Operating context and key risks

Operating context and key risks

Operating context

Veterans Affairs Canada has the privilege of serving an extraordinary group of Canadians – Canada’s Veterans. They are a skilled and diverse group representing those who have served in Canada’s contributions to world peace and security over many decades. Today, the majority of traditional war service Veterans of the Second World War and Korean War are over 90 years of age with many of them coming to the Department for the first time as they feel the effects of aging.

The largest group the Department now serves is what we refer to as Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans. Numbering more than 600,000 living in Canada today, their age range spans five decades and more than 90,000 are currently served by the Department. This is more than triple the number of traditional Veterans served by VAC. While these are the main groups benefiting from VAC’s benefits and services, the Department also assists with serving and retired members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the families, spouses and survivors of Veterans.

Serving such a diverse population makes it imperative that VAC understands their varied and complex needs in order to ensure that programs and services offered are relevant and useful with the goal of improving the overall well-being of Canada’s Veterans. It is an ever-changing environment as the needs of Veterans and their families evolve.

VAC is working to become a more Veteran-centric Department with Veterans and their needs placed at the centre of everything we do - our philosophies, ideas and operations. The Department has been working to ensure that the benefits and services provided meet the needs of Veterans and the Minister’s mandate letter places even greater emphasis on this work. The commitments are ambitious, fulsome and the scope far-reaching. Two mandate letter commitments were completed in 2016–17, with the remaining in progress, such as the new Veterans Education and Training Benefit announced in Budget 2017 and working with the Minister of National Defence to develop a suicide prevention strategy.

As the number of Canadian Armed Forces members and Veterans coming to the Department steadily increases, so too do the number of applications for benefits and services. New programs and benefits to address modern needs are proving popular – over the past two years, the Department saw a 32% increase in the number of claims received for adjudication. This steady increase, not only for disability benefits but for other benefits and services, has added pressure on those who adjudicate these applications. The Department dedicated more resources to work on the backlog of applications, however, the uptake was higher than expected and has impacted the progress of addressing the backlog.

Government-wide, there has been a significant shift towards increased monitoring and reporting on meaningful performance measures and results. VAC is working to prepare the Department for the transition to a new Departmental Results Framework which will allow the Department to ensure that the money spent on benefits and services has real value and is making a tangible difference in the lives of Veterans and their families.

Key risks

Integrated risk management is a key component of modern management. It ensures that risks are understood, managed, communicated, and integrated into decision making and priority setting. Effective risk management enables decision makers to address challenges and uncertainties proactively.

The table below outlines the Department’s response to the top three risks and the steps taken to mitigate them.

Risks

Risks Mitigating strategy and effectiveness Link to the Department’s programs Link to mandate letter commitments or to government wide and departmental priorities
Managing Growth (Existing)
  • The Department may have difficulty in managing the growth required to fulfill the government’s many mandate commitments for Veterans
  • Hired 400 more employees, increasing front line staff who directly serve Veterans.
  • Streamlined decision-making to help Veterans receive more timely decisions. By identifying conditions where streamlined processes make sense (e.g. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [ALS] and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD]) it eliminates the need for multiple reassessments and enables quicker decisions for Veterans.
 Program 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, Internal Services Links to all 15 mandate letter commitments
Unsuccessful Transition (Existing)
  • Despite the broad range of Veterans’ programs and services available, some CAF members may not transition successfully from military to civilian life.
  • Announced as part of Budget 2017, VAC will expand the Military Family Support Program to allow Veterans who medically release on or after April 1, 2018, and their families, continued and uninterrupted access to all Military Family Resource Centres across the country.
  • Built on the enhanced transition process so that VAC is involved with medically-releasing members prior to their release date.
  • Established a Veterans in the Public Service Unit (VPSU) to enable the effective and seamless transition of Veterans into Government of Canada careers.
  • Engaged in a joint effort with the CAF to examine the best way to streamline and simplify the dual systems of supports at VAC and the Department of National Defense (DND). The Government has initiated a convergence action plan that will see VAC and CAF addressing the overlap and gaps that currently exist for members released from the military.
 Program 1.2, 1.3 Work with the Minister of National Defence to reduce complexity, overhaul service delivery, and strengthen partnerships between Veterans Affairs and National Defence.
Volume of Commitments (Existing)
  • Given the volume of commitments made for Veterans, the Department may have difficulty in addressing all the commitments at the same time.
  • Reviewed and assessed all of the mandate letter commitments and is tracking progress to ensure work is being completed and any challenges are identified.
  • Conducted a thorough review of commitments and identified dates for the implementation of each mandate letter commitment. These implementation dates are tracked through a dashboard which shows that, to date, the majority of commitments are either complete or well underway.
  • Completed two mandate letter commitments in 2016–17, increasing both the Disability Award and Earnings Loss Benefit.
 Program 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, Internal Services Links to all 15 mandate letter commitments
 
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