Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibilities

Benefits, Services and Support

Description: Support the care and well-being of Veterans and their dependents or survivors through a range of benefits, services, research, partnerships and advocacy.

Results

While 2020–21 was a challenging year for all Canadians, we ensured Veterans and their families were cared for and had what they needed, when they needed it. We quickly adapted to ensure Veterans continued to receive benefits and services with as little interruption as possible.

Under this Core Responsibility, we continued to work on improving our benefits and services to Veterans and other clients through various initiatives. Below we have listed efforts toward achieving each of our goals, also known as Departmental Results (DR), and highlighted where the results were driven by Mandate Letter Commitments (MLC)^{Footnote 1}.

Health is broader than just physical health or the absence of disease. Chronic physical and mental health problems are common challenges to well-being among Veterans, especially when they occur together. In 2020–21, we achieved the following to support this result:

• We provided funding to 81,709 Veterans, their caregivers and survivors through the Veterans Independence Program (VIP) to help ensure they were able to access the home care and support services they need to remain in their homes and communities.
• We worked with the Mental Health Commission of Canada with the initial relevance review of projects submitted in the Catalyst grants competition of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). After a peer review process, six research projects^{Footnote 2} were chosen and will be co-funded by our Department. Projects will explore the impacts of cannabis use on Veteran mental health, as well as the benefits and harms of therapeutic cannabis use, and investigate alternative healthy lifestyle interventions.
• The Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health Conditions entered into 21 formal agreements with various organizations, Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence partnered with six other organizations. [MLC: contribution agreements]
• We funded 23 initiatives through the VFWF to conduct research and implement projects that support the well-being of Veterans and their families. These initiatives help us learn and address issues regarding homelessness, mental health, difficult transition to life after service, employment and challenges faced by women Veterans. [MLC: expand and enhance VFWF; post-service transition support for underrepresented groups]
• We launched a new assessment tool to simplify case management to better serve our Veterans.
• We provided case management services to more than 16,000 Veterans who face complex challenges, helping them achieve their highest level of independence, health and well-being. Among them, approximately 14,000 are also using the rehabilitation and vocational assistance services to help them adjust to post-military life.
• We published the fourth cycle of the Life After Service Survey, which is a tool used to measure the well-being of the Canadian Veteran population.
• To better understand Veteran demographics and well-being across a range of identity factors including gender, sex, race, Indigenous status, we worked with Statistics Canada to secure a Veteran identifier question on the 2021 short form Census.

Financial status, one of the seven domains of well-being, is recognized as one of the key factors in Veterans’ ability to succeed post-service. Higher levels of income and financial stability are associated with greater independence, health, access to health services, quality of housing, family stability, and greater control and choice in managing life’s challenges in general. In order to help ensure that Veterans and their families had the financial resources they need:

• We provided direct financial benefits, through our War Veterans Allowance program, Income Replacement Benefit, and Canadian Forces Income Support program to 26,425 Veterans and other qualified individuals to support their health and well-being;
• More than 130,000 Veterans and former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) received a one-time payment for persons with disabilities in recognition of the extraordinary expenses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic through our work with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA);
• We conducted a study of Veterans’ incomes as they released from military service to understand how well Veterans integrate into the labour force; and
• We completed research with Statistics Canada to better understand survivors’ needs that will help us address any gaps in service to this population.

Having a sense of purpose is the motivation that drives someone toward a satisfying future and is integral to well-being. Participating in fulfilling activities contributes to one’s health, social integration, fundamental sense of meaning and identity, and provides structure to day-to-day life. In 2020–21, the following activities contributed to this departmental result:

• To build research partnerships that focus on achieving a successful transition to life after service for Veterans and their families, we provided $2.5M through the Research Funding Program to the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research. [MLC: contribution agreements]
• To provide jobs to Veterans via the Hire a Veteran initiative, we strengthened relationships with private sector companies seeking. [MLC: employment and training support services]
• Through the VFWF, we provided funding The Canadian Guide to Hiring Veterans which educates employers about the skills and experience Veterans offer as part of a diverse workforce talent pool. [MLC: expand and enhance VFWF]
• To improve Veterans’ awareness of opportunities to join the public service we worked with government partners. We supported both the City of Ottawa and Province of Ontario in their efforts to promote Veteran and Reservist employment in provincial and municipal staffing roles; we provided client relations support to approximately 600 members interested in public service employment. [MLC: employment and training support services]
• We built relationships with numerous not-for-profit Veteran-friendly organizations that work to help Veterans transition into the civilian workforce. This included participating in employment-related workshops, promoting activities via social media, as well as offering guidance to organizations that help CAF members with this transition. [MLC: employment and training support services]
• Because of the pandemic, we took a different approach to career fairs. We worked with a variety of organizations and supported virtual engagements with companies that hire Veterans, focusing on both private and public sector jobs.
• We provided funding of $23.4M to 1,244 Veterans through the Education and Training Benefit, helping them achieve educational goals and pursue activities that contribute to their purpose.

Releasing from the military is a major transition in a Canadian Armed Forces member’s life. This departmental result focuses on the skills, knowledge and abilities required for “managing life,” which includes coping with stress and adapting to change. We achieved the following in 2020–21 to make progress on this departmental result:

• We completed a three-year longitudinal study^{Footnote 3} of CAF members as they transitioned out of military service, to understand their mental health and well-being during the process and the effectiveness of supports. [MLC: improving client experience]
• We continued to collaborate with the CAF to help Veterans transition to post-service life through initiatives. For example:
  • Our Department now automatically receives notifications of pending releases from the CAF through a secure file transfer, which includes relevant data, such as proof of service, to trigger an automatic file creation and associated work items in our systems. This allows us to reach releasing members early in the process of transition. We continue to improve the release notification process, and are starting to develop a web service that truly automates the data transfer and improves data integrity. [MLC: automation; streamlining; improving client experience]
  • We developed the “My Transition 101” core curriculum, and conducted three pilots within the Borden Transition Trial in order to validate the content. Feedback was incorporated into the course materials and the improved product will be included in the upcoming Transition Trial in 2021–22. [MLC: streamlining]
  • The Borden Transition Trial expanded its target audience to include all non-medically releasing members in CFB Borden; however, there was reduced activity due to COVID-19 and related restrictions. Nevertheless, significant progress was made in developing tools and business processes to support the transition process.
  • In partnership with CAF and Department of National Defence (DND), we implemented the trial at CFB Petawawa in February 2021. The second location will allow us to validate the process against a different demographic and on a base focused on force generation and operational deployments, providing results that will be instrumental to preparing for a national rollout. The trial should end in the winter of 2021–22 and roll out nationally between 2022-2024. [MLC: streamlining; improving client experience]
• We implemented the Member Transition Task List to My VAC Account, which is an interactive checklist provided as part of a CAF member’s release process. It helps to guide the member through the administrative tasks they need to complete as they transition to post-service life, thus alleviating some stress. [MLC: streamlining; improving client experience]
• By the end of 2019–20, releasing CAF members were able to request a review of their treatment benefits from Medavie Blue Cross to see what may be covered by our treatment benefits upon their release. In March 2021, this process was updated to an online fillable form – streamlining the process.
  [MLC: streamlining; improving client experience]
• We established a $20M Veterans’ Organization Emergency Support Fund to help Veterans’ organizations maintain operations during the pandemic; many were at risk of closure due to a lack of fundraising ability during the year. We supported 42 organizations, including Royal Canadian Legion branches across the country. This enabled organizations to continue carrying out critical support to Veterans and their families, playing a crucial role in their lives and communities, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic in areas like Veteran homelessness.

Those who have served our country in uniform deserve a safe place to call home; one homeless Veteran is one too many. Our staff members across the country continue outreach efforts to engage and support homeless Veterans and those at risk of homelessness.

We know that these efforts are most effective when we collaborate with others. That is why we work in partnership with community organizations, other levels of government, and other federal government departments and agencies to address Veteran homelessness. In 2020–21, we achieved the following to support this result:

• We funded 23 initiatives through the VFWF to conduct research and implement projects, which specifically include six initiatives to help us learn and address issues regarding homelessness. [MLC: expand and enhance VFWF; post-service transition support for underrepresented groups]
• We continued collaborating with the Canadian Municipal Housing Corporation (CMHC) and ESDC who lead the files on housing and homelessness. This led to a recent Budget 2021 announcement of $45M over two years for ESDC to lead the development of a Veteran homelessness pilot program. It will include rent supplements and services such as counselling, addiction treatment, and help finding a job.
• We launched an internal working group on Veteran homelessness to share knowledge and best practices. Members include staff from area offices across Canada, as well as policy and communications specialists.
• Before the funding from other emergency assistance programs became available, we provided financial support to Veterans through the Veterans Emergency Fund. We offered the service 787 times, which included 100 homeless Veterans. We also followed up with recipients to ensure they received necessary referrals to our other programs and benefits and to other community/provincial supports to address any long-term needs.

We are constantly working to make our programs more effective by measuring Veterans’ health and well-being and satisfaction with service delivery, which helps us determine our next steps. In 2020–21, the following activities contributed to this departmental result:

• We advanced the “tell us once” approach in an effort to provide end-to-end digital service delivery via My VAC Account. Many enhancements to My VAC Account were ongoing and based on user testing and feedback. For example:
  • we updated a number of high-use guided web forms to provide better service to Veterans. This streamlines the application process and allows us to leverage data; it makes accessing benefits easier and leaves less room for errors in the application process; and
  • we added the Member Transition Task List in My VAC Account in December 2020. This initiative combined many analog checklists into a single, digitized and interactive tool, which enables CAF members, Veterans and their families to manage their own transition more effectively. [MLC: streamlining; improving client experience]
• The Bureau of Pension Advocates (BPA) collaborated closely with VRAB to implement a teleconference pilot project for Red Zone and Review claims in light of the pandemic suspending all in-person hearings. This evolved into videoconference hearings. The pandemic also accelerated the widespread adoption of electronic evidence packages for these hearings, which will greatly help overall service delivery. [MLC: streamlining; improving performance]
• We worked on automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) by looking for ways to use technology to reduce administrative work and repetitive tasks, as well as to improve information sharing and client experience. For further details on one of our specific initiatives, please refer to the Service Health Record Search Tool under the Experimentation section for CR1: Benefits, Services and Support. [MLC: automation; improving performance]
• We published the Timely disability benefits decisions: Strategic direction for improving wait times report, which outlines efforts in Public Service Capacity, Integration, Process Innovation and Digitization. The Government committed to more than $192 million over two years in additional funding (2020–21 and 2021–22) with a portion of these funds dedicated to putting our plan into action. This additional funding is being used to extend the disability adjudication resources provided in Budget 2018 to keep pace with incoming applications. We hired 300 temporary staff to work on the most common disability benefit applications and hired an additional 50 temporary staff to provide further support. The decision-makers have been trained on various Evidence Informed Decision Models that were created to provide more timely decisions. This allows decision-makers to render entitlement decisions on a variety of medical conditions using different scenarios that a CAF Member or RCMP Member may be exposed to over the course of their careers; therefore, requiring less additional evidence. All staff completed their training and started making disability benefit decisions. [MLC: improving performance and client experience]
• We reduced the number of applications waiting more than our 16-week service standard by 31% from 22,138 on 31 March 2020 to 15,214 on 31 March 2021. [MLC: improving performance and client experience]
• Another key initiative to stem from the Strategic direction for improving wait-times is to simplify the Entitlement Eligibility Guidelines, providing decision-makers with additional information to link medical conditions to service. Updating the Guidelines will acknowledge that military service can cause certain conditions and help us design faster decision processes for entitlement. A comparison of Canadian Guidelines and Australian Statement of Principles is complete and we are working on a recommendation for the development of the first Guidelines. [MLC: improving performance and client experience]
• Designated VAC staff will be using the Canadian Forces Health Information System to access personal health information required to adjudicate on benefits in a timely manner. The pandemic caused delays in account creation and equipment distribution due to restrictions; regardless, we had two users with access by the end of the fiscal year, and there will be close to 50 users by the end of 2021. [MLC: improving performance and client experience]
• The original VAC National Client Survey (VNCS) fieldwork was postponed due to the pandemic, but we finalized the report in January 2021 and posted it to Library and Archives Canada and our website. As planned, we are running a secondary review of the results that will provide insight into satisfaction levels, help improve service delivery, and support further research on the needs of Veterans. [MLC: improving client experience]

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

Throughout the fiscal year, we continued to implement and consider all aspects of GBA Plus with a view to recognize, mitigate and eliminate biases that may contribute to inequities. [MLC: post-service transition support for underrepresented groups]

• We introduced the GBA Plus Strategy outlining the process for mainstreaming GBA Plus across our programs, policies and services, and ensures initiatives can be designed with equity, diversity and inclusion in mind.
• We completed the “Road Towards Inclusion,” where we have mapped our practices and crafted plans to modernize our sex and gender information practices pursuant to the Treasury Board Policy Direction to Modernize the Government of Canadas’ Sex and Gender Information Practices.
• We contracted and facilitated the delivery of LGBTQ2+ Cultural Competency Training that delivered ten sessions in the fiscal year to more than 1,000 employees.
• We hosted the 2^nd annual Women Veterans Forum and first LGBTQ2+ Veteran Roundtable virtual series. These events included four separate sessions with approximately 150 participants, including international participation, at each event, and provided an opportunity for us to continue the dialogue from the first Women Veterans Forum held in May 2019. The recordings of the three sessions and the Roundtable are available through our website at Women and LGBTQ2+ Veteran Engagement.
• Our Office of Women and LGBTQ2+ Veterans led the Modernization of Sex and Gender Information Practices policy direction, Building Gender Inclusive Services departmental project. This included creating a Roadmap for Change with actionable items to advance gender inclusion within the Department.
• We worked with Statistics Canada to implement a permanent database of military members and Veterans by combining data from several sources, such as Census 2021, military pay and pension records, VAC client records, and other historical military records. This will support disaggregated data on factors such as race, sex, gender, and Indigenous status. This database will support much more detailed analyses than simply the one-time snapshot and demographic breakdown from the Census.
• We formally adopted the principles of Sex and Gender Equity in Research to ensure meaningful representation in research for women and gender diverse Veterans.
• We worked with the University of Manitoba to investigate the prevalence of Military Sexual Trauma and identify risk factors for moral injury in female service members.
• We are applying a GBA Plus lens to the work being completed through Processing Time Reduction Initiatives as part of the Strategic Direction. For example, for our Table of Disabilities Modernization initiative, a GBA Plus review was included to provide evidence-based decisions that are reflective of sex, gender, and intersectional groups.
• The work to review all Entitlement Eligibility Guidelines has started and includes a focus on inclusivity and the needs of GBA Plus.

Experimentation

• We have developed a Service Health Record Search Tool for Hearing Loss & Tinnitus. Tests were developed in which current users of digital records conducted searches manually and then again with the Search Tool to compare the results of the time taken with each and the quality of the search returns.
  
  A side-by-side comparison was conducted of the results of the manual and automated searches to assess time savings, accuracy and confidence that the tool is finding the same results. The automation saved decision makers an average of 3-4 minutes per application and helped address the backlog of these claims.
  
  This work was presented to senior management with a recommendation on a way forward based on the evidence gathered through this experiment which showed that changing this step in the process to use the Search Tool would provide a time savings, and could potentially be effective with other health conditions following further experimentation. Based on the results identified, the initiative was approved at governance tables. The tool has been implemented and is gradually being rolled out to staff who adjudicate Hearing Loss & Tinnitus applications. [MLC: automation; improving performance]
• In our Departmental Plan, we committed to experimenting with technologies specific to the limitations of BPA’s paperbound system. Although the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the thorough review of our business processes, it accelerated digitization efforts and the creation of a BPA scanning team that digitized 1,974 BPA client files.
  
  BPA also expanded the claim bundling pilot project into a specialized Veterans Excellence Team of 52 entirely digital employees that specialize in simplified claims types at the Review level. This allowed junior lawyers to gain experience and expertise on simpler cases while reducing BPA’s overall backlog.
  
  Both teams became fully operational in March 2021. Preliminary results indicate a 22% decrease in costs per claim, and projections show completion of an additional 6,000 files (40% of BPA’s current backlog) by the end of the project in March 2022. The outcomes will provide better information on the impacts of remote work on client satisfaction, determine whether simplified submissions can later include additional conditions, and provide a stronger framework for a digital workforce post-pandemic. [MLC: streamlining; automation; improving performance]
• The Case Management Assessment Working Group collaborated extensively on the assessment, content and development of the Case Management Assessment Tool. The new assessment provides consistency, improves the entire case management process, and provides access to improved data-driven insights into Veterans’ health and well-being. [MCL: streamlining; improving performance; improving client experience]

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good health and Well-being

• Our assessments for Veterans are based on our Well-Being Surveillance Framework, which assesses Veterans’ seven domains of well-being: health, culture and social environment, housing and physical environment, life skills, social integration, finances and purpose. Our interdisciplinary Veteran-centric team approach creates a sustainable model for delivering Case Management Services by building on the strengths of all the team members while providing high quality service to Veterans and their families, ensuring Veterans get the right level of care at the right time.
• As referenced in our Results section, we published the Timely disability benefits decisions: Strategic direction for improving wait times^xii report that outlines four lines of effort: Public Service Capacity, Integration, Process Innovation and Digitization. We have made progress in a number of initiatives and continue to improve our services by changing the way we work to make faster disability benefits decisions.

SDG 5: Gender equality and SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

• We conducted targeted outreach and engagement with women and LGBTQ2+ Veterans and stakeholder groups. We are also part of the Department of National Defence Sexual Misconduct Response Centre’s External Advisory Council, GBA Plus Interdepartmental Committee, LGBTQ2 Federal Action Plan Working Group, and the Canadian Military Sexual Trauma Community of Practice, while supporting the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and strong institutions

• BPA provided access to seek justice for all Veterans or clients dissatisfied with a decision rendered by VAC by representing clients before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board in support of them receiving the benefits for which they may be eligible.

Results achieved^{Footnote 4}

The Department is reviewing what next steps can be taken to determine why some of the results are not meeting their targets and ways to improve. The Research Summary for the Life After Service Study (LASS) 2019 is now available on our website and the full report is available on the Government of Canada’s catalogue of publications.

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Fluctuations in spending are normal, given that initial forecasting is typically done many months in advance of the reporting period and adjusted throughout the year. A full analysis of the budgetary financial resources and Full-time Equivalents (FTEs) is available in the “ Analysis of trends in spending and human resources ” section of this report. This includes explanations of variances between planned and actual resources.

Complete framework methodologies, as well as financial, human resources and performance information for the Program Inventory are available in GC InfoBase. This also includes explanations of variances between program-level planned and actual resources.

Commemoration

Description: Pay tribute to the sacrifices and achievements of those who served in Canada’s military efforts.

Results

Veterans want Canadians to understand the price of freedom. They are passing the torch to the people of Canada, so that the memory of their sacrifices will continue, and the values they fought for will live on.

With this in mind, we will continue to support the Government of Canada in its duty to pay tribute to the contribution and sacrifice of all who have served, and continue to serve, Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace. Below we have listed how we are working through various initiatives and the Minister’s MLCs to achieve our goals.

We lead commemorative and recognition activities to promote and encourage everyone to honour the one and a half million brave Canadians who served, and continue to serve, our country at home and abroad. We strive to honour them now and to keep doing so for many years to come. In 2020–21, the following activities contributed to this departmental result:

• We continued to work closely with Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission on the next steps for the creation of a National Monument to Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan.
• We ensured the preservation and presentation of Canada’s 14 war memorials overseas, including two national historic sites (the Canadian National Vimy Memorial and the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial). The reduced number of visitors due to the pandemic allowed for the completion of large projects, including:
  • significant repairs and improvements to the St. Julien Canadian Memorial;
  • renovation of the residence at Beaumont-Hamel; and
  • tree planting in support of ongoing efforts to renew the forests surrounding our two largest sites.
• We completed 8,185 repairs (14.3% of the total 57,179 repairs) in year three of a five-year project to address Veteran grave maintenance items.
• We also collaborated with our Innovation Hub to explore the challenge of enabling Canadians to experience overseas commemoration sites from home. This initiative used Human-centred Design (HCD) approaches and involved consultation with Canadians. This highlighted ideas that we could explore and develop based on insights uncovered by talking to program staff and the public. Potential opportunities include pop-up tours, podcasts, and walkabouts, as well as concepts for the classroom that would allow students to learn and participate. [MLC: improving client experience]

Veterans want Canadians to understand the price of freedom. They are passing the torch to the people of Canada, so the memory of their sacrifices will continue, and the values they fought for will live on in all of us. As a department, we work to engage Canadians of all ages in paying tribute to Veterans and those who died in service so their legacy is preserved and their tremendous contributions to peace and freedom are remembered for generations to come. In 2020–21, the following activities contributed to this goal:

• We held online discussion panels on commemoration in November and February, the first two in a series of consultations.
• We provided funding for 157 commemorative projects through the Commemorative Partnership Program.
• We consulted with Canadian educators to gather their views, in order to identify new and interesting ways for young Canadians to express their appreciation to all those who served Canada.
• We introduced the Faces of Freedom podcast series to help Canadians remember and commemorate those who served.
• We enhanced our remembrance content on veterans.gc.ca the primary source of commemorative information.
• We worked with our Innovation Hub to explore ways to reduce the time and effort required to process and report on Commemorative Partnership Program applications and how to best support the intake of complex applications. Using HCD, the Hub designers developed blueprints for service improvements and identified opportunities on how to improve the application form to:
  • support the applicants when applying for funding; and
  • minimize the amount of manual reporting completed by our program staff.

[MLC: improving performance and client experience]

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

• We ensured the inclusion of numerous identity factors in our approach to developing, delivering and evaluating initiatives. We also ensured diverse representation at ceremonies and events. For example, we:
  • began discussions on how to enhance our web feature on the contributions of women in times of war, military conflict and peace, and also to create new learning resources about the contributions and sacrifices of LGBTQ2+ service members over the years;
  • continued the ongoing process of reviewing existing content and creating new materials to ensure they use appropriately inclusive language;
  • continued consultation and collaboration process with VAC’s Office of Women and LGBTQ2 Veterans regarding opportunities to expand, develop and improve our learning products to ensure we are providing balanced and sensitive material; and
  • developed questionnaires for upcoming focus group discussions with the goal of evaluating current education products and opportunities in order to improve them. Planning included attention to exploration of gender balance as well as how materials supported diverse cultural, ethnic and regional backgrounds.
• When developing learning resources and overseas visitor centre exhibits (The Faces of Freedom Exhibit), we ensured gender balance as well as ensuring diverse cultural, ethnic and regional backgrounds were reflected in the stories told. Among those highlighted were:
  • Binaaswi Francis Pegahmagabow - an Indigenous First World War Veteran and leader in the Indigenous rights movement in Canada;
  • Jessie Scott & Christine MacDonald- First World War nurses;
  • Adeline Bowland, Maxine Bredt & Molly Mulholland - Second World War nurses who served in the Italian Campaign or the Battle of Normandy;
  • Laura Wong - a Chinese-Canadian teletype operator during the Second World War who was among the first Chinese Canadians to receive citizenship in 1947;
  • Lester Brown - a Black Canadian who served during the Second World War;
  • Annie Tétreault - a French Canadian critical care nurse who supported missions in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Haiti; and
  • Jen Wildman - a new CAF recruit trained as an artillery gunner.

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

We contributed to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, by recognizing Veterans through commemorative initiatives, which support overall well-being, especially mentally and socially.

Results achieved

The Department is reviewing what next steps can be taken to determine why some of the results are not meeting their targets and ways to improve.

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

A full analysis of the budgetary financial resources and FTEs is available in the “ Analysis of trends in spending and human resources ” section of this report. This includes explanations of variances between planned and actual resources.

Complete framework methodologies, as well as financial, human resources and performance information for the Program Inventory are available in GC InfoBase. This also includes explanations of variances between program-level planned and actual resources.

Veterans Ombudsperson

Description: Provide an independent and impartial review of complaints and issues related to programs and services delivered by the Veterans Affairs Portfolio and uphold the Veterans Bill of Rights.

Results

The Office of the Veterans Ombud (OVO) investigates complaints and challenges policies and decisions of Veterans Affairs Canada where individual or systemic unfairness is found.

The Office committed to improve the general awareness of the OVO as a fairness-based, Ombud organization, as well as help the Veteran community understand the services it can provide and encourage those who do not believe that they have been treated fairly to contact the office. In 2020–21, the OVO:

• conducted five virtual outreach activities with key audiences to inform them about the office;
• published three volumes of its e-newsletter to inform key stakeholders (total reach of 1,600 impressions);
• launched an ongoing monthly awareness campaign for its services across social media platforms (social media engagement increased by 4,000 activities^Footnote16 over the past year);
• placed three ad campaigns promoting its services and contact information; and
• conducted 40 outreach meetings with Veterans, Veteran stakeholders, Parliamentarians, and other federal Ombud offices to identify issues and gaps within the Veteran community. This activity supported the creation of new strategic priorities for the OVO.
• fully integrated its online complaint service with its internal case management system, thus creating further efficiency in the management of its complaint handling.

In 2020–21, the Office worked with the Veteran community, stakeholders and Parliamentarians to identify issues, challenges and concerns faced by Veterans and their families by:

• organizing a Women Veterans Outreach activity to better understand issues of concern and how to better engage; and
• appearing before the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (February 2021) to discuss gaps in mental health care treatment benefits for Veterans’ families. The Ombud shared recommendations, which were considered in the committee’s subsequent report to Parliament, Caregivers: Taking Care Of Those Who Care For Veterans.

The Office monitored recommendations made to VAC on individual complaints concerning the Department’s programs and services. They tracked whether these were implemented by the Veterans Affairs Portfolio. In 2020–21:

• most complaints investigated by the OVO were addressed at the first point of contact with VAC; 15 complaints were raised to the Assistant Deputy Minister, the Deputy Minister and the Minister. Twelve of the recommendations were resolved in favour of the Veteran while three were declined.
• the OVO conducted reviews and investigations focussing on:
  • Women Veterans and families of Veterans by:
    • initiating a literature review of research related to women Veterans; and
    • analyzing data regarding favourability rates for women Veterans access to VIP benefits.
  • the financial support provided to Veterans and their families, including any impacts of Pension for Life. They published the impacts of the Pension for Life changes to the Veterans Well-being Act entitled: Financial Compensation for Canadian Veterans.
  • the service experience of Veterans and their families when dealing with VAC and published the following:
    • Supplementary Retirement Benefit (SRB) Payout Micro-Investigation;
    • Access to Mental Health Treatment for Family Members in their Own Right, for Conditions Related to Military Service Report; and
    • Spouses Supporting Transition Study.

The OVO continued monitoring recommendations and their subsequent acceptance and implementation.

• Initiated work for the public release of the 2021 Annual Report Card (planned for fall 2021). Although the Office did not publish a formal report card in 2020–21, it still requested a progress report from the Department regarding the implementation status of all outstanding recommendations (implemented, partially implemented or not implemented), all of which will be included in the upcoming report.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

• All systemic investigative reports included a GBA Plus Analysis section as part of the analysis; they listed recommendations regarding the need for VAC to conduct and make public its GBA Plus analysis of its programs and services.

Results achieved

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

A full analysis of the budgetary financial resources and FTEs is available in the “ Analysis of trends in spending and human resources ” section of this report.

Complete framework methodologies, as well as financial, human resources and performance information for the Program Inventory, are available in GC InfoBase.

VAC Internal Services

Description: Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• Acquisition Management Services
• Communications Services
• Financial Management Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Legal Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Management and Oversight Services
• Real Property Management Services

Results

Our internal services continued to help advance the Minister’s MLCs, all outcomes identified in our Departmental Results Framework (DRF), and Government of Canada priorities. By providing corporate support, we ensured that our program areas have the tools and resources needed to deliver results to Veterans and their families, as well as Canadians.

We continued evolving how we work, ensuring continuity of operations and increasing our resilience. Although the COVID-19 pandemic posed a number of challenges, it also provided a unique opportunity to advance key objectives aimed at modernizing our systems, infrastructure, and business practices to better support our Department over the long term:

• We rolled out the new Case Management Assessment Tool in March 2021. The design simplified case management for Veterans and our employees—it helps Case Managers assess, measure and monitor how Veterans can meet their case plan goals. Available both online and offline, it increases efficiency by removing paper copies, auto-populating information for re-assessments, syncing GCcase Client Plans to avoid duplication and providing access to all information in one place. [MCL: streamlining; improving performance; improving client experience]
• We supported a major department-wide shift to remote work allowing employees to quickly resume working on files and providing benefits to our Veterans and their families. We applied lessons learned from our experiences into our GC Workplace implementation plans, taking into account new methods of work. We also developed and implemented innovative practices to transition our Human Resources (HR) Operations to a remote work environment. This included implementing interim processes to allow access to sensitive information from a distance so we could continue operating. Using technology, we modernized several routine activities, such as: automating letters of offer, online onboarding, and using e-signatures. [MLC automation; streamlining]
• We prepared to replace our legacy financial systems with a Treasury Board Secretariat approved Systems Applications and Products (SAP) solution on 1 April 2021. This change will improve our financial management and better align us with the Government of Canada’s direction for financial management transformation.
• We continued implementing the VAC Information and Data Strategy. As a result of this work, we identified eight key initiatives with a focus on establishing clear roles and responsibilities, as well as creating the processes that will govern how we collect, manage, and use data.
• We developed a program to derive analytics from print media to support communications activities. [MLC: improve communications]

Maintaining an inclusive, safe and supportive workplace was, and remains, a priority:

• We helped to mitigate and manage the impact of the pandemic by implementing a Workplace Wellness Promotion Plan This resulted in a reference tool for employees and managers to access resources, supports and training. While many of the resources were pre-existing, we developed new content and the tool brought all sources together in one place.
• We entered into a partnership with the Canadian Innovation Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace to provide national support to employee mental health and wellness.
• We conducted an external review of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) program resulting in increased resources, an expansion of the National OHS Policy Committee, and the development of training and education products, including a new OHS website.
• We adapted to the changing work environment and enabled staff to continue to meet performance expectations and develop their skills by:
  • Supporting knowledge transfer and ensuring bilingual service.
  • Promoting career development through acting appointments, personalized coaching services, and additional training activities.
  • Piloting a Personnel Administration Group (PE) Development Program.

We strengthened communications activities so that Veterans and their families have clarity about and predictability of available benefits and services.” These include:

• increasing opportunities to learn about VAC’s programs and services while commemorating Veterans using online platforms open to all Canadians. This provided increased access to our events, announcements and commemorative ceremonies;
• engaging key stakeholders to ensure that our work and decisions support the well-being of Veterans and their families;
• developing and promoting Canadian Veteran profiles, which evidence shows are an effective way to reach the Veteran and stakeholder community; and
• introducing our new consultation platform, Let’s Talk Veterans and modernizing Salute! to a new e-newsletter format.

[MLC: improving transparency and communications]

We increased the capacity of the Innovation Hub to meet demand and ensure consistency in our approach to Human-centred Design (HCD) initiatives. Some of the work this year included:

• developing a roadmap for training that will raise focus on building the capacity and knowledge of HCD for Hub staff and raise awareness and build ambassadors for HCD among our employees and managers;
• starting the work to achieve end-to-end digital services as previously mentioned in Core Responsibility 1. Staff developed a service design proposal to better understand our current digital state and the needs of staff and clients. We will also use this scan to identify key digital opportunities for subsequent efforts; [MLC: streamlining; improving client experience]
• developing the Innovation Hub framework which established the scope of the Hub activities and terms of engagement with partners; and
• developing the Innovation Design Toolkit, containing standard HCD tools and products.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)

• Updates continued on HR letter templates and electronic communication tools for exchanges with clients, employees or providers to ensure they align with GBA Plus.
• Our Innovation Hub’s previously mentioned HCD approach uses a GBA Plus lens when engaging users creating opportunities to design solutions that are both innovative and inclusive. In support of this, the Hub engaged resources with experience in performance measurement who work with the designers and core teams to ensure GBA Plus considerations occur when developing key performance indicators for initiatives.

Experimentation

• Veterans speak to us every day through a variety of media channels. We are listening, but in order to make informed decisions about how we answer their enquiries and communicate about our programs and services, we need more than anecdotal evidence from these conversations. That is why we started working on evidence-based communications.
  
  We conducted an experiment using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop sentiment analysis, topic detection, and processing times models to gain insights and analytics from our public facing social media channels.
  
  We reviewed more than 9,000 comments on VAC’s Facebook ‘Services’ channel and built a fully tagged, categorized and organized archive, one that serves as a model of what can be done. It took two people almost one year to complete this. By using AI, taught and applied “machine learning”, we now have an automated system that can analyze large bodies of text. This means months of manual work can now be in days — even hours.
  
  Now that we can organize and store data from multiple text-based sources and we have quantitative data we can use to inform and align our communications, to offer decision makers the right information at the right time. [MLC: improving communications]

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

• We identified a senior designated official responsible for employment equity, diversity and inclusion; 
• We reviewed and refocused the work of the National Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee;
• We expanded our data analysis to look at the diversity of the workforce to better inform management’s decision making and improving our overall workforce portrait in relation to workforce availability and government-wide objectives;
• We promoted or provided training for employees (i.e. Workplace Inclusion for Gender Diversity LGBTQ2+, Canada School of Public Service Anti-Racism series, etc.); and
• We continued our participation as a standing member in a joint working group within the public service to look into hiring practices and recruitment of persons with disabilities.

SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy and SDG 13: Climate Action

• We contributed to the improvement of energy efficiency and combatting climate change in various ways, for example:
  • We successfully participated as a pathfinder in the Digital Communications Project with Shared Services Canada and were the first GC department to migrate email from the previous hosted email service to the new cloud-based M365 email service; and
  • We successfully implemented MS Teams and made it available to all staff on their laptops and smartphones thus greatly reducing the need for employee travel.

SDG 5: Gender equality and SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

• Our Innovation Hub works to find solutions to problems and opportunities to optimize services while working with their partners on initiatives. For these solutions to succeed, we must understand the clients that use the program or services, and their perspectives and needs. The Innovation Hub aims for representative user groups (including female and gender diverse Veterans) to ensure inclusive design solutions.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• We increased the capacity of our Innovation Hub to meet demand and ensure consistency in our approach to HCD initiatives. This included:
  • Developing the Innovation Hub framework which established the scope of the Hub activities and terms of engagement with partners.
  • Developing the Innovation Design Toolkit, containing standard HCD tools and products.
  • Expanding the Innovation Hub core team in order to decrease reliance on external contractors.

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

A full analysis of the budgetary financial resources and FTEs is available in the “ Analysis of trends in spending and human resources ” section of this report. This includes an explanation of the variances between planned and actual expenditures.