The veterans hiring act proposes to increase the current two-year priority time period to five years. This means that medically injured veterans will now have up to five years for a medical release to be designated a priority, at which time they then have an additional five years from that date to find a position in the public service suitable to their qualifications. This means that a medically released veteran may extend this time period to a total of ten years under the provisions of the veterans hiring act. Until budget 2012, the existing two-year priority time period was proved to be sufficient to enable injured veterans' employment in the federal public service. The regulatory priority afforded to Canadian injured veterans was the most successful priority created until 2012. It had at that time a 100% success rate of applicants finding positions in the public service.
By extending this priority from two to five years, and then with the option to begin the five-year clock in year five, the veteran would have up to ten years to make use of the new statutory priority provisions.