Veterans Affairs Committee on April 20th, 2026

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you, Madame Gaudreau.

It's now time to thank the witnesses.

Thank you very much.

Certainly, Mr. Parsons, thank you for your service to Canada.

Dr. Sherry, Ms. Marier‑Deschênes, thank you very much.

We are going to take a break before we welcome the second panel. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Hello everyone.

I call the meeting back to order.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on September 18, 2025, for the second hour of the meeting, the committee will conduct its study on barriers to entrepreneurship among veterans.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of our new witnesses.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. If you are on the video conference, click on the microphone icon to speak. Please mute yourself when you are not speaking.

For those on Zoom, at the bottom of your screen, you can select the appropriate channel for interpretation: 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 the witnesses.

From FNV Ranch, we have Mr. Dallas Prince, co-founder and facilitator, by video conference. From Punisher Waterfowl, we have Mr. Damien Pittman, owner.

Thank you for your service, sirs.

From the University of Ottawa, we welcome Mr. Garrick Apollon, program director, mission entrepreneur program, Professional Development Institute.

Each witness will have five minutes for their opening statement, after which we'll move on to questions from committee members.

I will be starting with Mr. Prince for five minutes.

[Dallas Prince, Co-Founder and Facilitator, FNV Ranch Ltd.]

Good day.

I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here. I was told that this is about barriers to entrepreneurship as veterans.

I have some bullet points.

One of the barriers, which is a thorn in our side, is the $20,000 cap on income as a released veteran.

Additionally, our release seems to be an overwhelming burden or task for a lot of veterans starting a small business, in that many have a heavy appointment load.

As well, in terms of points of contact through government channels to ensure success, there's not always somebody to talk to or be in contact with so you can talk through how you'll go about doing certain things. If there were a veteran business bureau, one that supports just veteran businesses and how to intercorrelate....

Additionally, for mentorship, there isn't really a good mentorship program for veterans to transition from military life to civilian life, and not only that but also for being a business owner or a corporation CEO.

Entrepreneurial info isn't easily accessed. I know there's the Prince of Wales program for veterans, but it's in remote locations like Gagetown. I live in Alberta, so that's obviously not feasible. The SCAN seminar is a shotgun blast of information that isn't exactly absorbed, and it cannot be reaccessed once you're out of the service, which would be handy.

In the transition to civilian life, there's getting a doctor and dentist. These things are obviously burdensome when it comes to continued care after the military, where everything is taken care of. When you're a civilian, now you're in charge of finding a doctor, who will be non-existent. Especially here in Alberta, we have a lot of problems finding doctors. I think one should be assigned to you, and they should be assigned to you for the rest of your life.

Finally, there is the ability to start a small business while transitioning out. There are a lot of barriers for serving members starting small businesses in order to transition from military life to civilian life.

These are some of the issues we found.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much, Mr. Prince.

Now, for five minutes, we have Mr. Pittman.

[Damien Pittman, Owner, Punisher Waterfowl]

Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to speak before you today.

My name is Damien Pittman. I'm a 19-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. I served in Afghanistan and Iraq and was medically released in 2019 due to PTSD injuries I received while deployed. I'm also the founder of Punisher Waterfowl, a Canadian hunting and lifestyle brand built within the waterfowl industry.

I want to be honest from the start. There's a little bit of trepidation with me speaking before you today, and it's not because of public speaking. I carry a fear that by speaking openly about entrepreneurship or trying to better myself, I may actually lose benefits from Veterans Affairs—benefits that I rely greatly on and so does my family.

Veterans become very cautious about ambition at the very exact moment when they should be getting support in rebuilding their lives. I started Punisher Waterfowl as a hobby in 2014, while still serving, and as a way to engage with my local community. It was never meant to be anything big, but after I returned from Iraq in 2016 and was told that I was getting medically released from the Canadian Forces, I knew I had to put some more effort into the business.

When I was released from the military, my injuries had taken away a lot of my purpose in life. I tried to reintegrate into the civilian workforce, but my injuries took away my ability to hold down a regular job. A standard 40-hour workweek was no longer a realistic option for me. Entrepreneurship gave me a way to work within my limitations. I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit still and do nothing.

Punisher Waterfowl has done more for me than just provide some money and income. Entrepreneurship has helped in my recovery. As a person with post-traumatic stress disorder and the limitations that I have, having Punisher Waterfowl and being an entrepreneur, I got out of bed in the mornings when motivation was very low.

The Canadian Forces instilled in me discipline, resilience, adaptability and mission focus—all traits that a successful entrepreneur is looking for.

The barriers I want to highlight today are straightforward. The first is fear and uncertainty around Veterans Affairs benefits. The second is limited access to capital and financial runway, which is the $20,000 cap we've heard talk about many times during this committee. The third is the lack of veteran-specific mentorship, like my peer Dallas has just mentioned. The fourth is fragmented supports with no clear, one-stop path into entrepreneurship. The fifth is the administrative burden that comes with trying to build a business, while also managing the realities of release and recovery.

My recommendations are also straightforward. Veterans need clear, written guidance that pursuing self-employment will not unfairly threaten their benefits. We need a one-stop veteran entrepreneurship gateway. We need veteran-focused start-up funding. We need a strong mentorship network, and we need entrepreneurship to be recognized as a legitimate transition path, not an afterthought.

Veterans have the ability to build strong businesses and strong communities. I believe I am proof that entrepreneurship can help veterans stay focused, regain purpose and continue contributing in meaningful ways. What is too often missing is clarity, access and confidence that the system will not punish us for trying.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Apollon, you now have the floor for five minutes.

[Garrick Apollon, Program Director, Mission Entrepreneur Program, Professional Development Institute, University of Ottawa]

Madam Chair, committee members, it's a pleasure for me to join you today.

I represent the University of Ottawa, where I am a professor and director of entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, Common Law section. I am also the founding director of the Norton Rose Fulbright legal clinic at the Faculty of Law, where we provide free legal services to entrepreneurs from Futurpreneur.

We work in partnership with Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, Futurpreneur Canada and the Institut du savoir Montfort. Of course, I'm the director of mission entrepreneur, the only program that leads to a certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship for veterans, which is offered by the Professional Development Institute at the University of Ottawa. I'm a lawyer-entrepreneur. I have more than 20 years experience as a member of the Law Society of Ontario, which means I speak from lived experience, not just theory. We are well aware of the barriers.

I would also like to give you some practical recommendations that could be put in place.

I'll do my transition to English since the University of Ottawa is a bilingual institution.

King's Trust Canada, funded in 2011 by His Majesty King Charles III, formerly the Prince's Trust Canada, operated a highly successful and popular mentorship and training program for veterans, called operation entrepreneur. The program was terminated as the national charity shifted its focus to new priorities, including pathways to employment for young people facing barriers.

In 2024, operation entrepreneur by the King's Trust foundation was terminated, but we came in to fill the gap. In 2024, mission entrepreneur at the Professional Development Institute of the University of Ottawa was launched.

We have faced many challenges. Comparable programs leading to a university certification in entrepreneurship and innovation were funded to about $14,000 per participant by the federal government. We requested similar funding from VAC, actually $20,000 per participant. They decided to give us less than $6,000 per participant, placing us as a “short course” under the education benefits for veterans, which means that, financially, we keep offering the program because we're committed to serve Canadian veterans, but it's not financially sustainable. The bureaucrats at VAC decided that. What we want is to get $20,000 per participant. In that way we can start with a cohort of 20 participants per year.

Most importantly, one key challenge that veteran entrepreneurs face is funding. They will all receive a $5,000 microgrant that will go to their business when they complete the program. That will be an incentive for them to do the program because, often, they do have education and training, but they're facing many challenges. They need to get an incentive to go back to school, so we're committed to reinvest $5,000. When they complete the program, they get that microgrant that goes to their business. This will ensure the program is sustainable, viable, has veteran participation and has a real sustainable impact for our veterans.

Second, I want to talk about access to capital. That is definitely the biggest structural barrier for veteran entrepreneurship in Canada.

I mentioned that I work in partnership with Futurpreneur Canada, the largest not-for-profit incubator for young entrepreneurs in Canada. They give up to $75,000 in funding to young entrepreneurs, but you need to be under 40 years old. That's the challenge. Our veterans fall into a vacuum. They don't get any support, so what we want to do is work in partnership with institutions like the Veteran Business Network Institute, VBNI. Its founder, Caleb Walker, came to your committee.

My five minutes are up.

We could replicate the model of Futurpreneur. I had other things I wanted to discuss, but time is limited.

It's a pleasure. I think I brought forward two key issues, training and mentorship, and funding. We have a practical way to achieve that at the University of Ottawa.

[The Chair, Liberal, Marie-France Lalonde]

Thank you very much.

We'll now begin the first round of questions.

The first round will be with Mr. Allison for six minutes.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

I have my timer on. As a former chair, I appreciate the timing issue.

For the witnesses, thank you very much for being here. As an entrepreneur myself, there are tons of challenges, and we could spend a whole day talking about those. You guys are in a more specific niche that has an additional bunch of challenges.

Mr. Apollon, how long is the course? Is it a three-hour course? Is it weekly?

[Garrick Apollon]

No, it's a six-month program online. It's self-based and complemented with one-on-one coaching.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

That's perfect.

[Garrick Apollon]

We want to change the program a little to focus more on creating a community and on making it a bit longer, with more coaching, but group coaching, because that's what the veterans love: community. They want to also build a community of entrepreneurs and work together—

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you. That makes a lot of sense.

[Garrick Apollon]

—but we need funding.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Yes, and certainly mentorship is a key one, as mentioned.

Mr. Prince, you talked about it and Mr. Pittman did also. You mentioned that the $20,000 is all that you're eligible to get. I'm not normally a member of this committee, and on the $20,000, Mr. Prince, are those the only funds you're able to access or is it up to...? Can you explain what you meant, please?

[Dallas Prince]

Veterans Affairs puts a cap on how much income I can get over and above my pension. After the $20,000 cap, they start clawing back dollar for dollar, so the incentive to work is almost nil. It's almost as if they pay you to sit on your ass and do nothing. On that $20,000 cap, $20,000 doesn't go very far, so that's one barrier that we find.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you.

Do you guys have access to capital? I know that we talked about that as an issue. Is there any program that relates to veterans getting access to capital at all?

[Damien Pittman]

Not that I'm aware of. If there is, please point it out.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Okay. Not only do you get clawed back dollar for dollar, but there's no help when it comes to....

I've noticed that there are a number of other programs that the government has. There's a Black entrepreneurship program, an indigenous program and a women's program that all have access to capital. Futurpreneur is a great program, and there are also Startup Canada and community futures. There's a whole bunch of programs, so I guess my question would be—

[Garrick Apollon]

They're funded by the federal government.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Right, so you guys would not be opposed to maybe getting a piece of that. We don't need to create a new program, because there are some. We could maybe supplement a program like you have, Mr. Apollon.

Mr. Pittman, it would be helpful if some of the programs in existence maybe could offer veterans a piece of them. Would that make sense?

[Damien Pittman]

Absolutely, and keep in mind that the veteran community is growing and the appetite to become an entrepreneur within the veteran community is quite large. It's continually growing.

Yes, 100%, we want a piece of that pie. Even if we got our own envelope of money, it doesn't matter, but we do want a piece of that pie.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

I think entrepreneurship is tough enough in Canada already. We have a lot of barriers. We saw in just the last couple of weeks a study saying that there are twice as many people investing in the U.S. and that Canadian companies are investing in the U.S. versus actually investing in Canada.

Mr. Apollon, do you have any thoughts on that? You see a lot of entrepreneurs. What are some of the reasons for that?

[Garrick Apollon]

Yes, our entrepreneurs in our country are underfunded and undersupported. There's too much bureaucracy and red tape. It's too complicated. We need to give them support.

I'm here to talk about veteran entrepreneurship. I think it's crucial, because veterans face great challenges when they transition, what with PTSD and all of that. Entrepreneurship helps you to heal. It gives you a mission. That's why we call it “Mission Entrepreneur”. It gives you a life purpose. We're talking about mission-driven people who are highly trained and disciplined. They have all the leadership qualities.

Also, it's about investing in veteran entrepreneurship. We're investing billions of dollars in the defence sector right now. BDC right now has billions of dollars and no conditions to invest in veteran-owned businesses. Those are other issues. We need to change the narrative of the broken soldier to a narrative of people who contribute to our society through entrepreneurship.

Why do you need to do that? It's for our country. It's national security. We need recruitment. We need young people. Trust me, I've worked with young people. They're amazing.

They're the future of our country, but they want to know what's in it for them. If they see great stories of veterans who have succeeded as business professionals as veterans, it's attractive for them to sign up to go into the Canadian Armed Forces.