Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the MP for North Island—Powell River, for her excellent work on the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, on which I serve as well.
I am pleased to present the government's response today. Let me note that the well-being of Canadian veterans and their families is a top priority for our government. This includes ensuring that veterans' partners continue to receive support after the death of their spouse.
It has been a long-standing concern that those who marry veterans after the veteran has turned 60 are not entitled to automatic survivor pensions under the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act. This is why, in 2019, our government announced $150 million over five years to establish a veterans survivors fund designated to “better support veterans who married over the age of 60 and their spouses”. At the time of the announcement, no information was available on the population who married a veteran after the veteran's 60th birthday. The first phase of that funding commitment requires some research into the size, characteristics and needs of this population.
As a result, Veterans Affairs undertook two research projects. One was a quantitative study with Statistics Canada to identify the population's size and the characteristics of survivors who married a veteran who was over 60. The second was a qualitative study with the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research to examine the financial well-being of these survivors to better understand the nature of their financial situation and what unmet needs they may have.
The department uses the results of this research to determine the best way to support the survivors. In the meantime, we encourage spouses of deceased veterans to contact Veterans Affairs Canada if they are having difficulty—