Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
Thank you for inviting me to contribute to your study on challenges associated with medical release and transition to civilian life.
As the veterans ombud, my mandate is to receive and review complaints from clients of Veterans Affairs Canada, or VAC, who feel they have been treated unfairly. I can also review systemic gaps in or barriers to equitable access to VAC programs and benefits.
Understanding the impact of transition on veterans and their families has been a focus of the Veterans Ombuds for the past several years. In 2017, we published a qualitative study to better understand the factors that contribute to a successful transition from military to civilian life. Participants reported that their main challenges included finding a new sense of purpose, maintaining financial security, equating military experience with civilian work experience, and coping with the stigma around mental health.
Most new veterans will seek employment post service, both for financial reasons and to meet the need for a new sense of purpose. There are workplaces that understand what veterans bring to the table, but there are many more that do not.
VAC offers a career transition service to assist serving members and veterans in their journey to civilian employment. However, we have heard from veterans that there is still a gap in translating military competencies to civilian competencies, particularly in the officer occupations. Finding a job and finding purpose are for many veterans the same thing. When their service experience is unrecognizable to hiring managers, it can become a barrier to successful transition.
Veterans with a medical release have access to significant support, both on their way out of the CAF and then onwards from VAC. I am far more concerned about veterans who release voluntarily or for other reasons, particularly those with insufficient years of service to be immediately eligible to receive their CAF pension, which is the determining factor for access to the public service health care plan or the pensioners' dental services plan.
These non-medically released veterans with fewer than 20 or 25 years of service who may nevertheless have service-related illness or injuries are the ones I am most concerned about. Delays by VAC in adjudicating disability claims can have tangible impacts on their well-being.
VAC recently implemented a new program whereby some veterans who submit disability claims for mental health will have immediate access to treatment benefits. I believe this immediate access to treatment benefits should be extended to all disability claimants, or, as we recommended in 2018, VAC should triage claims according to unmet health needs.
In 2021, we recommended that VAC provide mental health support for family members in their own right, for conditions related to their veteran's service. Over the past months, I have heard heartbreaking stories of veterans' spouses and family members who are left to struggle on their own.
We say that when a member serves, their family serves with them. We say that families are the strength behind the uniform. And yet, it takes very little for these important people to be disconnected from help they need in their own right. I am more convinced than ever that we cannot continue to rely on spouses and families for their immeasurable, irreplaceable and invaluable support to the CAF's operational capacity and then not meet their mental health needs as a result of supporting a veteran during their service.
In the past, on release, new veterans were pretty much on their own to figure out how to thrive as they returned to civilian life. There was and continues to be great support for those who are released for medical reasons, but that was not and is not necessarily the case for everyone else.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing recognition that the transition from military to veteran is not just a simple matter of handing back your uniform and your ID card. Just as entering the CAF is a bit of a shock—basic training is designed, after all, to instill discipline, leadership, teamwork, service before self, putting yourself in harm's way and, yes, using weapons—leaving the CAF can be just as significant. I firmly believe that once you've successfully completed basic training, you are forever changed. You are never truly civilian again. When we leave the CAF, we are veterans.
Over the past several months, I have visited a number of the transition centres. I'm encouraged by what I see. Extending strong support to all new veterans in the same way that has been done for medically released veterans will go a long way to easing the transition from military back to civilian life. As the veterans ombud, I am focused on the important and lifelong relationship between veterans and Veterans Affairs Canada. The transition centres have a huge role to play in getting that relationship off on the right foot.
Thank you again for the invitation to contribute to your work for the Canadian Armed Forces and our veterans.
I look forward to your recommendations.
Thank you.