- Added Cancers (2026): Eight new cancers were added: skin cancer, mesothelioma, soft tissue sarcoma, and laryngeal, tracheal, bronchial, nose, and pharynx cancers.
- Coverage Scope: Applies to career, volunteer, and federal firefighters, plus provincial wildfire crews, fire investigators, and those working for Indigenous organizations.
- Presumption Definition: If a firefighter is diagnosed with a listed condition after a minimum period of service, the illness is automatically assumed to be work-related, placing the burden of proof on WorkSafeBC rather than the individual.
- Bill M 214 - The Firefighters' Health Act (2026): Mandates a, "new mandatory health screening plan" for cancer and mental health within 12 months, creates a 5-year service threshold for wildfire crew eligibility, and initiates a review of Section 140 of the Workers Compensation Act.
Minimum cumulative periods of employment prescribed
3 The minimum cumulative period set out in Column 2 of the Table is prescribed for the
purposes of section 140 (2) (a) of the Act in respect of the occupational disease set out
opposite it in Column 1.
Item Column 1
Occupational Disease
Column 2
Minimum
Cumulative Period
1 primary leukemia 5 years
2 primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma 20 years
3 primary site bladder cancer 15 years
4 primary site brain cancer 10 years
5 primary site colorectal cancer 10 years
6 primary site kidney cancer 20 years
7 primary site lung cancer 15 years
8 primary site testicular cancer 10 years
9 primary site ureter cancer 15 years
10 primary site esophageal cancer 15 years
11 primary site breast cancer 10 years
12 primary site prostate cancer 15 years
13 multiple myeloma 15 years
14 primary site ovarian cancer 10 years
15 primary site cervical cancer 10 years
16 primary site penile cancer 15 years
17 primary site pancreatic cancer 10 years
18 primary site thyroid cancer 10 years
19 primary site skin cancer 10 years
20 primary site laryngeal cancer 15 years
21 mesothelioma 15 years
22 soft tissue sarcoma 15 years
23 primary site tracheal cancer 15 years
24 primary site bronchial cancer 15 years
25 primary site nose cancer 15 years
26 primary site pharynx cancer 15 years