WAKAW — January is designated as Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month to provide firefighters with the necessary tools and guidance to develop life-saving protocols for cancer prevention and to support those with a cancer diagnosis within their departments.
Canada recognized Fire Fighter Cancer Awareness Month in 2023 with the adoption of MP Sherry Romanado’s Bill C-224 which she introduced in January 2022. Bill C-224, an act to establish a national framework for the prevention and treatment of cancers linked to fire fighting, received royal assent on June 22, 2023 and became law.
“Cancer is responsible for over 85 per cent of all duty-related deaths among firefighters in Canada. Awareness, education and information sharing are critical to the prevention and early detection of the cancers linked to fire fighting,” Romanado said in a government press release. “This bill represents concrete action to better protect the health and safety of the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe. That it passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate is a testament to the high regard in which our country holds its firefighters and the essential work they do.”
Romanado’s bill received the full support of firefighter associations across the country.
“The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) represents the country’s 3000+ fire departments and their 130,000 firefighters, …We stand in full support of Bill C-224. Presumptive cancers don’t discriminate across provincial borders. Federal leadership, if well executed, will set a high bar to help both men and women in fire services all across our country,” stated Chief John McKearney, CAFC president, fire chief, Whistler, B.C.
Over the next year, Health Canada developed a national framework that raises awareness of cancers linked to firefighting, supports improved access for firefighters to cancer prevention and treatment, and provides a common direction for stakeholders to address cancer among firefighters. The National Framework on Cancer Linked to Firefighting, prepared by Health Canada was published in October 2024.
Health Canada identified in the National Framework that in Canada, according to current information from the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, cancer research on firefighters has largely focused on career or full-time structural firefighters who work in urban metropolitan environments. The conclusions drawn from this research then cannot be generalized across all firefighters. Firefighters who work in other capacities, such as those who work in wildland settings, rural and remote communities, military settings, or firefighters who work part-time or on a volunteer basis working in different environments under different conditions. Most research has also focused on white men in the fire sector, which based on the results of other research, puts a limiting factor on scientists’ ability to understand how cancer is impacting other demographics, including female, racialized, and Indigenous firefighters.
Firefighters have raised concerns that their healthcare providers may not always recognize the unique risks they face or know how to offer appropriate care. This misunderstanding stems from the perception that firefighters are generally healthy, too young, or not at increased risk for developing certain cancers. In Canada, there are currently no evidence-based and widely accepted clinical guidelines specifically focused on screening or diagnostic testing for cancers in firefighters.
Many firefighters have reported being informed that they do not qualify for standard screening or diagnostic tests for specific cancers because they are deemed either too young or not at heightened risk. Additionally, several cancers associated with firefighting, such as mesothelioma, bladder cancer, testicular cancer, melanoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lack established screening programs in Canada.
Health and safety standards vary across the country and may not adequately address the unique hazards that firefighters encounter. In Canada, both the federal government and provincial and territorial governments operate under their own occupational health and safety legislation, enacting and enforcing specific regulations. Each province and territory also has its own workers’ compensation boards (WCB) that handle claims for occupational illnesses and injuries as defined by their respective workers’ compensation acts, policies, or regulations.
Every jurisdiction in Canada recognizes that certain cancers linked to firefighting are occupational diseases. However, the extent of presumptive coverage for these diseases varies. Some jurisdictions may not extend this coverage to all types of firefighters, and definitions of what constitutes a firefighter can differ slightly from one jurisdiction to another. Consequently, volunteer firefighters and wildland firefighters may or may not be covered under the workers’ compensation acts or policies, depending on the rules of their specific jurisdiction.
According to a 2022 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report, occupational exposures as a firefighter have changed due to the number and intensity of wildland fires associated with climate change. The IARC report notes “wildland fires alone will engage more people in firefighting in the coming years, increasing the number of exposed firefighters and their subsequent cancer burden” (IARC, 2023).
Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month is focusing on “Doing it Right”. The theme coincides with the Firefighters Cancer Support Network’s White Paper “Doing it Right – Reducing Cancer in the Fire Service.” Created in partnership with leading fire service and cancer research experts, the paper provides strategies and actionable tips to reduce cancer risks in the line of duty. Each week of the month focuses on a specific theme. Each theme builds upon the previous week’s theme. By the end of the month, firefighters will have the knowledge and resources to understand how they are exposed to carcinogens, what happens when they are exposed, how to prevent exposures, make culture changes in their department and assist those who are diagnosed with cancer. Week one examines Presumptive Coverage and Workers’ Compensation; week two looks at Reproductive Health; week three Behavioural Health; and week four Personal Responsibility and Culture Change.
In Canada, where most provinces and territories have robust presumptive laws, close to 94% of line-of-duty deaths among professional firefighters are the result of occupational cancers. (https://www.iaff.org/cancer-awareness-month/) Canadian firefighters play an important role in keeping everyone safe and their work involves more occupational hazards than many are aware of. Awareness and education are therefore essential to help firefighters detect the early signs of occupational cancer so that they can obtain screening and treatment. “…Firefighters ensure our safety every day and we have a responsibility to do the same for them. I believe that we have a responsibility to ensure their well-being and safety as much as possible with the means at our disposal as parliamentarians,” stated Sherry Romanado.
While much of the awareness of this month is directed at firefighters themselves, increasing public awareness of occupational cancer in the fire service will help to generate greater legislative support for provinces to establish presumptive disabilities for all cancers affecting all firefighters. The firefighters in rural Saskatchewan are friends, neighbours, and family members. As Edward Kelly, the General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) said following MP Sherry Romanado’s introduction of Bill C-224, “Cancer is an epidemic in the fire service. Too many of our members have died prematurely due to the ravages of occupational cancer.”
