The Royal Canadian Legion is the only veteran service organization that assists veterans and their families with representation to Veterans Affairs Canada and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.
The Legion's advocacy program is core to our mission. We have been assisting veterans since 1926 through our legislative mandate in both the Pension Act and the new Veterans Charter. Our 23 professional command service officers are located across the country and provide free assistance to veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and services from Veterans Affairs Canada.
Please note that you do not have to be a legion member to avail yourself of our services, and I will stress again that they're free services. Our national service officer network provides representation starting with first applications to VAC through all three levels of the VRAB.
Through the legislation, the Legion has access to service health records and departmental files to provide comprehensive yet independent representation at no cost. Last year our service officers prepared and represented disability claims on behalf of over 3,000 veterans to VAC and the VRAB. There is no other veterans group with this kind of direct contact, interaction, provision of support, and feedback from veterans, their families, and caregivers.
Our branch service officers are located in over 1,400 Legion branches in Canada. In this challenging environment, our branch service officer function becomes more important. Our volunteer branch service officers are the boots on the ground, the eyes and ears in our communities. Therefore it is important that every branch have an active and trained service officer to respond to the challenges facing our veteran community.
Branch service officers assist veterans by identifying those with unmet health needs and possible benefits from VAC and then making appropriate referrals to the command service officers.
Today the policies, programs, and services available to our veterans and their families are complex. Our command service officers are professional and receive regular training.