Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for the invitation to speak with you this evening regarding a national strategy for veterans' employment after service.
At first I wasn't sure that I would accept the invitation, because I didn't feel I would have anything to contribute here today. In addition, I didn't think I knew enough about the employment programs and services already offered by Veterans Affairs Canada. When asking case managers about these programs, we receive little to no information, and it's usually conflicting information.
When I expressed my hesitance to my staff, who are on the front lines working with veterans, they felt that our challenges in finding accurate information regarding employment services for veterans are the exact reason I should attend, so here I am.
I watched the committee meeting on Monday with the officials from Veterans Affairs, which I found very interesting. They spoke about their services and initiatives around employment and career transition, which was an impressive list. However, it was the first time I had heard about many of the initiatives. For example, my staff and I were not aware that VAC had an entire veteran employment unit. We weren't aware that VAC had a “Hire Veterans” LinkedIn page. We weren't aware that VAC hosted a webinar series focused on employment opportunities for veterans, and we also were not aware that VAC had a one-stop job bank for veterans.
We are a national organization that supports veterans who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless or otherwise in crisis. The majority of the veterans we support are referred to us by Veterans Affairs case managers. This means that we regularly speak to case managers from across the country, and they have yet to mention any of the initiatives that were talked about on Monday. If we asked 50 case managers about employment supports offered by VAC, we would receive 50 different answers.
The point I am trying to make is that it doesn't matter what significant initiatives and services VAC provides if veterans aren't aware of them. Most veterans rely on their case managers to be the experts on the benefits and services to which they may be entitled, but what if the case manager has a limited amount of knowledge of these benefits and services? Veterans might go to the VAC website to look for information, but in looking at the website myself, the information is vague and may leave a veteran with more questions than answers. Who answers those questions if the case managers aren't 100% knowledgeable about the suite of services available?
I am not trying to make it sound like all case managers are incompetent, because that certainly isn't the case. There are many outstanding case managers, but when we or the veterans we support ask questions and get a different answer every time, that indicates to me that something isn't working.
This committee heard on Monday that the webinar series that VAC hosted saw 2,500 people participate. We also heard that the HireVeterans.com LinkedIn page has 3,000 members; however, I don't recall hearing any numbers to support the success of those initiatives. How many veterans were able to gain employment as a result of those initiatives? The success of such initiatives must be measured to determine whether or not they are hitting the mark.
We've been talking about veterans' transition, of which career transition is a part, for such a long time now, and it seems there have been little more than baby steps taken to figure it out. I understand it's a complex issue, and no two veterans' experiences and situations are the same. An employment strategy or a strategy addressing transition overall can't just be a one-size-fits-all solution, but we have to start somewhere.
There is a saying that we see the world from where we sit, and from where we are sitting, despite efforts made by the department, many veterans—and even stakeholders like us—need to be better informed on benefits and services available from VAC. The same could be said for many case managers.
We are also seeing, as are many Canadians, that we are currently experiencing a labour shortage, so the time for a national strategy for veterans' employment after service is now.
I look forward to your questions.