Madam Speaker, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces literally put their lives on the line in service of our country, and for us.
On November 4, 2015, this government pledged to ensure that Canadian Armed Forces members injured in the line of duty receive the care, support, respect, and economic opportunities they deserve. We are delivering on that promise by enhancing programs for veterans with service-related injuries and illnesses, as well as improving service delivery. Plus, we are restoring a pension for life option.
On April 1 of this year, new programs that we announced in budget 2017 will become available to our veterans and their families. These include career transition services; the caregiver recognition benefit of $1,000 per month, tax free; expanded access to military family resource centres for veterans and their families; a new veteran emergency fund; a veteran and family well-being fund; and a new centre of excellence on PTSD and related mental health conditions. We are also expanding financial support for post-secondary education and training for veterans after service and removing the time limits for vocational training and support for families.
We announced a pension for life option for Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans with service-related disabilities. It means that a 25-year-old retired corporal who is 100% disabled would receive more than $5,800 in monthly support. For a 50-year-old retired major who is 100% disabled, monthly support would be almost $9,000. With an emphasis on overall well-being, we have invested over $6 billion to improve benefits and services for veterans, and the new pension for life plan invests nearly $3.6 billion more in pension benefits and programs that can be tailored to meet the individual needs of veterans and their families.
We know that veterans are often frustrated over having to wait to receive the benefits to which they are entitled after applying. Although the number of applications for disability benefits has increased by 32% over the past two years, this is a good thing. We are implementing programs and benefits for veterans, and more veterans are asking for the help they need and deserve.
We realize that there is still much work to be done. The Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada are working together to fill the gaps between the two departments so that veterans no longer have to wait to receive benefits. We promised to improve how our brave veterans and their families are treated. We will keep our promise.
It was clear the new veterans charter did not meet the financial needs of our veterans and their families. We listened to them. We increased the disability award, the earnings loss benefit, and introduced the pension for life to address this. In the first two years of our mandate, we invested almost $10 billion to improve the services and benefits available.
I have personally visited 12 bases and wings in the past year, including CFB Petawawa, and spoke to military families.
We have introduced the caregiver benefit of $1,000 tax free per month, which will be coming into effect April 1 of this year; $147 million over the next six years for access to the MFRCs, all 32 of them across Canada, for veterans and their families; and just yesterday, we announced in budget 2018, an additional $42.8 million over the next two years to improve service delivery, because we know we need to get faster supports to our veterans, including $24.4 million for graves and commemoration. We also will introduce the tax benefit for veterans for service dogs.