Firefighters' Compensation Act Consultation

WorkSafeNB is considering a merger of the Firefighters' Compensation Act (FC Act) and the Workers' Compensation Act (WC Act) and expanding the list of presumptive cancers available to firefighters.

If a merger is supported by stakeholders, we would consider recommending to government an amendment to the WC Act to include presumptive firefighter coverage, rather than maintaining a separate firefighter act. This change would align with every other Canadian jurisdiction. If the acts are merged, the adjudication process of firefighter applications will be streamlined.

Under the current legislative structure, all workplace injuries or disease claims for firefighters, former firefighters, and their dependents are first adjudicated under the WC Act. If the individual is determined to be ineligible for benefits under the WC Act, the claim is then reviewed under the FC Act. Consolidating the two acts will streamline the claims process and provide support to firefighters with job-related injuries and diseases more quickly.

If the acts are merged, applications will initially be assessed based on whether the cancer falls under the presumptive clause. If the claim doesn’t meet this presumption, we would then evaluate it based on evidence, as defined in WorkSafeNB’s policies.

This process mirrors how other Canadian jurisdictions administer firefighter presumptive cancer coverage.

The goal of this consultation is to gather stakeholder feedback on:

■ Whether WorkSafeNB’s board of directors should pursue legislative changes to move the presumptive coverage currently provided under the FC Act into the WC Act.

■ Whether the list of cancers under the presumptive clause should be expanded to better align to the cancers covered by other Canadian jurisdictions.