefighting, making it harder for some firefighters to access compensation.
“To have this inequality of coverage for firefighters when they get diagnosed with those illnesses is a real disservice to those who serve the community,” said Neil McMillan, director of science and research at the Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine Division of the International Association of Fire Fighters
