Meet the organizations that received funding from the Veteran and Family Well-being Fund in 2024-2025.
| Organization name | Project title | Funding amount | Project summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Veterans | |||
| Southern Chiefs' Organization Inc. | First Nations Veteran Program | $1,000,000 | The First Nations Veterans Program offers support to First Nations Veterans in southern Manitoba, including assistance with Veterans Affairs benefit applications, cultural connections, monthly events, and recognition ceremonies. |
| Assembly of First Nations | A Continued Journey Towards Healing and Service Delivery | $600,000 | This project develops phase two of the Letter of Understanding (LOU) between the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and VAC to support the specific needs of First Nation Veterans, soldiers, families, and communities. The LOU outlines steps to ensure culturally appropriate healing and service delivery by VAC. |
| Manitoba Métis Federation | The Red River Métis Veterans Program Development Project | $400,000 | The Red River Métis Veterans Program Development Project will expand its capacity to identify the needs and record the untold history of our Red River Métis Veterans (RRMV) and their families. In the spirit of reconciliation, this project will allow us to address the needs of the RRMV community for generations. |
| Métis National Council | National Métis Veterans Gathering: Supporting the Needs of Métis Veterans | $400,000 | The National Métis Veteran Gathering will invite at least 100 Métis Veterans and their families to gather in Ottawa over a two-day period. Métis Veterans are an under-served group who will benefit from community building, increased access to social supports and system navigation. This project will provide an opportunity for Métis Veterans to connect with one another in a culturally safe environment and create a dialogue. |
| 2SLGBTQI+ Veterans | |||
| Egale Canada | Identifying 2SLGBTQI Veterans’ Needs | $350,000 | Over 18 months, Egale Canada will work with Rainbow Veterans Canada to survey 2SLGBTQI+ Veterans and identify areas of focus for research regarding the social determinants of health. They will conduct a needs assessment of the capacity of Veteran services providers to assist 2SLGBTQI+ Veterans with mental health, homelessness and housing insecurity issues. |
| Helmets to Hardhats | Building Skills, Building Futures | $588,200 | This project aims to enhance the lives of transitioning CAF members and their families by providing comprehensive skills training and career transition support. It focuses on inclusivity, with a focus on women, 2SLGBTQI+, marginalized Veterans, and Cadets to ensure meaningful employment. |
| Women Veterans | |||
| Centre for Addiction and Mental Health | Women Veterans & Moral Injury: Exploring Gendered Mental Health Effects of Complex International Deployments | $625,000 | This research will study the lived experiences of women Veterans to better understand and address the unique mental health challenges faced by those who deploy internationally. We will use this research to produce a policy framework to inform women-focused prevention and treatment. |
| Centre for Social Innovation and Community Engagement in Military Affairs (SICEMA), Mount Saint Vincent University | No Longer Invisible: Engaging women Veterans in participatory action research | $477,000 | Building on the 2024 Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs report, Invisible No More. The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans, this project engages women Veterans in participatory action research and knowledge translation. This will be done to address their unmet health and well-being needs and to generate innovative ideas for research, policy, and programming. |
| Families | |||
| New Brunswick Youth Orchestra | Sistema New Brunswick-5CDSG Centre | $500,000 | Sistema New Brunswick will launch a new program at the 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown, designed for the children of Veteran and military families. Sistema NB-5CDSB is an intensive, daily orchestral music program that will include woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, in the tradition of military bands. |
| Can Praxis | Breaking the Cycle Family Program | $450,000 | The Family Program provides children of Veterans with an operational stress injury (OSI) with the tools to understand their parent’s injury. They can then safely engage with their parent on a bad day and understand their parent’s behaviour is not their fault. This breaks the cycle that trauma can create, providing a healthier future for those children. |
| Wounded Warriors Canada | Wounded Warriors Canada Warrior Kids Program Support | $300,000 | This project will expand access to the existing Wounded Warriors Canada Warrior Kids Program, both with an additional in-person camp session and access to their virtual program. |
| Le Sentier | Vet-avenir : réinventer le futur de nos vétérans et vétéranes [Vet- futures: reinventing the future of our Veterans] | $233,200 | This project is designed to develop one additional service centre, hire additional workers, organize themed workshops and support Veterans and their families to improve their well-being and transition into life after military service. |
| Legacy West Healing | Veteran Families Eggshells Pilot Project | $700,000 | Creating a circle of support, the Eggshells Project is a virtual, trauma-informed mental health program designed exclusively for Veterans and their families who have a loved one with Substance Use Disorder (addiction) who may or may not have sought, received, or completed treatment. |
| The Camp Tanamakoon Charitable Foundation (Camp Maple Leaf) | Expanding Horizons: Continuing Camp Maple Leaf's Support for Veterans' Families across Canada | $800,000 | This project broadens Camp Maple Leaf's support to Canadian Veterans and serving military personnel families across seven provinces, offering a safe space for children to share their experiences and build connections within the military community. |
| Homelessness | |||
| The Rural Development Network | Responding to Veterans Homelessness in Rural Remote and Indigenous Communities | $800,000 | This project will enhance the capacity of the non-profit and volunteer sectors by building partnerships and networks across Turtle Island in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. This will be accomplished by addressing data disparities, identifying shared/ common language, and identifying best practices and creative approaches that respond to Veterans homelessness. |
| Mental health | |||
| Fondation des sports adaptés | Program dedicated to Veterans (mountain biking) | $15,000 | The program encourages inclusion, socialization and self-improvement through unique sports activities dedicated to Veterans. It offers a friendly and respectful environment, free of charge, with the possibility of becoming a volunteer. Activities are designed to include people living with disabilities. Couples and families are welcome to participate. |
| University of Regina | 3636: Comrades Forever Operational Stress Injury Peer Support Group | $250,000 | This project will support Canadian and allied military Veterans and their families facing the enduring challenges of occupational stress injuries from service-related activities. Its primary mission is to prevent Veteran suicide by fostering a strong, supportive, accountable network. |
| SC2.0 Stepped Care Solutions | Co-designing a digitally-enabled mental health continuum with Veterans and families | $200,000 | This project will engage Veterans, families and service organizations across Canada to co-design a continuum of care that supports the mental health and substance use health of Veterans and their families. This will be done in partnership with the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and McMaster University, leveraging the SC2.0 model. |
| Stratford Occupational Therapy | Courage through Connection | $250,000 | This project will empower Veterans and families to find safety and belonging through shared experiences in meaningful activities. This is especially significant with the loss of their “military family” when leaving active service. Strengthening connections within the family and community, the program fosters resilience, through an uplifting healing environment for participants. |
| Mood Disorders Society of Canada | Enhancing Connections, Advancing Veteran Communities | $400,000 | This project seeks to increase resilience, build connections and strengthen the Veterans' community. This will be done through volunteer engagement, harnessing the spirit of service, skills and experience of Veterans and their family members. |
| Research | |||
| Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada | Project Enlist Canada and Operation Brain Health | $1,000,000 | This initiative encourages CAF members and Veterans to participate in clinical research and to pledge to donate their brains upon their death. Operation Brain Health encourages Veterans to exercise, improve their diet, sleep properly, and build their cognitive reserve to support ongoing symptoms from brain injury. |
| Employment/retraining | |||
| Governors of the University of Alberta | Canadian Military, Veteran and Family Connected Campus Consortium: phase 2 | $800,000 | The Canadian Military, Veteran and Family Connected Campus Consortium equips post-secondary institutions to facilitate academic success of military, Veteran students and their families. It allows them to leverage postsecondary education as tool for CAF/VAC recruitment, reconstitution, retention and transition efforts. This 3-year project will advance the Consortium’s knowledge mobilization strategy, operational plan and community engagement. |
| True Patriot Love Foundation | Building a Veteran Ready Canada | $910,000 | This initiative expands an Ontario pilot project to create a national network of Veteran-ready employers. They will develop tools, including assessing options for a skills translator, arranging opportunities and an employer mentorship program to help bring Veteran talent into the Canadian workforce. |
| Team Rubicon Canada | Enhanced Training and Growth for Veterans | $1,047,062 | Team Rubicon Canada will provide free training and growth opportunities to its Veteran staff and volunteers. This will enhance Veteran resilience, promote gender equity, increase Indigenous cultural competence, and leverage the full range of Veteran capabilities and interests within Team Rubicon Canada. |
| École d'Entrepreneurship de Beauce | Séjours entrepreneurship intensifs pour vétéranes. [Intensive entrepreneurship stays for Veterans.] | 100 000 $ | This project will offer 48-hour intensive stays for Veterans who wish to become entrepreneurs or who are already entrepreneurs. |
| Respect Canada | Respect Canada | $828,000 | Respect Canada enhances the well-being of Veterans and first responders through strategic partnerships and organizational collaboration focused on improving access to health services, education, housing and employment opportunities. |
| Challenge Factory | Veteran Ready Employer Program Refresh and National Pilot | $374,439 | This project builds upon the success of Challenge Factory’s Veteran Ready Employer program and is dedicated to following VAC’s employment strategy by piloting the program under a selected operational model to test for sustainability and adoption. Following a pilot, feedback will be collected, and an implementation plan will be created. |