Veterans Affairs Committee on April 13th, 2026

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Hopefully, that study will get adopted and we'll bring you back.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much to our witnesses.

For those who have served our country and who in so many ways continue to do so, thank you for your words of wisdom this morning.

With that, we will be suspending and welcoming our other panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

I call this meeting back to order.

I'll make a few comments for the benefit of the new witnesses.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. For interpretation, for those on Zoom, you have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

I would now like to welcome our second panel of witnesses. As an individual, we have Mr. William Steed, by video conference. From IMT Group, we have Mr. Arjun Grewal, lead, defence innovation. From VeCATS Inc., we have Mr. Joseph Blanchard, founder and chief executive officer, Veterans Entrepreneurship Hub, by video conference.

Welcome to the three of you. Each of you will receive the same five minutes.

We will open with Mr. Steed. The floor is yours for five minutes.

[William Steed, As an Individual]

Hello, and thank you for having me today. I'm very pleased to be part of this group. I just hope I can pass on a few instances that can be helpful, going forward, for other veteran entrepreneurs.

I've been running my business for eight years now. It started from the ground up with no working capital and basically no support from the banks, DND, Veterans Affairs or anything like that. What I found is that there's quite a community of organizations within the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs that are looking for programs that can help veterans in transition or working through PTSD.

I do a lot of work with veterans' organizations and some work with DND through Soldier On and the OSI clinics, which are two that I work with, and with military family support centres. I've done work with them hosting classes for veterans in blacksmithing. I also travel around western Canada and work with various veterans' charities. I work to support veterans and show them blacksmithing techniques. We do workshops, classes and things like that.

What I've found, and this is only in my experience, is that there isn't really a central depository of information available for an entrepreneur like me about how to be included in the Department of National Defence or Veterans Affairs programs so we can provide our services. That would have been helpful.

In all the work I've done to date, usually members of those groups have contacted me or have heard about me through word of mouth, or they've searched my website online or gone through Facebook or something like that. It's been very informal. There hasn't been anything that I have looked at for programs that I could be of assistance with to veterans going forward. That's basically one hurdle I've seen, so that would be something I'd like to hear some feedback on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Steed.

Now, for five minutes, we'll go to Mr. Blanchard.

[Joseph Blanchard, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Veterans Entrepreneurship Hub (Vet-Hub), VeCATS Inc.]

Thank you, Chair, honourable members of the committee and fellow presenters.

I am Dr. Joseph Blanchard. I'm a veteran of approximately 30 years. I'm the founder of VeCATS, Veterans Career Assistance and Transition Services, and have been there for 12 years. In the last six years, I've started an organization called the Veterans Entrepreneurship Hub, known as Vet-Hub.

Approximately 6,000 Canadian Forces members transition out of the service every year. These individuals bring with them a lot of skills: leadership under pressure, operational planning experience, logistics, security, technical expertise and a mission-first mindset. Despite these strengths, many face a critical question: Where do I fit into our civilian economy? For a growing number, the answer is entrepreneurship, but the system is not built for them. You've heard this in all of your recent meetings.

As for the core problem, veterans are not failing because of the lack of capability. They are facing systemic barriers, which include a lack of structured transition pathways into business ownership; limited access to coordinated training, mentorship and funding; a procurement system that today takes about three to five years, which is far too long for a start-up company to survive; difficulty translating military experience into business credibility; and the loss of identity, purpose and sense of community post-service.

Approximately 20% of all start-ups in Canada fail within the first year, often due to a lack of support systems, not a lack of talent. Through VeCATS programs, we support veterans in their transition. We help them with identity and career paths, building the skills that they need to survive in the civilian world and connecting them to opportunities that are available. However, we quickly realized that something larger was needed. This is where we started the Veterans Entrepreneurship Hub. The Vet-Hub is designed by veterans, for veterans, to enable successful business creation and growth.

Our model is simple. It's an infrastructure that brings together five critical components. One is training and education, which leverages the ETB, the veterans education and training benefit, and some of the CAF transition policies that are available. We have mentorship and leadership development, which will be a huge and critical part of Vet-Hub. Access to capital—or what I call the “financial runway”—for a business to be successful will include items such as start-up money for home-based businesses, angel investors, venture capital and, of course, access to government programs, with shared services and business supports very similar to what we get in the military.

You have a centralized component that will reduce significant barriers for these companies, where we centralize the HR function, the finance function, the marketing function and, of course, operational support. There's also procurement access and acceleration, which will create pathways for veteran-owned businesses to sell into government faster. One of those components, which I can speak to later, is the discussions with the deputy minister and her assistant deputy minister over at Public Services and Procurement Canada.

The strategic opportunity for us in Canada is where Vet-Hub becomes more than a support program and becomes a national strategic asset so that veterans are security-cleared, operationally experienced, and trusted within the defence and public safety environments. With the right structure, they can help accelerate innovation in defence, security and public services, and they can reduce procurement timelines from three to five years today to 12 to 18 months. That's based on a couple of factors. Number one is the security clearances for veteran-owned business. This aligns directly, of course, with Canada's priorities in defence innovation and supply chain resiliency, including economic growth.

What we are asking for is the ability not to build something from scratch but to formalize and scale Vet-Hub, and specifically to establish Vet-Hub as a national entrepreneurship ecosystem comparable to the women's, Black and indigenous entrepreneurship programs from over the last six years, which have received funding.

Creating a veterans' procurement—

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Dr. Blanchard, I'm so sorry. I forgot to mention that I am the clock keeper. Due to the time frame, I have to interrupt. I sincerely apologize. I hope you'll have more time during the round of questions.

Mr. Grewal, you have five minutes, please.

[Arjun Grewal, Lead, Defence Innovation, IMT Group]

Madam Chair and committee, thank you for having me. It's a true privilege to be here today.

Before I begin, I want to recognize something that isn't often said in rooms like this: Thank you for your pursuit of continuous improvement and getting informed opinions from veterans across Canada. It is really important to help inform continuous improvement.

Within the forces, soldiers share a lot of experiences. I feel the same thing happens on the outside, whether through entrepreneurial pursuits, retirement or other reasons. Sometimes in forums like this, it can be difficult to share new information or new experiences that can reflect that, so I want to take a little turn and really look toward the future.

We live in an unprecedented time economically, militarily and geopolitically, and we're looking to set the stage of these influential policies for future veterans as a result of the experiences that current soldiers will be facing over the next 20 to 30 years. For that, I'd like to share a bit of the context of my own journey.

I joined the Canadian Armed Forces when I was 17. That decision has shaped everything in my life since. My service was unique. It was at the outset of the global war on terror. I spent 13 years of my career with Canadian Special Operations, which had me deploy multiple times to multiple places.

I loved all of it. I had a fantastic military career. I owe a lot to the people I met and the relationships that were forged. My career was defined by genuine hardships and risks, but measurable impact at the same time. I consider all of that as feeding my current journey into private business and entrepreneurship.

One of the greatest strengths of that career, as I mentioned, was an organic network of friends, colleagues and mentors who formed around it. That network provided support during deployments, transition and entrepreneurship that no formal program could ever offer. I'm sure many of my colleagues and veterans would echo that. Associations such as the Blackstone Association and the Alliance of Canadian Defence Companies have created additional communities—like Joe is running as well—and are building them in the private sector for veterans to reach out to and help enable.

I'm married. I have two daughters. Every decision I made in uniform and every decision since then has been shaped by the support I've received from them. They embody everything I care about and everything that is Canada. Our families are extended by the bonds we formed within the service. As I mentioned, those networks run very deep.

Since leaving the Canadian Armed Forces six and a half years ago, I have dedicated my professional life to building a career serving organizations that connect military experience to civilian life, including BurnPits360 Canada and BurnPits360 U.S., a U.S. organization that forged the PACT Act, which is a U.S. veteran fund for toxic exposure. I've also worked with Blackstone Association and Erase PTSD Now by Dr. Eugene Lipov, who is advancing such approaches as stellate ganglion block and procedures to support veteran health care.

Today, I am a team member on the Military Casualty Support Foundation, which is run by the family that runs IMT Corporation, one of Canada's premier defence companies. I'm also the founder and CEO of the Arctic Training Centre, a northern Arctic-based training facility privately owned to help fill the gaps of not only the CAF but also our NATO allies.

What we're often asked when coming into this—I know I was when I shared my invitation with my currently serving colleagues and some of the ones who are retired—is “Why?” What's the effect we are looking to achieve through policy, education, information and changes? Well, I propose to the committee that a flourishing veteran is the single most powerful recruiting tool Canada has. When veterans are visible in our communities, in business and in public life, they attract others to service. I don't think anybody here needs a reminder of how important that is in today's world. When veterans disappear into silence, or struggle without support, we actually lose an edge as a country.

In that spirit, through this conversation I'll be contributing points around the education and training benefit; the veterans' employment market, which is building the current defence industrial base, in large part; and the future veteran, as I mentioned. The future soldier will become a future veteran. They will come to the civilian market with a new set of skills and a new view on the strategic landscape Canada sits in.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Grewal.

To all of you, thank you very much for your time.

We will now open the rounds of questions, and we'll go to Ms. Wagantall for six minutes.

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

Thank you so much, Chair.

Thank you to all of you for what you're contributing today. It's deeply appreciated.

This is the right time, as mentioned, for us to get really serious about this. It's interesting to me what I'm hearing today with regard to this decision to focus far more on veterans and what they can offer in light of where our country is right now and where we are with needing procurement in our national defence and with the commitment our Prime Minister has made.

I have a question. I don't know how it really fits in, but it impacts me in my riding. We have a lot of manufacturers across Canada that work in the area of providing all kinds of materials that are made into something specific across the world, but they are not engaged at all within our own country and within the military side of procurement for Canada. They would really like to be.

Our Prime Minister mentioned in a speech just this weekend that we will be doing national defence procurement using our own resources—our steel, our aluminum, our rare minerals and our tech—but he has not spoken a lot about who's going to get to do this. How do you see that working?

I'll ask Mr. Grewal, first of all, and then I would like to ask Mr. Blanchard. It seems that you have an inroad there. Is that true?

[Arjun Grewal]

I would say the inroad is a result of trying to be everywhere every time, and highlighting some of the values that not only I but other veterans bring to the table, especially in that context.

Being here and speaking here on behalf of IMT.... One of the teams I work very closely with is a manufacturing company—one of Canada's largest defence companies, as I mentioned—that is completely sovereign and Canadian-owned. I would say the private sector is now starting to rotate in that direction to look at how to onboard the existing talent across the forces and across the veteran community as well.

It is incumbent upon manufacturers and private businesses to do that outreach, whether it is on LinkedIn, on other social media channels or in veteran job markets, where we can help amplify that link and share it more widely.

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

I would suggest, then, that there should be a way for businesses that exist and are very effective around the world to be part of this dynamic and have the opportunity to employ veterans as well.

[Arjun Grewal]

Absolutely. One of the points I'd like to make is that this is, of course, a Veterans Affairs Canada policy. It should be coupled with economic policy, because incentivizing corporations to go out and buy veteran, just as we're buying Canadian, would be a boon not only to the veteran landscape but also to our economy.

Small businesses across Canada employ 5.8 million people. We have 6,000 veterans leaving the forces every year. If 20% of them were to start small businesses, that would be quite an economic engine.

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

That's right. There's no question that we need all hands on deck at this point in time.

You mentioned something that I would like to speak to Mr. Blanchard about. You both talked about the availability of the education and training benefit.

Mr. Blanchard, it sounds like you are quite engaged already. If I look at what we've been discussing at this committee about entrepreneurship and veterans, you have a significant inroad and handle on what is truly needed. Can you talk to me about access to the education and training benefit, please?

[Joseph Blanchard]

The ETB, or the education and training benefit, is available to all veterans. There are different stages. From zero to six years, there's $6,100. From six to 12 years, there's $48,000 or $49,000. For over 12 years, $99,000 is available.

We've been working with several universities and training institutions across Canada to connect through networks with the Veterans Entrepreneurship Hub, or Vet-Hub, to be able to meet companies and look at what type of training pathway we can create with the education partners that will provide an opportunity within, we'll say, the manufacturing industry.

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

As you were talking about your four areas, you said “we will do”. Are these things that the Vet-Hub is not currently doing? When did you begin this process, and how are you financed?

[Joseph Blanchard]

Approximately six years ago I started Vet-Hub. I'll call it “bootstrapping the organization”. Today, I'm working with a partnership on the east coast, where we're doing our proof of concept. We're going to prepare a proposal at the end of that with our vet dev organization down east, which we'll present to acquire money to build and scale the capacity of Vet-Hub right across the country.

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

I'm sorry; I'm not quite sure I understood. Who is your partner?

[Joseph Blanchard]

I'm in discussions with the Nova Scotia government, St. Francis Xavier University and ACOA.

StFX has an entrepreneurship wing that will deliver entrepreneurship training. It's called the Coady Institute.

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

You do have government support at this point in time.

[Joseph Blanchard]

The government support is mostly through discussions with members of Parliament and ministers. Through the procurement piece, I've met with Deputy Minister Reza and her team, and we're looking at an opportunity there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Dr. Blanchard. I'm so sorry again.

Now, for six minutes, we have Ms. Hirtle.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for your continued service.

I'd like to start with Mr. Steed.

What motivated you to pursue entrepreneurship after military service rather than pursuing employment in a larger or more traditional environment?

[William Steed]

I worked in the private theatre, basically, or private world, for quite some time. I bounced around quite a few jobs. I just never really seemed to fit in.

The way I typically did things was very forward and generally fairly aggressive. I attribute that to military training, which served me well while I was in the military, but it is very difficult for civilian companies to adapt to someone who comes into the organization as very forward that way and very mission-oriented. Once I signed on with a company, it was all for the company. It's just like the military; you're all for the military, so I was go, go, go. That was off-putting to a lot of companies, and I struggled with that.

I bounced around quite a bit, to the point where I just said, “Enough is enough. I'm going to do my own thing and start up from there.” I basically grew it into a fairly successful business, and I have been enjoying it since then.

I encourage fellow veterans I work with to look at that as an opportunity as well. It's not for everyone, because there is a lot of stress, as the other business owners here will know, and you really have to pivot from the military way of thinking into the business way of thinking. It can be difficult, but for me it was almost a necessity, because I really didn't fit into a lot of companies that I was working for.

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

What skills from your naval service informed your approach to operating a small business?