Our country owes a debt of gratitude to all Canadian Veterans. Our focus is on continuing to support their well-being and recognizing the sacrifices both they and their families have made. We define the well-being of a Veteran as one with purpose and who is financially secure, safely housed, in good health physically and mentally, adaptable to change, part of their community, proud and aware of their legacy, and who is valued and celebrated.
We continue to monitor the pandemic situation closely across the country. Until it is safe to re-enter offices, we will continue to deliver services remotely to Veterans and their families through My VAC Account secure messaging and by phone. Veterans can also interact with their Case Manager or a Veteran Service Agent through videoconferencing when appropriate.
Our main priorities for 2022-23 are:
Service Excellence
Highlights for 2022-23
- Extend resources for 2022-23 and further develop automated processes via funding from Budget 2021.
- Committed to advancing gender equality and promoting diversity and inclusion.
- Continue conducting outreach to ensure our most vulnerable Veterans can access the supports they need when they need them.
- Develop and test virtual presentations and tours to bring the experience and messages of our overseas memorials back to Canadians.
- Reduce processing times.
- Support our most vulnerable Veterans (mental health, employment, homeless, underrepresented or marginalized groups).
- Recognize and commemorate well-being of Veterans and their families Veterans.
We are continually looking to improve our services to Veterans and their families by changing the way we work to make faster disability benefits decisions.
We will improve our processes, modernize our policies and advance innovative digital solutions. We will find new ways of making our processes more efficient and effective by using available data to help guide decision-making.
When emergency situations arise causing widespread service disruptions that can impact the physical, mental and economic well-being of Veterans and their families, we conduct proactive outreach to confirm Veterans are safe, healthy and that their basic needs are met. In the case where our most vulnerable Veterans are in need, we help them access the supports they require. Just as our staff show great care in all interactions with Veterans, we will continue to deliver that same level of care and respect to our employees—our most valuable resource.
We honour the sacrifices and achievements of all those who served in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). We will make sure that memorials, cemeteries and gravemarkers are preserved and cared for, and engage Canadians in remembrance through various national and international events, learning resources and commemorative projects.
We commit to advancing gender equality, respecting diversity, and promoting inclusion for all Veterans in our policies, programs and services. We will do this with the inclusion of gender identity/expression, biological sex and/or sexual orientation, as well as intersecting identity factors, such as age, disability, indigeneity, race/ethnicity, religion, and language.
Modernization
Highlights for 2022-23
- Apply human-centred design when advancing the “Digital @ VAC” initiative to achieve digital end-to-end services.
- Introduce the new Mental Health Benefits starting in April 2022, for earlier Mental Health Benefits coverage while a Veteran waits for a decision on their disability benefits application.
- Increase use of automation/digitization.
- Increase innovation using human-centred design.
- Improve business processes, including better tracking of data.
- Support remote work.
Veterans are at the centre of everything we do: our philosophies, our ideas, our operations. To be Veteran-centric means we are proactive, responsive and compassionate to the needs of Veterans and their families, and ensuring they have all the benefits and services for which they are eligible. We will continue to streamline our processes to make them easier to follow.
To ensure we meet their changing needs, we are always evolving and adapting what we do and how we do it by implementing human-centred design, such as the new Mental Health Benefits which can provide earlier access to mental health supports. This helps us improve processes, experiment to find the best solution, increase automation, leverage technology, and improve service delivery.
We are committed to innovating and making the changes required to modernize the way we do business. One single initiative will not solve current challenges. It is the collective impact of retaining staff with the right skills, digitizing wherever possible, improving the efficiency of decision-making and integrating processes that will help us accomplish this goal.
Care for our People
Highlights for 2022-23
- Encourage a work culture that increases awareness and uses best practices to promote mental health, safety, and well-being for all employees.
- Lead initiatives to support our vision of a hybrid work model.
- Ensure everyone’s safety.
- Support flexibility.
- Provide tools needed to adapt and work differently.
As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we will continue to take measures to ensure the ongoing health and safety of our employees and the Veterans they serve. Our approach to increasing occupancy in our offices will be gradual and flexible given local realities and the unique opportunities and challenges of our worksites across the country. We will lead change management initiatives in support of our vision for a hybrid work model—a combination of remote and in-office work when it is safe to do so.
We will renew our commitment to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace, one that empowers and develops employees with a goal of recruiting, developing, and retaining top talent.
Our employees are dedicated to delivering services and benefits to Veterans and their families with care, compassion, and respect. We are committed to creating a workplace that provides employees with authority to make decisions and gives them the tools they need to provide excellent service. We value teamwork and promote discussion and open communication to create a positive workplace where employees feel recognized and valued.
For more information on our plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources” section of this report.