A 1994 report prepared by the (now defunct) Ontario Industrial Disease Surveillance Panel included a recommendation that brain, lymphatic and haematopoietic cancers (such as leukaemia) should be added to the list of conditions for which workers’ compensation payments were made. The recommendation said the Workers’ Compensation Board must presume a firefighter’s cancer “is work related unless it is proved to be unrelated.” The report was prompted by an approach from the firefighters’ union. Presumptive laws on firefighter cancers like this exist in several jurisdications, notably in the US, Canada and Australia. In 2004, the North American firefighters’ union IAFF published a guide to presumptive laws in Canada.

Report to the Worker’ Compensation Board on Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Among Firefighters, IDSP, 1994.