Halifax firefighters will soon no longer have to pay for preventative cancer screenings at private clinics.

Council members unanimously passed a motion, at Wednesday’s budget meeting, to establish a cancer screening program for firefighters early next year.

Councillor Sean Cleary says they are working with the province on it.

“We are not saying to explore it. We’re saying go do it, however that ends up looking. So, I do want to assure our firefighters that we’ve got your back.”

Long time coming

President of the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters Association Brendan Meagher tells our newsroom they have been fighting for this for years.

“We’ve been to Ottawa for the Canadian fallen firefighter service, three years in a row now.  We don’t want to keep going every year. We want to get early diagnosis and better outcomes, and I could not be more appreciate of the councillors’ support.”

Meagher says firefighters have higher cancer rates than members of the general public, with 13 cancers recognized as job related.

“We’ve given members information letters to bring to their doctors asking for screening tests to start early and recognize that firefighting is classified as a category one carcinogen by the World Health Organization.”

He says this means firefighters should be screened at an earlier age than normal, but according to members, the health care system hasn’t been responsive to this, so they went to the city.

Meagher adds, the province hasn’t said no, it just takes longer.

“It’s a little close to the heart I think, municipally, and so our city council stepped up. I’m still confident that the provincial government will codify this in the health care system somehow in the future.”

He says it means so much and this will save lives.

Council has directed the screening program to take effect January 1, 2026.