Veterans Affairs committee  I think if I may, part of what we do is a continual review of the program and the way in which it's applied and set out criteria. You may be aware that recently our audit and evaluation area completed an evaluation of the caregiver recognition benefit having to do with the regular review of new programs coming into effect.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. I'm happy to see you again as well. In the department, the priorities for supporting veterans and their families constitute a significant investment. This investment may involve the workforce or the creation of new programs and services to assist the veteran community and the organizations that provide support to veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  The answer, I believe, is that I can't speak for the Prime Minister. However, I can say that the department is working closely with organizations across the country to provide services to veterans. This means providing the services that the veterans need or helping organizations that are providing support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Veterans Affairs committee  I know that I must answer quickly, and your question has several components. Measures are in place to support the mental health of families. There are programs for veterans, but there are also other initiatives, such as clinics for post-traumatic stress disorder and the telephone service to help family members.

Veterans Affairs committee  Mitch, do you want to go ahead and answer that?

Veterans Affairs committee  The answer to the question is that the caregiver recognition benefit was designed for the most seriously disabled veterans and to recognize the role of families or caregivers involved in supporting them.

Veterans Affairs committee  There's a particular definition, although I'll turn to my colleague, Crystal, to provide that. It's assessed against a series of activities of daily living, which recognize the severity or the impact of either physical or mental health disabilities on the individual veteran and, as a result, on the supports that are required from the caregiver.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll ask Crystal to answer with respect to the veterans and family well-being fund, and we may come back on the veterans emergency fund later.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thanks very much for the comment and for the feedback you're receiving and your ongoing work to speak with veterans and their families. I think that when we made the transition from the family caregiver benefit to the caregiver recognition benefit, it was in response to input we received from veterans, in fact.

Veterans Affairs committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair—or good evening, almost, now—and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to be with you today. Good evening. Mr. Chair and committee members, I'm happy to be here today. It's been almost a year since the COVID pandemic started in the Canadian context, and it has greatly affected all of our daily lives.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, and thanks for the question. I can name a few for you offhand, but I won't be able to go through the entire list. The digitization of the approach for hearing loss, which I spoke of earlier, and putting in an innovative tool to be able to get through it much more quickly by essentially using a digital search function is an example that would not have been in there.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's everybody who would be involved in making a decision. It's the intake officers, the people who work on pay to ultimately pay out a file, the people who work as benefits program officers and a nurse adjudicator for a medical reference. It's everybody who might be involved in making a claim, either simple or complex, being able to work together so that the file doesn't go through any kind of physical or digital process of being handed off.

Veterans Affairs committee  The legislation requires us to go through the stages of the adjudication piece, so we must make the service attribution and the assessment related to that. There is not an opportunity at this stage to make any kind of pre-approval, according to our legislation.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not aware of that information either.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's exactly it. A medical assessment doesn't necessarily need to accompany the application when it comes in. Even during this period of time, when somebody might not be able to access a physician to get some kind of diagnosis, they are still able to apply. We do still encourage veterans, when they have any need, to come forward and make an application at that point in time.