B.C. expands firefighters’ compensation coverage by adding 8 cancers to list

Crews members prepare to battle the Wesley Ridge wildfire on the north side of Cameron Lake off Highway 4 near Coombs, B.C., on Sunday, August 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

VICTORIA — British Columbia has expanded its compensation coverage for firefighters in the province by adding eight cancers to the list of eligible illnesses.

The province says the additions to the list of diseases “presumed to be linked to the work done by firefighters” make B.C. the most comprehensively covered Canadian province.

The newly added diseases include skin cancer, mesothelioma, soft-tissue sarcoma and pharynx cancers, putting the total number of cancers covered for B.C. firefighters at 26.

The BC General Employees’ Union says in a statement it welcomes the move, calling it a “step forward” for the more than 15,000 firefighters covered under the province’s Workers’ Compensation Act.

The BCGEU represents about 2,000 wildland firefighters, and union president Paul Finch says the group will keep advocating for expanded protections and stronger preventive measures, especially given recent record-breaking wildfire seasons.

The most devastating was in 2023, where more than 28,000 square kilometres of land was scorched by a total of about 2,300 blazes across the province.

“As fire seasons grow longer and more extreme, our members deserve a system that keeps pace with the realities of their work,” Finch says in a statement.

“They put their health on the line for British Columbians and they deserve to know that the province will stand behind them if they get sick.”

The province says firefighters in B.C. accounted for about 35 per cent of all of WorkSafeBC’s accepted cancer claims from 2010 to 2025, despite the occupation only representing 0.5 per cent of the overall provincial workforce.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2026.