Inbox

The My VAC Account Inbox allows you to send and receive secure messages with VAC. The message you send us must be about you and your circumstances only. We cannot discuss another individual’s personal information or circumstances with you.

Letters and forms—electronic versions of paper correspondence—from VAC are also available in your My VAC Account Inbox. When we send paper correspondence, sometimes an electronic copy will be made available in your My VAC Account Inbox under ‘Letters and forms’.

Secure Messaging is a secure, web-based message service that allows you to communicate with VAC. If your issue can't wait, you can also reach our National Contact Centre Network at 1-866-522-2122.

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) uses secure messaging in My VAC Account to allow Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members, and their families to communicate with VAC staff, including Case Managers, in a safe and secure environment. You must be a registered My VAC Account user to access this service. Email communication is not used in these interactions because it does not meet the security requirements for the exchange of personal information that VAC policy requires.

If you choose, an email can be sent to your personal email each time you receive a new secure message in My VAC Account. This email will not display the content of the message but rather notify you that a new message has been received.

You can send a secure message by following the steps below:

• Click on Inbox from any page within My VAC Account
• Select the green Send a secure message button
• Choose a category from the drop-down list provided
• Enter a subject to speed up the process and help you easily sort through your past messages
• Type your message (Note: There is a 1,500 character limit. If your message is longer than 1,500 characters, you can send more than one message. We recommend adding "Part 2", etc. to the subject title, if sending more than one message.)
• When you are finished your message, click Send message
• The system will then bring you back to the Inbox where your message will be saved for you

The message you send must be about you and your circumstances only. We cannot discuss another individual’s personal information or circumstances with you.

Yes, but only if you select Yes to secure messaging in the ‘Communications preferences’ section of your Profile and ‘verify’ your email.

To do this, log into My VAC Account and then:

• Click Profile from the main menu
• Scroll to Communication preferences
• Click Edit preferences
• Under the heading ‘General’ select Yes for – “secure messaging”
• Then you will need to ‘verify’ your email.

Yes. If you have further questions on the same topic, you can continue the conversation by replying to our agent’s message to you. To do this, log into My VAC Account, then:

• Click Inbox
• Open the message you want to respond to by double clicking it
• Select Reply
• Type your message
• Select Send Message

If you have questions about a different topic, please start a new message. This will assist us in routing the message to the correct VAC staff member.

Yes. To do this, log into My VAC Account, then:

• Click Profile from the main menu
• Scroll to Communication preferences
• Click Edit preferences
• Under the heading ‘General’ select Yes for – “secure messaging”

You can also choose to receive an email notification when you get a new a letter or a form in My VAC Account Inbox, when the status of an application changes, or when VAC issues a News Item.

No. To protect your privacy, our Department does not communicate personal or sensitive information through email. Your email address is used only to notify you that a reply has been made to your secure message.

If you choose, an email can be sent to your personal email each time you receive a new secure message in My VAC Account. To set-up email notification see “Communication preferences” under Profile within your My VAC Account.

Letters and forms are electronic versions of paper correspondence with VAC. When VAC sends you a paper correspondence, sometimes an electronic copy will be made available in your My VAC Account Letters and forms section.

We recommend you respond online via My VAC Account, but you can respond by mail. You do not have to do both.

At this time, we display correspondence that was sent to you in the 30 days prior to registration for My VAC Account. If the correspondence was sent more than 30 days before you registered for My VAC Account, you will not be able to see the correspondence online. However, now that you have registered, all future correspondence that is available electronically.

You can upload a file from your computer or mobile device on the Upload files page.

To send an attachment through My VAC Account, login and then:

1. Save the form from the website to your computer or mobile device
2. Click Upload files in your My VAC Account
3. Select the type of file you are uploading (ensure you are uploading the right type of file.)
4. Click Continue
5. Select Browse
6. Then choose from your computer or mobile device the file you wish to upload
7. Click Upload

Note: Make sure to include the name of the benefit or service the attachment is related to.

To find a form you uploaded, click Submitted forms and documents from the main menu or under Forms.

VAC has begun the process of creating electronic copies of paper mail correspondence. As forms and letters become available, the electronic version will be displayed in your My VAC Account Inbox under Letters and forms from VAC.

When you select Yes to email notifications for Letters and forms, you will receive an email letting you know when any new electronic correspondence is received in your My VAC Account. You will continue to receive paper copies in the mail unless you have selected the ‘Go paperless’ option, which can be found in your Communication Preferences.

Our Department is working on converting all paper mail into electronic versions so you can correspond completely electronically. Until this conversion is completed, you will continue to receive some paper letters in the mail. As well, documents which require a staff signature for legal purposes (such as a letters of decision) will continue to be sent via mail, even when a copy displays in your My VAC Account Inbox.

If you are within Canada please call us at 1-866-522-2122 from Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time. If you are living outside Canada please call us from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST from the United States at 1-888-996-2242 (toll-free); or any other country at 00 800 996 22421 (toll-free) between the same hours.