Evidence of meeting #49 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was housing.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Thank you, Chair.
Welcome.
This question will be for both of you. You were both here in the previous hour and listening to Veterans Affairs as they testified. Is that right?
I think many of us were frustrated and sort of surprised by the lack of responses that came out of Veterans Affairs. Can we get agreement on that?
Do you have any thoughts or concerns on what Veterans Affairs stated in the last hour?
President, Homes For Heroes Foundation
It's just frustration.
It's not about partisan politics. It's not about people not wanting to do the right thing. It's about getting something done.
I think we share that frustration. We get to the table, and we have these conversations; the committee goes away, and we never hear back. We never hear of any results. Again, our frustration lies above the boots on the ground. We need to take the veteran crisis seriously, start acting on it and not just talk about it.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
I agree. The lack of urgency is what really struck me. It was almost flippant, like, oh yes, we're working on it, and we're not really gaining much of anything.... Also, now we've learned at committee that this study came about because of a motion, and it's intended to go towards a framework. All the words are still there, and there are more delays.
I understand your concern. I too am concerned about this. We need to get things done. Really, it is quite frustrating when you think about these veterans. These people have served our country. It's absolutely reprehensible.
In the 2024 federal budget, the government announced that National Defence is working with the Canada Lands Company to divest 14 surplus properties with potential for housing. Has either of your organizations ever been consulted by the government on any of these 14 properties? No...?
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Is either of you aware of a single one of these 14 identified properties that actually became veterans' housing since the announcement?
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
No.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
We wonder why we were worried about pushing it down, though.
This is since 2024. The announcement was there. I can see why you're frustrated. Well, everybody is. Just the lack of....
How many studies do you think you have done in your lifetime to try to make the projects work right, when the government lets you down in this way?
VETS Canada and the Homes For Heroes Foundation both receive funding through the veteran homelessness program, according to the government. However, according to the departmental briefing note, the government had over $3 million in veteran homelessness program funding sitting unused, as we were commenting on earlier.
In fact, the government's briefing note stated—and it's worth repeating—that “All opportunities to allocate funding within [the veteran homelessness program] have been exhausted.” That's absolutely pathetic.
Do you believe that this $3 million in unallocated funding could have been used to do more work in reducing homelessness for veterans?
I would like to hear from both of you. You didn't have a chance to explain. It's really important for the committee to hear.
Every dollar going to veterans is needed and has been allocated as such, so why was it removed, and how much good could this $3 million do?
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
From our perspective, when we applied for our funding, we were told that we could apply for up to $6.3 million over five years. Housing and infrastructure called it a negotiation process. Almost a year of back-and-forth went on between us and somebody at housing and infrastructure, and it got to the point that the funding ended up being $5.2 million over four years because so much time was spent negotiating. I'm still not sure what we were negotiating.
The $3 million that was sent back to treasury could have made up for the lost year. This is just one example. Nobody reached out to us before they sent that money back to say, “Hey, could you use a few extra bucks?” It did not happen. To my understanding, other organizations were not contacted either. This was very frustrating to hear.
President, Homes For Heroes Foundation
To add to Debbie's comments, the funding we did not get approved for in our two operations in Alberta was allocated to a very good social agency firm. They had no veteran experience, but they had an idea. They got full funding on an idea of how they could serve veterans; we had a proven model that was in active operation, but we didn't get funding.
They had our application for the $3 million, so why didn't they come back to us and say, “Hey, we have some excess cash. You applied, and we declined on the first go-round, but we think we can find some cash for it”? I would have welcomed that. I'm sure Debbie would have welcomed it.
Yes, it's super frustrating. Situations like these sometimes take away from the volume of veterans we can serve, but more importantly, from the quality of care. As I stated earlier, we're now scrounging around trying to find food supplements or doing fundraising because we didn't get the funding in place, and that takes away from the time we could have been spending with our veterans on re-establishing a connection and a trust relationship with them, getting them employment and finding them secure housing.
Sometimes it's not necessarily about the number of veterans we could have served with extra money; it's about the quality of care we could have provided but weren't able to provide because we were doing other things unrelated to veteran care.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Thank you very much.
We'll finish with Ms. Fancy, and then I need about five seconds' time to approve our budget.
Please go ahead.
Liberal
Jessica Fancy-Landry Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Thank you very much.
Through you, Mr. Chair, very quickly, we're here today talking about housing, supports and services for our veterans in Canada.
I'm an Atlantic Canadian member of Parliament. Before I start, I'd like to remind everybody here and other people that in previous Parliaments, when the Conservatives were in power, they closed—in Atlantic Canada alone—nine different VAC centres and over 800 positions.
As we're looking at the way we support people, I'd like to talk today about templates for support.
My first question is for Ms. Lowther. In your introduction, you talked a lot about interventions to supports. From your experience working directly with veterans, how important is early intervention? Are there signs a veteran is at risk of homelessness that governments could identify earlier?
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
Thank you for that.
Before somebody is released from the Canadian Armed Forces, their situation should be looked at.
One thing I don't think is taken into consideration is the lack of social support when somebody takes the uniform off. I had a veteran say to me one time that when he was still serving, he had a family, and when he was released, he became an orphan.
If we're talking about a single person leaving the Canadian Armed Forces who may not have a large group of natural supports, such as family members, then they're not going to be successful once they get out of the military if they don't have a support system in place. This is something I've always felt strongly about. They shouldn't be released if red flags are there.
Liberal
Jessica Fancy-Landry Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Exactly.
Our template for this motion in Amherst is trying to create that community hub, reduce social isolation and have more social opportunities within that particular structure.
I'm also an MP from a rural riding. I'm wondering what some of the challenges are that veterans face in rural and coastal communities like South Shore—St. Margarets, which is my riding, where there may be fewer housing options and fewer support services. It's similar, I believe, to Amherst.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
We are a national organization, so we deal with veterans right across the country, including in rural areas. It's definitely challenging.
At our headquarters in Nova Scotia, we have a veterans food bank. We deliver, but we only deliver, at this point, within two hours of the food bank. We have veterans who live beyond that point, and they'll schedule their visits to our food bank when they're coming into the city for medical appointments, visits to the VAC office or that sort of thing.
They have to travel to access those resources, and it's difficult. We have veterans who reach out to us all the time and ask us if we can help with a gas card to get to appointments, because they have to travel a couple of hours to get to those appointments. Rural veterans definitely struggle a bit more.
Liberal
Jessica Fancy-Landry Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
That was the exact follow-up question I had in regard to delivery and transportation with services.
How significant, then, do you think that transportation is to accessing housing and support services for veterans outside major urban areas?
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
It's not good. Veterans in rural areas are struggling as much as their counterparts who live in more urban areas.
It is a big issue, and I don't know what the solution is. We do the best we can to support those veterans in rural areas, but geography is what it is.
Liberal
Jessica Fancy-Landry Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
That's why it's so important when we have a surplus federal building such as the armoury in a rural area; it really is a good indicator of how to build a template model that we could use and replicate throughout Nova Scotia.
I have a couple of seconds left. Beyond the physical space or a place to live, what do you feel that a veteran needs to be successful in transitioning into stable civilian life?
Thank you very much for being here today.
September 22nd, 2026 / 12:55 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Veterans Emergency Transition Services
Thank you.
A lot of veterans are looking for a sense of purpose. If we were talking about a community hub in which we'd offer any of the kinds of programming I mentioned, such as financial literacy, cooking classes, yoga classes and those sorts of things, we could also have staff on hand who could let veterans know about volunteer opportunities in the area so that if the veterans were not able to work, maybe volunteerism would give them a sense of purpose. I think we could help with that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Great. Thank you for being with us today. We appreciate your answers. Perhaps we'll see you again in the future.
Colleagues, before we adjourn, I have a budget to approve for this set of meetings. It's $3,750.
Liberal
Alana Hirtle Liberal Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Chair, before you move on, I'd like to add another individual to the witness list.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
I was talking to your staff. I asked them to send me an email with the dates, and then we'll look after it.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kelly McCauley
Can I get approval for the budget for the working meals and everything?