That is why we took those aspects into consideration. We even did a study to see what people's satisfaction level was. Over 69% of people said they were happy with the lump sum payment. But 31% of people were unhappy. So we really started wondering and looking into why those people were unhappy. That is when we realized that many of them had mental health issues. That was one side of the problem, but there were others too.
The other problem we discovered was that people who were in the army, had a low salary, came back with an injury and wanted to be in a rehabilitation program would in fact receive 75% of their salary. But 75% of a low salary means an even lower salary. That was something that had to be corrected quickly, because some of those people had families to provide for. The rehabilitation program is the foundation for the new charter, whose purpose is not to keep 20-, 30- or 40-year-old injured soldiers waiting when they come back home. These soldiers have to be given the chance to rehabilitate themselves and return to civilian life. Their disabilities have to be taken into account to make sure that they can find another job, continue to thrive and be active members of society.
Our first change concerns the minimum amount that a person who comes back injured can receive while in rehabilitation, that is to say a minimum amount of $40,000. If 75% of the salary is higher than $40,000, the person will certainly be entitled to that amount. The minimum they can receive is $40,000.
The second change has to do with the permanent monthly allowance, which is similar to the old pension system. The person would receive this amount every month for life for their disability. The amount goes from $536 to $1,609. The amounts have been indexed over the past few weeks, but I am providing you with the amounts that I had. The problem we were dealing with was that practically no one was eligible for that amount. Why? Because there was an error in the old charter. It wasn't taking into account injuries that had occurred before the new charter was in place. So we are going to correct the error in the legislation. As a result, 3,500 people will be eligible for this monthly amount for life. In addition to this amount, those who cannot return to work because they have experienced serious injuries will receive $1,000 more a month. If we add all these amounts, the person who cannot return to work because of serious injuries will earn $58,000 for life. And the lump sum payment is in addition to that amount.
I would like to remind the hon. member that, when you are in the army and come back physically injured, you receive a sum of up to $250,000 from the military and a second sum of up to $276,000 from us.