We are a registered service provider for Veterans Affairs Canada. We have been for almost a decade now.
What it means is that veterans with an eligible claim can attend our program and have those costs covered by Veterans Affairs. I would say that 30% to 50% of the veterans who access our program do not have a claim with Veterans Affairs, for whatever reason. Our organization is engaging with a segment of the veteran population that has been either unable or unwilling to access service from Veterans Affairs, so I would say it's partly a necessity.
It is partly by design that we seek charitable funding to support those veterans, because we never turn them away. They're always put through the program at no cost, but it's also a growing necessity because, although we're a registered service provider, we have seen the rate of approval for veterans who are eligible drop drastically, particularly over the past three years.
We see a number of veterans who are eligible to be funded by Veterans Affairs. They have the correct claim, but that paperwork is not being completed, and we are unfortunately not receiving those funds. As a matter of policy, we'll never turn them away, so we have to then lean on our charitable funding in order to ensure they get the program.