Veterans Affairs Committee on May 12th, 2021

[Nathan Svenson]

At this time, they have not announced it, because their study was just released in the past couple of months. Actually, the study they have released is just part one. There's a second part that we're expecting to see in the fall, which deals with the cost impacts to health care systems of rolling out a broader program of psychiatric service dogs. We're hoping to see both pieces together.

I would point out that the standards they used in conducting the study were possibly standards that would be very difficult to achieve in Canada. For example, all the dogs they trained were owned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. All their dogs had the same veterinary care plan, which was insured through the department. All their dogs were either Labrador retrievers or golden retrievers or German shepherds. All the dogs used the same advanced training protocols, and each pair, or “dyad” as they're called, between the dog and the paired veteran, was trained directly by U.S. Veterans Affairs staff. That's quite an elaborate machinery that had to be in place across the country for those dogs to be provided. It was a multi-site trial. That was just for 153 dog and veteran pairs to complete the trial.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

The U.S. has not yet established a standard.

What about Australia? I am on their website. I see they have coverage for psychiatric assistance dogs. Do they also have a detailed, established standard that could be copied and pasted into Canada?

[Nathan Svenson]

There are a couple of considerations.

One, Australia is currently conducting a study. They started in 2018. It is a four-year study looking at how assistance dogs—the term they use is “psychiatric assistance dogs”—can complement other evidence-based treatment. They were also looking at practical implementation challenges for a formal program. That study is still ongoing.

Partway through that study, they announced that they would cover psychiatric assistance dogs through their rehabilitation appliances program under certain conditions. One of the main conditions is that the veteran has to be currently undergoing treatment with a psychiatrist or a psychologist for at least three months, and they have to meet some other criteria. Thus, it's not something that a veteran with PTSD can immediately access. They have to be part of certain programs and have certain coverage levels.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Their standards are still under development as well.

[Nathan Svenson]

It sounds as though the practical implementation rules are still under development or still being studied.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Okay.

When it is alleged that international standards exist for psychiatric assistance dogs for veterans, that is not the case in the United States or in Australia yet. Is that correct?

[Nathan Svenson]

I would differentiate the use of the word “standards” here. I'm sorry if I'm getting too specific.

We're using the term “standards” to mean “standards and policies”. In the U.S., they have not announced a policy on this, or at least a policy change, but there are certain standards that exist in the U.S.

In Australia, they are studying the implementation of their program, but they do have a policy that they have announced.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you.

With respect to the income tax deduction, in order to qualify for the income tax deduction in Canada, there isn't a specific standard with respect to the levels of training for a support dog. It's simply that it had received specialized training.

Would it be fair to say that there isn't a standard there that you can copy and paste?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Give a very brief answer, please.

[Crystal Garrett-Baird]

Based on the tax credit, the expansion that was provided in 2018 is where the dog is provided by a person or organization whose main purpose is to provide this special training and, second, the dog is specially trained to perform specific tasks to assist an individual in coping with a severe mental impairment. The focus there is on the dog's capacity.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much.

That brings us to the end of round two. We do have a schedule to get to.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the witnesses for starting us off with this study.

To my colleagues, we have to log off and log back in using the second log-in. If you do not have it at your fingertips, just know that as soon as I suspend here, the clerk will be sending the details to your P9s.

Thank you very much, everyone. We will suspend and come back in just a few moments.

[Proceedings continue in camera]