Good afternoon and thank you.
My name is Charlotte Bastien. I am the director general of field operations. I'm here with my colleague, Rick Christopher, who is the director of service delivery. We're pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak to the findings of chapter 2 of the report of the Auditor General of Canada as they relate to Veterans Affairs Canada.
I’d like to begin by sharing some information about who we serve at Veterans Affairs Canada and how we go about it.
As you know from the report, we spend about $3.2 billion annually in financial assistance services and disability and health care benefits, providing services to veterans and their families. The department is also responsible for remembrance activities in Canada and abroad.
Our department serves four main groups. From largest to smallest, they are Canadian Armed Forces veterans, representing 38%, survivors, representing 35%, war service veterans, at 22%, and RCMP, representing 5%.
Those 207,900 or so individuals range in age from 19 to 100 and, as one would expect, have varying needs with regard to how they receive services from the department.
To meet those needs, we have a service delivery network that offers services in person, by mail, by telephone, and of course, online. My branch employs just under 1,700 people in more than 50 locations across the country. In-person services are delivered by a national network of interdisciplinary service teams at 26 area offices across the country. These teams include case managers and medical professionals.
Through a partnership with the Department of National Defence, we also have about 100 staff members at 24 integrated personnel support centres and seven support satellite offices. These centres are located on or near Canadian Armed Forces bases and wings.
In addition to those 50 service locations, there is a network of 17 specialized clinics that treat operational stress injuries across Canada. Ten were established and are funded by VAC. The other seven clinics are operated by the Department of National Defence. All are accessible to veterans.
We also have a partnership with Service Canada that provides approximately 600 points of service where veterans and their families can receive assistance. We also offer telephone services through our national veterans contact network.
That brings me to online service offerings at Veterans Affairs.
Available since 2005, My VAC Account is the tool we use to provide online services to veterans and their families. They can conduct business with us online anytime, anywhere. My VAC Account currently has more than 9,000 registered users.
Veterans can complete application forms for disability benefits, the veterans independence program, career transition services and other benefits online. As of August 2013, veterans can upload information to support their online disability benefit applications, saving them time and mailing costs. They can also update personal information, including their direct deposit information, address and telephone numbers. Veterans and their families can also communicate with the department by email via secure message.
An important enhancement, which was made in October, allows veterans to register for My VAC Account, even if they have not done business with us in the past. This allows them to apply for benefits for the first time through My VAC Account or send us a secure message if they have a question before they apply.
I would now like to tell you about planned improvements made possible by the investment of just over $2 million in the 2014 budget.
The funding will allow us to continue to build My VAC Account’s existing functionality to create an industry-leading e-services portal for veterans.
A more comprehensive and user friendly online service offering will allow veterans to: access personalized information about benefits and services; apply online for a full range of benefits; view the status of their application at any time; communicate securely and more conveniently with the department online; more actively manage their account information and documents; and access additional services not currently available online.
I would like to mention some of the other online tools available from Veterans Affairs Canada.
Educators can order commemorative learning materials online, allowing us to get materials into the hands of teachers quickly, in a manner that is convenient to them and less expensive for the department. As well, educators can access a number of online learning resources, such as Heroes Remember, a feature providing access to video interviews with veterans.
Our commemoration program successfully uses social media tools such as Facebook and YouTube. The department often uses Twitter to share information on remembrance activities as well as announcements regarding changes or improvements to our services and benefits. We also offer such online tools as the benefits browser and My VAC Book, which help veterans identify the programs and services that might be available to them based on their service information and circumstances.
In recent years, we have made significant investments in improving our online service offerings. As we continue to improve, the benefits to veterans and the department will be significant.
As you will see in our action plan, we will collaborate with other departments and stay abreast of broader government initiatives moving forward.
Thank you.