Veterans Affairs Committee on May 6th, 2022

[Paul Ledwell]

I'll ask my colleague Steven Harris to also weigh in on this.

Mr. Caputo, the funds that were identified were very, very important, in terms of the timeliness to allow us to extend the contracts for those who were already in place. We saw a number of our staff members leave during a period of time, so there is a process to hire in to ensure we have the complement that is needed. That's a process that is under way right now, while all of the processing is taking place.

On the one hand, it allowed for a confirmation and extension of the bulk of the contracts for our staff members who are already there. However, there are a number we're hiring in, and perhaps Steven can give some detail on that. All of the funds are identified. All of the funds are being expended. All of the work is necessarily being undertaken and is showing some real return on this investment.

Steven can give some further detail on this.

[Steven Harris, Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Delivery Branch, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Thanks, Deputy.

It is essentially all salary dollars that have been funded as part of the $140 million. As the deputy indicated, we've renewed those people who were temporarily with us, with term employment expected to expire on March 31 of this year. In the cases where we have vacancies because people left for other employment or permanent employment elsewhere, we've started the process of hiring additional folks. That would include nurses and others who help us with the disability adjudication decisions. We're putting those people in place and making sure that they're trained as quickly as possible.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Harris.

Perhaps you could answer about how many adjudicators we are down now.

[Steven Harris]

Adjudicators are a particular position amongst the overall capacity of individuals. Adjudicators are typically nurses, although we have other people who help in the disability adjudication process, preparing claims, making sure they are paid as well, as part of the process. We were down about 50 nurses at the end of the two-year period that just ended, and we are in the midst of already hiring back those nurses at this point in time.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I have two questions, and they're related.

Are we still on track? I believe that the department had forecast the backlog to be at about 9,000 disability benefit applications by the end of June. Are we on track to meet that?

[Steven Harris]

I apologize. Our forecast is for about 9,500 in the backlog. Those are beyond our 16-week service standard in November of this year.

We expect to get to about 5,000 by the end of this fiscal year. In other words, that will be at the end of March 2023.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Are we on track for those estimates?

[Steven Harris]

That's correct.

The benefit that we have right now is we have a large number and complement of trained staff who were working as of day one on April 1, 2022, to continue the work of reducing the backlog. As the minister noted, we've cut the backlog number in half in the last little bit, so we're down now under 11,000. We'll continue that work and that progress.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

That's perfect. I appreciate that.

We received some statistics here about median wait times and average wait times. The median wait time and the average will obviously be affected by outlier cases.

What number of cases at the disability adjudication stage are typically settled within, say, 16 weeks?

[Steven Harris]

I can give you an exact figure on that. For 2021-22, the fiscal year that just ended, the number of applications that were completed within the 16-week service standard was 54%. That's up from 36% the year before, so it's up about 18% from the year previous. Again, that reflects the additional capacity that we've had to be able to make decisions more quickly.

That 54% is still well short of our service standard of 80% of applications processed within that 16-week service standard. That's reflective of the volume and the backlog that we've had, but we are getting to, and we will get to, a position where we'll be able to get to that standard of 80% of decisions being made within the 16-week service standard. We've made some good strides over the course of the last year and, again, I expect that to continue this year in much the same way.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Okay. I think my time is probably up.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, exactly, Mr. Caputo.

Mr. Casey, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to the senior bureaucrats of the Department of Veterans Affairs. I give a special welcome to Ms. Meunier, and congratulations to her on her promotion to these ranks.

I'll start with an easy one. Has the associate deputy minister position been filled on a permanent or interim basis yet?

[Paul Ledwell]

No, it has not. That position still remains vacant. As you and the committee might know, this is a Governor-in-Council appointment, so it goes through that process.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Has a decision yet been made as to whether that position will be based at the national headquarters or in Ottawa?

[Paul Ledwell]

No decision has been taken on that yet. There's been some identification, but no decision.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you.

In the briefing notes that we received from the Library of Parliament in preparation for today's meeting, there's a reference to the full-time equivalents at Veterans Affairs. It indicates that this year, there's an expectation that VAC will have 3,106 full-time equivalents, which is a decrease of 566 from the current year, 2021-22. The plan over the next 12 months, as I understand it or if the information I've received is correct, is to decrease the workforce at VAC by 566 full-time equivalents.

Where will those reductions come from?

[Paul Ledwell]

I believe, Mr. Casey, that those numbers reflect the fact that when those figures were produced, there was no conception of our service excellence work continuing, so the positions that we've just spoken about for the reinvestment—the $140 million in staff—are not reflected in those numbers.

I might ask my colleague Sara Lantz to speak to our FTE overall component, but I can tell you that there's no current plan to decrease our numbers at Veterans Affairs Canada. Rather, we will maintain those numbers and ensure that we're maintaining the service for veterans.

Perhaps Sara could speak to our FTE complement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Please go ahead, Ms. Lantz.

[Sara Lantz, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Services Branch, Department of Veterans Affairs]

Thank you.

The deputy minister is correct. It's not reflecting the extension of our recent terms beyond fiscal year 2021-22.

Currently, our FTE count is around 3,600. It's always a little bit below or above that with the service excellence complements. It was up to 599, having been extended through service excellence, when 168 previously were. A little over 400 would come in with that new funding.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you.

The information I've cited comes from the departmental plan for 2022-23, which indicates an expectation of 3,105 full-time equivalents in the upcoming year and that it is a decrease from the current year. It also indicates that it does take into account the 200 temporary human resources positions that will be kept on with the initiative to address the backlog.

If, after this meeting, you go back and review the departmental plan and you have some additional or changed information to answer my question, I'd appreciate receiving that in writing. It is, with respect, completely at odds with the information that we're receiving from the Library of Parliament.

My next question also relates directly to the estimates. The pain and suffering compensation contained in the estimates is just north of $1.5 billion, but that represents a 35% decrease from last year. It's a decrease of $812 million. There doesn't appear to be any explanation for why there would be a 35% decrease in pain and suffering compensation.

Can you provide us with one?

[Paul Ledwell]

Mr. Chair, the nub of that is that when the estimates were produced at the end of last calendar year and beginning of this calendar year, it did not incorporate the investment of the service excellence positions and funding around the supports for that, nor did it incorporate the expectation of the decision of supports and thus the payment of supports that would result through that increased investment in staff complement to allow for the processing.

That is the overwhelming amount that is the difference between the estimates you have before you. We should anticipate that those estimates will be readjusted through this coming calendar year.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Casey.

Mr. Desilets, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Mr. Harris, Mr. Ledwell, and Ms. Meunier.

I'm going to continue on from Mr. Tolmie's question. I, too, don't understand the 566 reduction, or 15%, in the number of employees that appears in the 2022‑2023 Departmental Plan. I think I understand that the information will be sent to all members of the committee to enlighten us on that, but I have a series of related questions to ask.

Who will be affected?

Will the new positions put in place for francophones be affected by it?

Do you have any comments on this, Mr. Ledwell?