March 2025

We salute her!

Women and former members who served with the CAF and the RCMP played a major role in shaping Canada's history, and they continue to pave the way for future generations.

Since the early 1900s, women have served in various capacities when they were most needed. During the First and Second World Wars, women served as nurses, clerks, and in other essential support roles. Women have also been an integral part of the RCMP, contributing to law enforcement across Canada.

Today, women actively participate in combat roles within the Canadian Armed Forces, including major military operations such as Afghanistan, while also serving in leadership positions in both the CAF and the RCMP.

Women serve as powerful role models for future generations of women in both the military and law enforcement. Their dedication, sacrifice, and resilience leave a lasting impact on this country.

This month, in recognition of International Women’s Day, we are proud to honour Canada’s women Veterans and former members of the RCMP—celebrating their past, present, and future contributions. Please visit our website for more stories and information on women Veterans.

News

Proud to partner in Canada’s third National Action Plan

When Canada’s second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security was implemented between 2017-2022, the general public and women Veterans highlighted the important role that Veterans Affairs Canada could play as a federal partner in the plan. We are glad they did.

We created our first departmental implementation plan for Women, Peace and Security working closely with other federal partners and the general public, including women Veterans. Our implementation plan was well received by all stakeholders.

Learn more about VAC’s first departmental implementation plan and Canada’s third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

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Recognizing contributions to women Veterans: Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation

Earlier this month, members of the Women Veterans Council Assessment Board were honoured with the Minister’s Commendation, presented by then Minister of Veterans Affairs, Darren Fisher.

The award recognizes their volunteer work for more than a year to help establish our first-ever Women Veterans Council. The board included RCMP and CAF service women and Veterans who looked at more than 200 candidates to form the 12-person Women Veterans Council.

Their hard work, dedication and unwavering commitment was very important to creating the first Women Veterans Council, which will provide a platform to ensure service women and Veterans’ voices are heard.

We thank these remarkable women for their contributions:

• Sandra Jalonen
• Martine Roy
• Nicole Crevier
• Rachel McCarthy
• Jane Hall
• Bev Busson
• Andrea Siew
• Rebecca Patterson

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Honouring Her Service: 2025 Women's Forum

Earlier this month we hosted the Honouring Her Service: 2025 Women's Forum in Ottawa. The forum was the final event during Honouring Her Service Week, leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8. Before the forum, women took part in networking, professional development, wellness and community building opportunities.

As a result of feedback from women Veterans, the forum was hosted in partnership with the CAF and the RCMP. The agenda for the annual, community-led, forum came from feedback from women Veterans during a Let’s Talk Veterans consultation. This year’s forum focused on:

• progress updates, including an overview of the work that VAC, CAF and the RCMP have done in the past year
• women’s health, including moral injury, menopause and pelvic floor health
• women’s research, including insight into VAC’s Women Veterans Research Plan
• peer support for women Veterans

A discussion report and action plan will be available in the coming months. Read the most recent report on our website.

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Programs and services

Moving research forward for women Veterans

After connecting with women Veterans and their families, we are developing a Women Veterans Research Plan. For decades, a lack of research into the experiences of women Veterans made it challenging to develop programs and services that supported their well-being. Now, this plan will outline research projects that will dig into topics that are important to women Veterans.

To help us develop specific goals, our outreach included:

• a series of four roundtables with women Veterans in January and February 2025;
• connecting with the new Women Veterans Council;
• an online questionnaire sent to 400 women Veterans (March 2025); and
• a workshop at the 2025 Honouring Her Service Women Veterans Forum.

Some of the topics covered include setting guidelines for research, deciding how to measure success, identifying priorities and sharing findings. We will present the research plan to the Women Veterans Council in the spring of 2025. Once they approve the plan, it will be published on our website.

To learn more about the VAC 2025 Women Veterans Research Plan, please contact the project lead by email.

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Invisible no more: The challenges Canadian women Veterans face

In an episode of the Most Painful Podcast, host Tom Hoppe speaks with retired Captain Hélène LeScelleur and retired Sergeant Anouk Beauvais about the distinct physical and mental health challenges faced by Canadian women Veterans. The conversation delves into the recent Invisible No More report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

“The title of the report, Invisible No More, is very specific about what it is to be a woman Veteran,” says retired Captain LeScelleur. The podcast explores how a “one-size-fits-all” approach led to women’s health needs being overlooked in military and Veteran care, and how there is a growing recognition that things must change.

Listen to this episode of the Most Painful Podcast, presented by the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans.

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Education and Training Benefit eligibility end dates

For Veterans who released between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2018, the first eligibility end date for the Education and Training Benefit (ETB) is 1 April 2028. If you qualify for ETB, you have 10 years from your release date from the Canadian Armed Forces or transfer date to the Supplementary Reserve to receive funding.

The ETB was introduced in 2018 to help Veterans and members of the Supplementary Reserve seamlessly transition to life after service by providing funding for education and training.

Learn more about ETB eligibility end dates.

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Sign up for April’s employment webinars

If you are looking to learn more about what employment opportunities are available to you after service, please register online today to join us for an employment webinar series. English sessions will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST from April 7-9 . The French session will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST on April 10.

You will learn about Career Transition Services, the Education and Training Benefit, and the federal hiring process. You’ll also hear from a variety of organizations like Lockheed Martin and ABB Canada to learn about what they do and how they can help you.

Once the series is over, you can connect with employers interested in hiring Veterans, follow up with your resume and set up interviews. Ask the questions on your mind and see what career options are open to you. Once registered, a schedule will be sent to you by email closer to the event.

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Engagement

Women Veterans Council launch and first meeting

The first Women Veterans Council—built by women for women—was formally launched at an event held at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa this past January. The Honourable Darren Fisher, former then Minister of Veterans Affairs, introduced the council members, highlighting their role in advancing opportunities for women in service to Canada.

Council members took part in a fireside chat and shared what they hope to achieve for service women and Veterans. The event also featured a live painting by Sarah O’Neill, winner of the Women and War Art Battle held at the Canadian War Museum last November. The painting will be displayed at future council meetings.

Following the launch, the council had their first official meeting on January 29. They are expected to meet four times per year.

The council will study issues and eventually make recommendations to the Minister on steps that we can take to improve supports for women. Visit the Women Veterans Council page on our website to find records of discussion from each meeting.

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Commemoration

Mary Riter Hamilton: Canada’s first female war artist

Mary Riter Hamilton discovered her passion for drawing at a young age, eventually becoming a well-known and distinguished artist with works shared around the world. In 1914, when the First World War broke out, Hamilton volunteered to be sent to the front lines as a war artist, but she was denied because she was a woman. At the time, only men were allowed to be commissioned as artists for the battlefront; women had to stay on the Canadian home front.

After the war ended in 1918, Hamilton was commissioned to paint battlefield landscapes for a Veteran’s magazine. For the next three years, Hamilton would travel around Europe and depict the utter destruction caused by war. “I cannot talk. I can only paint.”

Hamilton returned to Canada in 1925, after creating some 350 works from the warfront—at the time, the largest collection of Canadian First World War paintings by a single artist.

Her art continues to inspire. In January, during the launch of the new Women Veterans Council at Library and Archives Canada, their Senior Art Archivist, Mary Margaret Johnston-Miller, reflected on the role of art in commemorating war and service. She highlighted Mary Riter Hamilton's remarkable contributions as an artist and introduced a new Heritage Minute video celebrating Hamilton’s life and legacy.

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Upcoming events:

80^th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands and V-E Day

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands and V-E (Victory in Europe) Day. To commemorate this important milestone, events will be held both overseas and in Canada.

• An official Government of Canada delegation will travel to the Netherlands from May 1-7 and participate in the 80th anniversary celebrations.
• In Canada, the Government of Canada will host commemorative activities in Toronto in honour of V-E Day from May 5-8.

Check out our public calendar of events to see more events happening this spring and join us in #VEDay80 activities in Canada and the Netherlands.

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Funding available for projects honouring Canadian Veterans

Veterans Affairs Canada has funding available for organizations doing remembrance activities. Whether your community is interested in commemorative activities or restoring a war memorial, funding is available to support a variety of projects.

Upcoming deadline

For projects honouring underrepresented Veterans, including women, 2SLGBTQI+, Black, racialized, Indigenous, and modern Veterans, and those who served in domestic operations, special Community Engagement funding is available. The deadline to apply is 30 April 2025 for projects taking place between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.

Visit our website for more information and to apply.

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Commemoration calendar

April 2025

April 9-12: Canadian victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge (1917)

April 11-17: First Canadian Army liberated the city of Appeldoorn in the Netherlands (1945)

April 12: Canadian forces liberated Westerbork Transit Camp, a collection point used by the Nazis to deport Jews from the Netherlands (1945)

April 15: The First Canadian Army reached the Dutch north coast near Leeuwarden, trapping the remnants of German Army Group H in the western provinces (1945)

April 16: HMCS Esquimalt, the last Canadian warship lost to enemy action, was torpedoed and sunk in the waters off of Halifax by U-190 (1945)

April 17: End of the Nile Expedition. The last of the Canadian voyageurs who helped transport the relief force up the Nile River departed Egypt for home (1885)

April 22-25: The Canadian Expeditionary Force participated in the Second Battle of Ypres (1915)

April 29: Aircrew applicants gathered in Toronto to participate in the first British Commonwealth Air Training Plan course (1940)

April 30 - May 1: Capture of Delfzijl, last offensive action by Canada in the Netherlands (1945)

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