Third Session, Thirty-Eighth Legislature
This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading. It is not the official version. If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.
Bill 209
THE FIREFIGHTERS COMPENSATION ACT (WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT AMENDED)
| Explanatory Note |
(Assented to )
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:
The Workers Compensation Act is amended by this Act.
Subsections 4(5.1) to (5.5) are replaced with the following:
In this section,
"full-time firefighter" means a full-time member of a fire fighting department; (« pompier à temps plein »)
"part-time firefighter" means a casual, volunteer or part-time member of a municipal fire brigade. (« pompier à temps partiel »)
Presumption re cancer and firefighters
If a worker who is or has been a full-time firefighter or part-time firefighter suffers an injury that is
(a) a primary site brain cancer;
(b) a primary site bladder cancer;
(c) a primary site kidney cancer;
(d) a primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma;
(e) a primary leukemia;
(f) a primary site colorectal cancer;
(g) a primary site ureter cancer; or
(h) a primary site lung cancer;
the injury must be presumed to be an occupational disease the dominant cause of which is the employment as a firefighter, unless the contrary is proven.
Application of presumption re cancer
The presumption in subsection (5.2) applies to a worker
(a) who has been employed as a full-time firefighter or part-time firefighter for a minimum period prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council by regulation; and
(b) who has been regularly exposed to the hazards of a fire scene, other than a forest-fire scene, throughout that period of employment.
Additional requirement re lung cancer
In addition to the requirements of subsection (5.3), the presumption for a primary site lung cancer applies only to a worker who has been a non-smoker immediately before the day of the accident for a minimum period of time prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council by regulation.
Effective date of presumption re cancer
The presumption in subsection (5.2) applies to accidents that happen to
(a) full-time firefighters on or after January 1, 1992; or
(b) part-time firefighters on or after the day this subsection comes into force.
Presumption re heart injury to firefighters
If a worker who is a full-time firefighter or part-time firefighter suffers an injury to the heart within 24 hours after attendance at an emergency response, the injury must be presumed to be an accident arising out of and in the course of the employment, unless the contrary is proven.
The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing minimum periods of employment for the purpose of subsection (5.3), which may be
(i) different for different diseases set out in subsection (5.2), and
(ii) different for full-time firefighters and part-time firefighters;
(b) prescribing the minimum period of time for which a worker must be a non-smoker for the purpose of subsection (5.4).
This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.