The Centralized Mail initiative was designed in 2011 to direct all incoming Veteran documents to a central receipt location in order to reduce confusion resulting from multiple address choices. The VAC return address for all forms is PO Box 6000, Matane, Quebec. Documents received at PSPC Matane originate as Canada Post mail, registered mail, undeliverable mail, and mail sent by courier. All documents received at the VAC area offices through Canada Post or delivered in person by Veterans are forwarded to PSPC Matane by courier. Forms sent from VAC to Veterans are now digitized to allow for electronic routing and tracking and include a unique barcode that identifies the Veteran and type of form.
The Centralized Mail project was implemented in phases, by program, becoming fully operational by April 1, 2016.
Previously, documents from Veterans were received at numerous Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) locations across the country, where they were sorted, repackaged and shipped to their final destination. The turnaround times and lack of a single national mail tracking system resulted in a large number of calls to VAC where employees were challenged to answer queries about the status of a Veteran’s correspondence. Through a partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC Matane), documents are now received centrally at that location, digitized and uploaded to the Client Service Delivery Network (CSDN)Footnote 2.
Chart 1 - Centralized Mail Workflow
Chart 1: Centralized Mail Workflow
- Mail comes in from Canada Post and Area Offices to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) in Matane,QC.
- PSPC Matane scans, digitizes and posts documents to CSDN.
- If documentation is missing (exception), PSPC Matane forwards to the VAC Kirkland Lake Resolution team.
- When exceptions are resolved, documentation is posted to CSDN.
As presented in Chart 1, when a Veteran sends mail via Canada Post, registered mail, or courier it goes directly to PSPC Matane. Mail brought in person to an area office is packaged and subsequently sent to PSPC Matane.
When the hardcopy mail is received at PSPC Matane, it is prepped for scanning. The documents are scanned to create a digital image in preparation for posting to Veteran's file in CSDN.
However, if required information is missing on the document it will be identified as an exception and will not be posted to the Veteran’s file in CSDN until resolved. Exceptions are resolved by VAC Kirkland Lake and then posted to the Veteran's file in CSDN.
Documents scanned without exception are immediately posted to the Veteran's file in CSDN and a work item is created to notify the appropriate employees that action may be required.
Approximately 1.5 million pages of Veterans' mail were scanned in the 2015-16 fiscal year.