FIREFIGHTERS

Definitions 1. In this Regulation, “band council” means a council of the band as defined in the Indian Act (Canada); (“conseil de bande”) “firefighter” means, (a) a firefighter as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, (b) a worker who, (i) is employed by a band council and assigned to undertake fire protection services on a reserve, or (ii) provides fire protection services on a reserve, either voluntarily or for a nominal consideration, honorarium, training or activity allowance, or (c) a wildland firefighter; (“pompier”) “fire investigator” means, (a) a worker to whom the Fire Marshal appointed under subsection 8 (1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 has delegated the duty to investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of a fire, (b) a worker who was an inspector appointed under subsection 2 (4) of the Fire Marshals Act before that Act was repealed by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, (c) a worker who is employed by a band council and assigned to investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of a fire on a reserve, or (d) a wildland fire investigator; (“enquêteur sur les incendies”) “full-time firefighter” means a worker who is a firefighter, is regularly employed on a salaried basis and is scheduled to work an average of 35 hours or more per week; (“pompier à temps plein”) “part-time firefighter” means a worker who is a firefighter and is not a volunteer firefighter or full-time firefighter; (“pompier à temps partiel”) “reserve” means a reserve as defined in the Indian Act (Canada); (“réserve”) “wildland firefighter” means a person who provides one or more of the following fire protection services for or on behalf of the Ministry of Natural Resources, either as an employee of the Ministry or pursuant to the person’s employer’s contract for services with the Ministry: 1. Fire suppression. 2. Fire prevention, fire mitigation or fire safety activities. 3. Rescue and emergency services, including evacuation services. 4. Piloting of aircraft for the purposes of providing the services described in paragraphs 1 to 3. 5. Communication in respect of anything described in paragraphs 1 to 4. 6. Training or evaluation of persons involved in providing anything described in paragraphs 1 to 5; (“pompier luttant contre les incendies de végétation”) “wildland fire investigator” means a person who is an employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources and is either appointed as an officer under the Forest Fires Prevention Act or duly appointed as a conservation officer by the Ministry and who enters land or premises for the purposes of inspecting the site of a fire or determining the cause and circumstances of a fire. (“enquêteur sur les incendies de végétation”) O. Reg. 423/09, s. 1; O. Reg. 265/14, s. 1; O. Reg. 185/24, s. 1; O. Reg. 484/24, s. 1. Prescribed classes 2. The following are prescribed as workers for the purposes of subsections 15.1 (1), (4), (4.1) and (4.3) of the Act: Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, section 2 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “and (4.3)” in the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting “(4.3), (4.5) and (4.7)”. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 1) 1. Full-time firefighters. 2. Part-time firefighters. 3. Volunteer firefighters. 4. Fire investigators. O. Reg. 423/09, s. 1; O. Reg. 186/24, s. 1; O. Reg. 484/24, s. 2. Prescribed circumstances 3. For the purposes of subsection 15.1 (1) of the Act, the worker must have sustained the heart injury while, or within 24 hours of, (a) attending a fire scene in the performance of his or her duties as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter, volunteer firefighter or fire investigator; or (b) actively participating in a training exercise that is related to his or her duties as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter, volunteer firefighter or fire investigator and that involves a simulated fire emergency. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 3; O. Reg. 423/09, s. 2. Prescribed diseases 4. For the purposes of subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act, the following are prescribed diseases: 1. Primary-site brain cancer. 2. Primary-site colorectal cancer. Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, paragraph 2 of section 4 of the Regulation is revoked. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 2) 3. Primary-site bladder cancer. 4. Primary acute myeloid leukemia, primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia or primary acute lymphocytic leukemia. 5. Primary-site ureter cancer. 6. Primary-site kidney cancer. Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, paragraph 6 of section 4 of the Regulation is revoked. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 2) 7. Primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 8. Revoked: O. Reg. 186/24, s. 2. 9. Primary-site breast cancer. 10. Multiple myeloma. 11. Primary-site testicular cancer. 12. Primary-site prostate cancer. 13. Primary-site lung cancer. 14. Revoked: O. Reg. 484/24, s. 3. 15. Primary-site ovarian cancer. 16. Primary-site cervical cancer. 17. Primary-site penile cancer. 18. Primary-site thyroid cancer. 19. Primary-site pancreatic cancer. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 4; O. Reg. 113/14, s. 1; O. Reg. 311/18, s. 1; O. Reg. 177/23, s. 1; O. Reg. 186/24, s. 2; O. Reg. 484/24, s. 3. Conditions and restrictions 5. (1) The presumption in subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act does not apply in respect of primary-site colorectal cancer unless the worker, (a) was diagnosed with the disease before he or she attained the age of 61 years; and (b) was employed as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator or served as a volunteer firefighter for a total of at least 10 years before being diagnosed. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 5 (1); O. Reg. 423/09, s. 3 (1). Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, subsection 5 (1) of the Regulation is revoked. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 3 (1)) (2) The presumption in subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act does not apply in respect of primary-site brain cancer, primary-site breast cancer, primary-site testicular cancer, primary-site ovarian cancer, primary-site cervical cancer, primary-site thyroid cancer or primary-site pancreatic cancer unless the worker was employed as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator or served as a volunteer firefighter for a total of at least 10 years before being diagnosed. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 5 (2); O. Reg. 423/09, s. 3 (2); O. Reg. 113/14, s. 2 (1); O. Reg. 311/18, s. 2 (1); O. Reg. 177/23, s. 2. (3) The presumption in subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act does not apply in respect of primary-site bladder cancer, primary acute myeloid leukemia, primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia, primary acute lymphocytic leukemia, primary-site ureter cancer, multiple myeloma, primary-site prostate cancer or primary-site penile cancer unless the worker was employed as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator or served as a volunteer firefighter for a total of at least 15 years before being diagnosed. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 5 (3); O. Reg. 423/09, s. 3 (3); O. Reg. 113/14, s. 2 (2-4); O. Reg. 311/18, s. 2 (2); O. Reg. 484/24, s. 4 (1). (3.1) The presumption in subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act does not apply in respect of primary-site lung cancer unless, (a) the worker was employed as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator or served as a volunteer firefighter for a total of at least 15 years before being diagnosed; and (b) the worker did not smoke a tobacco product in the 10 years before being diagnosed. O. Reg. 113/14, s. 2 (5). (4) The presumption in subsection 15.1 (4) of the Act does not apply in respect of primary-site kidney cancer or primary non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma unless the worker was employed as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator or served as a volunteer firefighter for a total of at least 20 years before being diagnosed. O. Reg. 253/07, s. 5 (4); O. Reg. 423/09, s. 3 (4). Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, subsection 5 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “primary-site kidney cancer or”. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 3 (2)) (5) Revoked: O. Reg. 186/24, s. 3 (1). (6) The following rules apply to the calculation of time periods for the purposes of subsections 15.1 (4.2) and (4.4) of the Act, clause (1) (b), subsections (2) and (3), clause (3.1) (a) and subsection (4): Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, subsection 5 (6) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “and (4.4) of the Act, clause (1) (b)” in the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting “(4.4), (4.6) and (4.8) of the Act”. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 3 (3)) 1. All periods of employment as a full-time firefighter, part-time firefighter or fire investigator and all periods of service as a volunteer firefighter, whether consecutive or non-consecutive, shall be included, subject to paragraph 2. 2. If a worker is employed in a capacity mentioned in paragraph 1 and also, during the same period, is employed in another capacity mentioned in paragraph 1 or serves as a volunteer firefighter, the period shall be counted only once. O. Reg. 423/09, s. 3 (6); O. Reg. 186/24, s. 3 (2); O. Reg. 484/24, s. 4 (2). (7) Despite subsection (6), the following rules apply to the calculation of time periods for the purposes of subsections 15.1 (4.2) and (4.4) of the Act, clause (1) (b), subsections (2) and (3), clause (3.1) (a) and subsection (4) with respect to a wildland firefighter who is employed in the capacity mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2: Note: On the day subsection 1 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 comes into force, subsection 5 (7) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “and (4.4) of the Act, clause (1) (b)” in the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting “(4.4), (4.6) and (4.8) of the Act”. (See: O. Reg. 129/25, s. 3 (4)) 1. If a worker is employed by the Ministry of Natural Resources for the primary purpose of providing fire protection services for a fixed term within a calendar year, that fixed term of employment shall be included as one calendar year of employment. 2. If a worker is employed by an employer with a contract for services with the Ministry of Natural Resources and is assigned by the employer to the Ministry of Natural Resources for the primary purpose of providing fire protection services for a period of time within a calendar year, that period of time shall be included as one calendar year of employment. 3. If a worker is employed in a capacity mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2 and, during the same calendar year, is employed as a firefighter as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, is employed by a band council to provide or otherwise provides fire protection services on a reserve or is employed as a fire investigator, only the fixed term of employment mentioned in paragraph 1 or the period of time mentioned in paragraph 2 shall be included and calculated in accordance with paragraph 1 or 2, as applicable. 4. All calendar years that meet the requirements of this subsection, whether consecutive or non-consecutive, shall be included. O. Reg. 484/24, s. 4 (3). 6. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation). O. Reg. 253/07, s. 6.