Evidence of meeting #38 for Veterans Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Contract Manager, Agilec
I'm not sure. That's probably a bigger decision than myself.
Contract Manager, Agilec
Again, I'm not sure I'm familiar enough to be able to say on behalf of the organization that I would like to be a service provider for that.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Okay, no problem.
Do you provide services to RCMP veterans?
Contract Manager, Agilec
No, it's not for RCMP veterans. They're not eligible within the career transition services program.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
No problem.
Do you think that the veterans income replacement benefit creates a problem integrating them into the workforce?
Contract Manager, Agilec
It's an area of focus when we are researching the labour market to see what the labour market is bearing for the types of the positions that they are seeking. Sometimes there is a disconnect with the private sector based on perhaps their earnings within the military. It's not an area that we dive deep into with the participants. They essentially make a decision as to whether they want to pursue a career in that path if the compensation is not what they were targeting.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
For the National Veterans Employment Strategy currently being studied by our committee, was your company consulted by the department?
Contract Manager, Agilec
I think there are a couple of recommendations that I would suggest for this committee.
I think the small to medium-sized businesses are sometimes missing the opportunity to hire from the veteran talent pool. Part of what our team does is break down those barriers one employer at a time. One challenge is that the small to medium-sized businesses don't have designated recruitment personnel, so it's a hiring manager trying to fill a job as quickly as they can and not necessarily putting in specific efforts to target a particular group. I think that's an opportunity from an educational perspective for the small to medium-sized organizations to have better awareness around the value and benefits of hiring veterans and veteran family members.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
You started to make recommendations. That is something our committee is very interested in.
Do you have any recommendations to share with us?
Contract Manager, Agilec
I want to acknowledge the committee on the diversity of the witnesses who have been engaged through this initiative. I think it's opened my eyes to how many organizations and partners are out there to collaborate with. I think it's a very large ecosystem working towards supporting veterans. I see an opportunity for greater collaboration, awareness and information sharing among the various providers of services to veterans as a way to collaborate and wrap our supports around each person.
Bloc
Luc Desilets Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
We were quite surprised to see the variety and number of organizations that work with veterans and advocate for their employability. Personally, I was very surprised.
I have no further questions, Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much, Mr. Desilets.
To close the first round of questions, I will give the floor to Mrs. Blaney for six minutes.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank all of you for being here today.
I will start first with Mr. Dufour.
I heard very clearly that you work mostly with medically released veterans, and that is one of the top concerning populations. Could you talk about the methods you use to connect with those veterans?
You also said in your testimony that it can sometimes take years to get all of the accessibility parts in place. I'm just wondering if you could talk about why it takes so long and what challenges you're facing in the work you do.
Regional Manager, March of Dimes Canada
We contact veterans only when Veterans Affairs case managers direct them to our services.
When I said that this could take several years, there may have been a problem with the interpretation because of the fact that I was speaking too quickly. If that is the case, I apologize. In fact, I was saying that when veterans used our services, they were assessed and then recommended for participating in a rehabilitation program. That could mean going back to school over a number of years, two or three maybe. Then we would provide them with assistance in actively looking for employment. Sometimes this process could take a year, sometimes up to four years.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you for that. I'm really fascinated by this. In the work that you do, do you see any barriers in accessing resources from VAC for veterans who are medically released?
I think you mentioned accessible workplaces. I'm curious if you've had any opportunities to work with employers or directly with a veteran who is in the workplace around how to make that space more accessible for them?
Regional Manager, March of Dimes Canada
In my opinion, the the rehabilitation program is very well designed. The department should be proud because it offers a lot of resources, including capacity assessment tools for veterans. It leaves room for consultation with treating doctors, neuro-psychologists and psychologists to get very clear recommendations on the veterans' new functional capacity. This helps in making connections and determining what veterans can do to the maximum of their abilities in the workforce.
As far as obstacles are concerned, of course, after being drawn to the Canadian Armed Forces out of interest and serving our country, a Canadian veteran may face functional limitations and the loss of some abilities. This comes with a grieving period and a redirection process. These are significant personal challenges. That being said, we had the necessary resources in place to guide these veterans through the process and help them find employment adapted to their new abilities and I am sure the new service provider has the same resources.
Workplace coaching was not provided through the Canadian Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Services, the last consortium I worked for. We created a job development position to promote these employees to employers and create relationships with them. However, we did not intervene directly at the workplace to address, with some employers, the possibility of creating accommodations, for example, or raise awareness about a veteran's need for support services because of post-traumatic stress symptoms or other functional limitations. It would be an excellent idea to have the resources to do that work under such a program.
In the majority of cases, veterans are very independent. They are looking for autonomy and have many skills that may be transferable and developed. Not all of them are necessarily looking for that type of support, but for some of them, this could become an extremely important resource.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
This is my last question; I know I only have about a minute left.
I really appreciate what you said about the coaching, but what we've heard from multiple witnesses is that often there is a stigma from employers towards veterans. They think that all veterans come with a lot of trauma and PTSD, but that's not necessarily the case.
In the work that you do, do you ever hear feedback from the veterans you work with that they find stumbling blocks from being perceived in a certain way as they go along their process of looking for employment? I'm wondering if maybe the coaching isn't just for the veterans. It might also be to open doors for veterans with employers.
Regional Manager, March of Dimes Canada
You are all correct. What is more, in my opening remarks, that is what I was alluding to when I was talking about ambassadors that might work with Canadian businesses to promote this labour force and its skills.
That being said, in some cases there may be some anti-veteran bias. However, in many cases there is pro-veteran bias. Over the course of my 11 years of experience in this program, I saw several employers who were very grateful for the veterans' contribution and very open to the idea of incorporating them into their business. That does not mean there is no work to be done, but I have confidence in human nature and I truly believe that something can be done in this respect.
Allow me to reiterate the importance of having ambassadors to promote veterans to businesses because veterans have many skills and so much more to offer.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you for answering these questions, Mr. Dufour.
That was the first round of six minutes.
In order to get the 10 minutes that I talked about at the beginning, I will give two minutes to each group of members.
I would like to start with Mr. Fraser Tolmie.
You have two minutes, please.
Conservative
Fraser Tolmie Conservative Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK
Thank you very much.
I would like to thank our witnesses for joining us tonight.
One thought that goes through my head when I sit here thinking about a veteran who is looking to get out of the military is that they're asking themself how they are going to find a job.
Ms. Adams, how do you cast your net to attract the vets to come to your website? How do you say that you're going to help them get employment?