Ontario launching review of work-related cancers

Goal is to ensure workers receive correct care

Ontario launching review of work-related cancers
Ontario is launching a review of how work-related cancers are evaluated. 

This is to ensure the compensation system takes best practices and the most up-to-date medical science into account, including the effects of being exposed to multiple substances in a workplace.

The review will help to inform how the government addresses occupational cancer compensation in the future.

Paul Demers and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre at Cancer Care Ontario are being appointed by the provincial government to conduct this review. Demers’ expertise focuses on the health effects of workplace exposures.

In a statement, the government said that determining work relatedness in the case of diseases like cancer is difficult. The tools need to be in place not only to ensure workers are safe, but also to ensure that they receive the benefits they deserve should they develop a work-related disease. 

Occupational diseases, such as cancer, are caused by exposure to physical, chemical or biological agents in the workplace.