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Firefighter Cancer Bill-C224 and Cancer Prevention Research Partnership

Cancer is a firefighter issue. It affects all types of firefighters in all parts of the country. While there are many important resources available, these resources don’t always reach all parts of the firefighting community.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), has evaluated the carcinogenicity of occupational exposure as a firefighter.

After thoroughly reviewing the available scientific literature, the Working Group classified occupational exposure as a firefighter as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), on the basis of sufficient evidence for cancer in humans. Click here for more information.

At the CAFC, a new Cancer Committee was started in 2022 to help further address this issue for all firefighters and department types. It is very interested in Bill C-224 proposed by MP Sherry Romanado, An Act To Establish A National Framework for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancers Linked to Firefighting. CAFC will do its part to help advance this bill. 

Bill C-224 on Firefighter Cancer was debated in the House of Commons on April 4, 2022. You can watch the video here, read the transcripts here, and access the press release here.

Each province and territory recognize various cancers as presumptive illnesses for firefighters. You can view the list of presumptive cancers by jurisdiction here. (updated August 2025)

CAFC Asked to Witness Bill C-224: An Act to establish a national framework for the prevention and treatment of firefighter cancers on June 15, 2023: Watch the video here.

The CAFC is also collaborating on a new research project focusing on volunteer firefighters, aimed at understanding what the research says about cancer prevention behaviours, whether these are understood and communicated to firefighters, whether and why these are actioned or not; and what the barriers might be.

The research is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It runs out of the IWK Health Centre. It is in its early stages. Check back frequently for more information. Special thanks to the investigators: