The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) Cancer Committee has launched the CAFC Award for Firefighter Cancer Prevention.

The Firefighter Cancer Prevention Award is an award made in honour of the late Mr. Graham Pawlett. Mr. Pawlett was a past president of the Canadian Volunteer Fire Services Association. He represented CVFSA on the CAFC’s National Advisory Council.

Mr. Pawlett challenged the CAFC to consider what can be done to help volunteer firefighters access firefighter cancer prevention information similar to their career firefighter counterparts.

The result was the Inaugural Firefighter Cancer Prevention Committee which Graham chaired and which included firefighter cancer prevention considerations relevant to all types of fire departments.

The Firefighter Cancer Prevention Award recognizes either an individual or an organization that has advanced firefighter cancer prevention.

2025 Winner of the CAFC Award for Firefighter Cancer Prevention
For Organizations

Surrey Fire Department has provided their team with a preventative health screening program including baseline results and cancer prevention education, with the goal of lowering the cancer risks.

All firefighters, support, dispatch, and administrative staff can access the program on a voluntary basis. For this initiative in Firefighter Cancer prevention, we would like to present the Surrey Fire Department with a CAFC Firefighter Cancer Prevention award.

2025 Winner of the CAFC Award for Firefighter Cancer Prevention
For Individuals

A staunch defender of firefighters' health, Richard Amnotte has given numerous lectures on cancer prevention in Canada, France, and Belgium. He has defended the interests of Canadian firefighters before the House of Commons Health Committee and is an active member of the CAFC’s Cancer Prevention Committee. He also testified before a senate committee in France with the aim of improving protection for firefighters against cancer.

For both CAFC and the AGSICQ, the Quebec Fire Chiefs Association, he has acted as spokesperson on numerous occasions in the print, radio, television, and social media to discuss the situation of firefighters facing cancer and the importance of prevention.

He is the founding president of the Association de la Francophonie pour la santé des pompiers (Francophone Association for Firefighters' Health), an organization dedicated to protecting the health of firefighters and playing a leading role in cancer prevention among firefighters, in France and in Canada.