Presumptive Coverage For Cancers Occurring In Longterm Voluntary Firefighters

Resolution Category AUMA Strategic/Business Plan Priorities 3
Subject Social
Year 2010
Status Adopted - Expired
Active Clauses

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association support the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association in its efforts to have Volunteer/Paid on Call fire fighters receive presumptive coverage for the identified cancers currently provided for Full-time career firefighters.

Whereas Clauses

WHEREAS the Workers Compensation Board of Alberta provides presumptive coverage for Full-Time career firefighters for various forms of cancers associated to the hazards involved in fire fighting;

WHEREAS the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia provide presumptive coverage of cancers related to fire fighting for Full-time career and Volunteer/Paid on Call firefighters; and

WHEREAS the Province of Alberta currently has approximately 10,000 Volunteer/Paid on Call firefighters and approximately 3500 Full-time career firefighters.

Government Response

Mar 31, 2011 - Alberta Employment and Immigration

The basis for determining a workers’ compensation claim is an evaluation of workplace exposures/conditions and an injury/illness. The evaluation needs to establish that the health problem is “more likely than not” related to work. The WCB determines work-relatedness through a review of the working conditions and all available medical information. Volunteer/paid-on-call firefighters are deemed workers under section 14(3) of the Workers’ Compensation Act and are covered by the workers’ compensations system. This extends full benefits to any volunteer firefighter whose injury or illness is work-related. Presumptive status is not a requirement for compensation. Each case is adjudicated like any regular occupational disease claim, and eligibility for compensation is determined based on the merits of the case.

Generally, the creation of presumptive legislation is evidence-based. On May 14, 2010, the Government of Alberta announced that full-time firefighters will now automatically be eligible for Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) coverage if they contact esophageal or testicular cancer. These two cancers will provide a total of ten presumptive cancers that are automatically recognized by WCB. This means that if a firefighter develops one of these cancers, it is presumed to be an occupational disease caused by employment.

Even though a 2006 WCB review of cancers research found no study that included part-time firefighters, I continue to monitor this issue and encourage interest parties to share any evidence that established a casual relationship between firefighters’ cancer and part-time exposures.

Alberta Municipalities notes

AUMA Accepts this response.