Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2025

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Is this more money for that particular contract?

[Steven Harris]

It is more money for that contract based on a transition that's coming through from a current contract to a future contract.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Great, thank you. That clarifies it for me.

Budget 2025 provides additional expenditures of $184.9 million over four years—that's roughly $46 million—to retain staff who were temporary and brought in to help reduce backlogs and now are brought on as full-time staff. How many full-time staff will be hired? Are they all from that original group that has had at least some training as temporary help?

Mr. Harris, do you know the answer to that one as well?

[Steven Harris]

I'm happy to answer.

Approximately 300 staff would be the subject of that. It's a variety of staff who work in different areas in the department. Fundamentally, it is focused on people who make decisions around disability benefits, but it would include—

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Okay, it's various staff.

Where do caseworkers fit into this scenario? I don't think they're the ones who process disability claims. Are they the ones who do that?

[Steven Harris]

No, they're not. This is a separate form of staff who do disability benefits adjudication and claims.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Do they get the information from those caseworkers?

[Steven Harris]

The actual applications come into the department from a veteran directly. They would go directly to a disability benefits team that will review the application claim.

If somebody has a claim for a knee that was injured during their service, they can submit a claim to receive disability benefits.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Our veterans always talk about their caseworkers: how wonderful they are or how difficult they are. They give that feedback.

I'm not really understanding the hierarchy of how this all works and what is the purpose of caseworkers versus the bureaucrats who do the processing of the disability claims, Mr. Harris.

[Steven Harris]

I'm happy to take a moment to explain it.

Case managers work directly with veterans on a range of issues that they may be facing, whether they need assistance with a variety of programs or with rehabilitation and whether that's access to a treatment centre or something else.

The disability adjudication folks are the ones you would commonly refer to as and note as related to what was frequently called the “backlog”. It's the backlog of applications that come in and are first applications that veterans may make to Veterans Affairs to access either compensation or treatment for their illness or injury.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

I appreciate that. Thank you.

What was the rationale in the midst of a huge backlog to completely change the process of service providers through this organization of PCVRS? What was the rationale behind making that significant change to the way that veterans communicate, which is no longer with VAC but with a different, third party group? What was the rationale for doing that?

Again, this is for Mr. Harris, please.

[Steven Harris]

I'll trying to explain. Those are in fact two different things.

The rehabilitation program is quite separate from disability benefits. The rehabilitation program is in fact the one that is related to PCVRS, to which the member is referring. There's no backlog—

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

There's no backlog there.

[Steven Harris]

There is no backlog there, no.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you.

I want to thank Mr. Harris for being so patient. I know he would love to spend a great deal more time trying to explain how complicated and convoluted this sounds when it comes from me.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Ms. Wagantall, thank you very much.

We're now at Mrs. Hirtle for five minutes.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon again, folks.

I'd like to come back to the accounting aspect of the $4.2 billion, where that's coming from and how it is accounted for. I believe that accrual-based accounting was used in budgets between 2009 and 2015, but perhaps my colleagues across the way weren't familiar with it at the time.

I have a background in business, and I'm quite accustomed to balance sheets and this kind of accounting, but perhaps, Monsieur Tessier, you could take a bit of time to explain what accrual-based accounting is and why it's important around the savings we're going to see through the cannabis pricing.

[Pierre Tessier]

Accrual accounting is about long-term fiscal planning for the government. That's the basis. Our programs at Veterans Affairs Canada are quasi-statutory in nature and reflect veteran entitlements for compensation and health and financial supports when they need them. That's extremely important as a basic principle. Accrual accounting around our programs represents a lifetime cost that the Department of Finance must plan for today to ensure there's sufficient funding for when a veteran will require these benefits.

Each program is forecasted in terms of costs for the programs and in terms of the number of veterans that would apply for them over the long term. The savings specifically in the budget reflect the reduced obligation that government needs to plan for over the long term, which can now be reinvested, so that difference from eight dollars or so per gram to six dollars represents the savings.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

That's clear as a bell. Thank you. That was great.

Our government is making historic investments in CAF, which will eventually result in more veterans over the years to come. Can anybody tell us how this budget will make sure the capacity will be created to serve more Canadian veterans in the future?

[Christine McDowell]

Thank you for your question.

Investments in the Canadian Armed Forces will certainly take into account our objectives for veterans—

That's at the individual level, but it's also overall at the departmental level. The increase in salary, of course, will be reflected in future benefits. We're also planning for what that increased level would look like in the future for Canada's future veterans. How do we adapt and adjust our service delivery models to make sure that the care veterans depend on will be there in the future as well?

Perhaps I'll turn to Steven so that he can talk a bit more about that and about how we are preparing for those investments and those eventual veterans.

[Steven Harris]

Thank you, Deputy.

We're working closely with our Canadian Armed Forces counterparts on their recruitment and their retention, and ultimately preparing for what would be an increase in veterans who may need to come to us for benefits and services as well. As has been noted a few times over the course of this meeting, we are trying to put in place better processes to help support all of the veterans who might need our assistance, including through transition, through an application process and through internal processes that help speed up both decision-making and access to benefits and treatments.

We're continuing to work with our CAF colleagues to ensure that they have the support they need and to make sure that growth in their area is something that we are going to be able to support as well.

[Alana Hirtle, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you.

I'll pivot slightly for my last question. At an event last month celebrating women veterans, the members of this committee in attendance heard about the need to tailor benefits for women. Are there aspects of services that can be tailored to women veterans in advance of this budget or as part of this budget?

[Christine McDowell]

Thank you for your question.

Certainly, we are actively engaging with our women veterans right across this country, including with members of the women veterans council. We're looking at engaging women more broadly to ensure that their lived experiences are reflected in the services and benefits we offer. Those perspectives are very, very valuable. We have specifically undertaken a GBA+ analysis of our programs and benefits. We've updated our table of disabilities and our EEGs to reflect their experiences.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Gaudreau, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My question is for you, Mr. Harris.

Did you note that I would like to know where the clinics are across Canada, from coast to coast?