Policy
If a firefighter or fire investigator sustains a heart injury and meets the other criteria in this policy, the injury is presumed to be a personal injury arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment, unless the contrary is shown.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline the criteria under which a heart injury is presumed to be a work-related personal injury, as set out in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) and the applicable Regulation, as well as to outline the circumstances in which the presumption of work-relatedness will be rebutted.
Amendments to the presumptive legislation
Amendments to the WSIA or applicable regulations which affect the presumption may come into force before the WSIB can update this policy to reflect these changes. In such instances, the WSIB will base decision-making in claims impacted by these amendments on the current legislation, until the policy is updated.
Guidelines
Definitions
For the purposes of this policy,
band council means a council of the band as defined in the Indian Act (Canada)
employment includes service as a volunteer firefighter
firefighter, refers to a full-time or part-time firefighter, as applicable, and means,
- a firefighter as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 and includes a volunteer firefighter,
- a worker who:
- is employed by a band council and assigned to undertake fire protection services on a reserve, or
- provides fire protection services on a reserve, either voluntarily or for a nominal consideration, honorarium, training or activity allowance, or
- a wildland firefighter
fire investigator means,
- 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,
- a worker who was an inspector appointed under subsection 2 (4) of the Fire Marshals Act before that Act was repealed by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997,
- 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
- a wildland fire investigator
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
heart injury means a medical diagnosis of
- acute myocardial infarction (myocardial necrosis caused by ischemia) (ICD-9 code* 410, ICD-10 code* I21) or
- cardiac arrest (abrupt cessation of cardiac pump function, which may be reversible but will lead to death in the absence of prompt intervention) (ICD-9 code* 427.5, ICD-10 code* I46)
* World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) and 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes.
part-time firefighter means a worker who is a firefighter and is not a volunteer firefighter or full-time firefighter
reserve means a reserve as defined in the Indian Act (Canada)
volunteer firefighter as defined in subsection 1(1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 means a firefighter who provides fire protection services either voluntarily or for a nominal consideration, honorarium, training or activity allowance
wildland firefighter means a person who provides one or more of the following fire protection services for or on behalf of the Ontario ministry responsible for natural resources (the "Ministry"), either as an employee of the Ministry or pursuant to the person’s employer’s contract for services with the Ministry:
- Fire suppression.
- Fire prevention, fire mitigation or fire safety activities.
- Rescue and emergency services that are fire-related, including evacuation services.
- Piloting of aircraft for the purposes of providing the services described in paragraphs 1 to 3.
- Communication in respect of anything described in paragraphs 1 to 4.
- Training or evaluation of persons involved in providing anything described in paragraphs 1 to 5
wildland fire investigator means a person who is an employee of the Ministry 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
Presumption criteria
To qualify for the presumption, a worker must meet all the following criteria:
- The worker must be or must have been a firefighter or fire investigator,
- The worker must have sustained a heart injury on or after January 1, 1960, and
- The worker must have sustained the heart injury while, or within 24 hours of
- attending a fire scene in the performance of the worker's duties as a firefighter or fire investigator, or
- actively participating in a training exercise that is related to the worker's duties as a firefighter or fire investigator and that involves a simulated fire emergency.
A fire scene or a simulated fire emergency requires the presence of combustion or burning materials giving rise to smoke and/or flames.
Band council firefighters and fire investigators
For band council firefighters and fire investigators, the worker must have been employed by, or volunteered for, a band council that had WSIB coverage at the time the worker sustained the heart injury as described above.
Wildland firefighters employed by a Ministry contractor
For wildland firefighters employed by a Ministry contractor, the worker's employer must have had WSIB coverage and an active contract for services with the Ministry at the time the worker sustained the heart injury while or within 24 hours of attending a fire scene or participating in a simulated fire emergency on behalf of the Ministry, as described above.
Case-by-case
A worker who does not meet the presumptive criteria in this policy does not qualify for the presumption and instead will have their claim determined on its individual merits. For heart injuries occurring in circumstances not included under the presumption, see 15-03-10, Heart Conditions.
Rebutting the presumption
If a worker qualifies for the presumption, the worker’s heart injury is presumed to be a personal injury arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment as a firefighter or fire investigator, unless the contrary is shown. If the contrary is shown, the presumption of work-relatedness is rebutted.
The presumption will be rebutted if the evidence establishes on a balance of probabilities that the worker’s employment activities as a firefighter or fire investigator did not significantly contribute to the worker's heart injury. For example, the presumption will be rebutted if the evidence establishes on a balance of probabilities that non-work-related factors were the sole cause of the worker's heart injury.
Examining whether the presumption is rebutted
It is not necessary to examine whether the presumption is rebutted in every case. Generally, if a worker qualifies for the presumption, an examination into rebuttal is only necessary if the existing evidence in the claim raises a question about whether the worker’s employment activities as a firefighter or fire investigator significantly contributed to the worker's heart injury.
Time limits
Workers or their survivors may refile previously denied claims, or present new claims, with no time restrictions other than a requirement that the injury was sustained on or after January 1, 1960.
The six-month time limit for filing a claim applies to claims in cases where the worker does not qualify for the presumption or where the presumption has been rebutted, see 15-01-03, Workers' Requirement to Claim and Consent.
Application date
This policy applies to all decisions made on or after July 18, 2024.
Document history
This document replaces 15-03-12 dated April 27, 2015.
This document was previously published as:
15-03-12 dated February 23, 2010
15-03-12 dated February 11, 2008.
References
Legislative authority
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, as amended
Sections 2(1), 13.1, 15.1(1), 15.1(2), 15.1(3), 15.2, 48, 183
Ontario Regulation 253/07 as amended
Approval
Approved by the President and CEO on July 15, 2024