Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs

Comité permanent des anciens combattants

For immediate release

Ottawa, December 11, 2020 -

Today, Mr. Bryan May, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, tabled a report containing 16 recommendations to help the Government address the backlog of disability benefit claims for veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“I am very pleased that the Committee was able to conduct such an in-depth study”, said Mr. May. “We all recognize that the delays veterans must endure before receiving a decision are unacceptable. This can affect the lives, health, and well-being of veterans and their family members. This report acknowledges both the Government's efforts to address the problem and the need to do more.”

While there is not one single cause for the increase in the number of applications submitted to Veterans Affairs Canada, the main factors are the changes to disability benefit programs, increased number of applications, as well as awareness campaigns. The department's capacity to process this influx of new applications has also increased, but at an insufficient rate to address the backlog that has accumulated.

In order to address the backlog, Committee members are recommending that the approximately 460 temporary employees hired or reassigned to address the backlog be retained beyond the original deadline of March 31, 2022. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, this would reduce the backlog to approximately 12,000 in the early months of 2023, while the Department is confident that it will be able to reduce the backlog to less than 5,000 through other measures that will result in productivity gains.

In order to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future in the event of an unexpected increase in the number of applications, the Committee also recommends that the existing regulations be amended to allow Veterans Affairs Canada to launch a pilot project for the automatic pre-approval of new applications.

Committee members would like to thank all those who participated in this study, whether through testimony or written submissions, particularly the veterans and some of their family members who shared their experiences while awaiting a response from Veterans Affairs Canada.

The report is available online on the Committee's website.