As of today (Tues), there are some amendments to the Workers’ Compensation Act, including the expansion of occupational disease coverage to include six additional forms of cancer for firefighters. They are penile, pancreatic, thyroid, soft tissue sarcoma, mesothelioma and laryngeal cancer.

Other changes include simplifying the medical review panel process and providing compensation to a worker’s dependent children when the worker dies from a non-work-related injury while on compensation, no matter the length of time on compensation.

The provincial government says in a news release that on January 1st, the amended definition of “worker” will come into force, removing executive officers and including secondary and post-secondary students in recognized programs.