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The Ontario government is expanding cancer coverage for firefighters. These changes will make it faster and easier for these heroes and their families to access the compensation and supports they deserve for thyroid and pancreatic cancers from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).<\/p>\n
\u201cIn every community, firefighters are on the front lines each and every day saving lives,\u201d said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. \u201cThese everyday heroes work tirelessly to protect the communities we live in\u00a0and, in return, they deserve to get the care and support they need. By expanding the list of presumptive cancers to include thyroid and pancreatic cancers, firefighters will get faster access to compensation and other benefits, ultimately supporting their recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Firefighters die of cancer at a rate up to four times higher than the general population. On average, 50 to 60 firefighters die of cancer yearly in Canada, and half of those are from Ontario. Proposed changes by the government will streamline the assessment of WSIB claims by presuming they are work-related.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirefighters put service over self each day, ready to approach dangerous situations to protect their communities,\u201d said Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General. \u201cIn recognition of their courage, we have a duty to enhance the safety, health, and wellness of our community heroes. By expanding WSIB coverage for firefighters to include thyroid and pancreatic cancers, we continue to promote better health outcomes, while honouring their service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expanded coverage for claims related to thyroid and pancreatic cancers would be retroactive to January 1, 1960. These changes would apply to full-time, volunteer, and part-time firefighters, firefighters employed by First Nations band councils\u00a0and fire investigators.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreventive measures, early detection\u00a0and support for those suffering and\/or succumbing to occupational cancer while serving the residents of Ontario, have proven to be a priority for this government through the unwavering support of Premier Doug Ford, the Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner,\u201d said Greg Horton, President of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association. \u201cWith the addition of pancreatic and thyroid cancers to the list of illnesses already presumed to have come from a long career in firefighting, the Ontario government is sending the message that the health and safety of these first responders is a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
These regulatory amendments are part of a larger package that expands on the ground-breaking actions in the Working for Workers Acts, 2021<\/em> and 2022<\/em>, which are already helping millions of people by introducing additional supports that embrace the future of work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ontario government is expanding cancer coverage for firefighters. These changes will make it faster and easier for these heroes and their families to access the compensation and supports they deserve for thyroid and pancreatic cancers from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). \u201cIn every community, firefighters are on the front lines each and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 10:14:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59507,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59506\/revisions\/59507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}