Every Veteran is different. However, one unifying experience is the major life change that results from the journey to life after service. The most successful transitions occur when a Veteran has a positive state of well-being: a balance of financial, mental, physical and social factors. While money is important, it is only one element that contributes to well-being. When a Veteran has financial security, it is possible to focus on all other areas of life, such as family, community and health. The Department will work in 2018–19 to achieve an overall well-being package that combines financial recognition of pain and suffering, income replacement, and a host of wellness services and programs to help Veterans successfully transition to life after service.
Mandate Letter Commitment: Pension For Life
In December 2017, Minister O’Regan unveiled the Government’s proposed Pension for Life plan—a combination of benefits that provide recognition, income support and stability to Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members who experience a service-related illness or injury. These benefits will come into force on April 1, 2019.
Deliver on our Mission
Placing Veterans at the centre of everything we do—our philosophies, our ideas and our operations—ensures that we are focusing our efforts towards the well-being of Veterans and their families. We strive to be proactive, responding quickly and compassionately to the emerging needs of Veterans and their families. The Department strives to provide benefits and services tailored to the unique needs of those we serve. We are also committed to paying tribute to the sacrifices and achievements of all those who served in Canada’s military efforts. In doing so, we will engage Canadians from across the country in taking an active part in commemoration. Our work will be evidence-informed and outcome oriented—gathering feedback directly from Veterans, other stakeholders and reviews of the relevant research results and experiences in other jurisdictions. In collecting and analyzing this information, VAC will continue to apply a Gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) lens to assist in systematically integrating gender considerations into policy, planning and decision-making processes.
Highlights for FY 2018–19:
- Deliver quality day-to-day services and commemoration activities
- Implement Budget 2017 initiatives
- Prepare to implement recently announced Budget 2018 initiatives, including:
- Pension for Life
- Addressing the Backlog
- Cemetery and Graves Maintenance
Care for our People
We strive to create a workplace that shows care, compassion and respect, and delegates, trusts and empowers employees. Good management practices, including building leaders, empowering employees, validating or communicating, strengthening learning and development, collectively advancing workplace measures, focusing on service excellence in our Workplace of Choice, must be evident in all we do. Having an engaged and informed workforce will enable us to provide Veterans and their families with the high level of service they deserve and to engage Canadians, including youth, in meaningful commemorative initiatives.
Highlights for FY 2018–19:
- Recruit, train, motivate and retain employees
- Ensure a strong performance and talent management approach
- Workplace measures fostering diversity, inclusion, work balance and health of staff
Improve and Adapt
Veterans Affairs Canada strives to be a leader in our approach to changes, challenges and advancements in both priorities and technologies. We have made significant improvements in the availability of online information and services and we will continue to leverage technology to expand online availability and access to benefits and services. We will continue to build on successes such as My VAC Account and pursue opportunities to explore more digital first solutions. Refining our internal processes will also reduce complexity and improve efficiency through increased use of automation to streamline processes and further improve the sharing of information between Veterans Affairs and National Defence.
We have an opportunity to reinforce the importance of user engagement and feedback as we develop our digital first processes for Veterans and our other clients. As we develop our digital services, we want to relentlessly focus on our users to make sure our processes (digital and other channels) are as Veteran/user centric as possible. We will regularly consult and engage with our users—and build this into our development work.
Highlights for FY 2018–19:
- Further develop and apply a “digital first, with support” approach
- Seek opportunities to experiment and develop innovative approaches to serving Veterans and their families
For more information about Veterans Affairs Canada’s plans, priorities and the planned results, see the Planned results section of this report.