Firefighters with Cancer

If you are or have been a firefighter and have one of the primary site cancers listed in the following chart, the cancer may be presumed to be an occupational disease and you may be eligible for WCB-Alberta benefits. The presumption applies to full-time, volunteer, part-time and casual firefighters employed by a municipality or Metis settlement and assigned exclusively to fire protection and fire prevention duties notwithstanding that those duties may include the performance of ambulance or rescue services; who have been regularly exposed to the hazards of a fire scene, other than a forest fire, for the minimum period shown for the specified cancer.

*Date of accident for occupational disease claims like cancer is usually the first date of treatment or lay-off, whichever is earlier (see Policy 03-01,Part I, 2.0). 

**A non-smoker means an individual who has not smoked a tobacco product in the 10 years prior to the date of diagnosis of a primary site cancer.

***The regulation regarding testicular cancer was updated on Jan. 17, 2018 to reduce the minimum period of regular exposure from 20 years to 10.

The presumptions do not apply if:

• you are or have been a firefighter and have a cancer other than a primary site cancer listed in the chart, or
• you have one of the primary site cancers listed and do not meet the minimum period of exposure that is required, or
• your date of accident is prior to the date indicated in the chart. Such claims are adjudicated like any regular occupational disease claim and eligibility for compensation will be determined based on the merits of the case.

For more information see Section 24.1 of the Workers’ Compensation Act and the Firefighters’ Primary Site Cancer Regulation, which are available at:

http://ww.wcb.ab.ca/about-wcb/policy-and-legislation/legislation.html

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