It is an honour to be the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve those who served our country so admirably.
The 2018–19 Departmental Results Report looks back at how Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) did in achieving the commitments made at the beginning of the 2018–19 fiscal year.
Our focus continues to be improving the overall health, well-being, and financial security of Veterans and their families. Over the last fiscal year, our staff designed and implemented Pension for Life (PFL) which came into effect on 1 April 2019. Since then, the Department has successfully transitioned approximately 80,000 Veterans and other recipients to this new suite of benefits. This means moving from an older, more complex benefit model to one that is simpler and easier to navigate. We have also improved the online experience for Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members who access benefits and services through My VAC Account.
Since 2016, we have invested more than $10 billion for Veteran programs and services. We have increased financial supports for Veterans and caregivers; supported a range of mental health services; introduced new education and training benefits; and expanded the services available to the families of medically released Veterans.
In 2018–19, 52% of all disability benefit applications were submitted online through My VAC Account, our online services portal. This is up from 43% the previous year. There was also a 27% increase in My VAC Account registrations.
We know that wait times continue to be a source of frustration for Veterans and their families. In response, we hired additional staff, simplified the decision-making process for some medical conditions, streamlined the disability benefits process, and worked with the Department of National Defence (DND) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to speed up access to service health records. We are piloting a Veteran Benefit Teams structure, which groups all the resources required to process a disability application from beginning to end into one team. This reduces the number of file hand-offs and decreases delays. We know there is more to be done – that’s why we’re working hard to change how decisions are made and continuing to put Veterans and their families first.
The past year was also filled with occasions to commemorate those who served our country. First, we made excellent progress on repairs to Veteran graves using funding announced in Budget 2018. We also commemorated a number of notable events, including: the 65th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice with a delegation to Korea; the 5th anniversary of the end of the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan with the first wreath-laying ceremony for that conflict at Canada’s National War Memorial; the 100th anniversary of “Canada’s Hundred Days,” the three-month-long series of offensives that brought the First World War to a close, with a delegation to Amiens, France; and finally, we marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the of the First World War with a delegation to Mons, Belgium, which the Canadian Corps liberated on November 11, 1918.
Another milestone event of the past year was the 1st Annual Women Veterans’ Forum which took place in May 2019 and was the first of its kind in Canada. The forum brought together Veterans, researchers, experts, and organizational leaders to discuss specific challenges women face in their life after service. It highlighted central themes including the need for more targeted programs and services, additional research, greater collaboration, enhanced outreach and an improved Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+).
I am proud to lead a team that is dedicated to offering first class programs and services to Veterans and their families. I look forward to working with employees, stakeholders and all Canadians to offer care, compassion and respect our Veterans have so justly earned.
Sincerely,
The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, PC, MP
Minister of Veterans Affairs and
Associate Minister of National Defence