Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, that would be accurate. If we back up 20 years, there was very little research on veteran well-being at all in Canada. It was very difficult to collect data about the veteran population. Until recently, I would say, it has remained difficult. Even in our targeted studies, it's still difficult to recruit individual veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  We had that same question. We funded a study by Dr. Maya Eichler, who was mentioned earlier, from Mount Saint Vincent University. She conducted a longitudinal, qualitative study of women veterans who were releasing from the armed forces, starting before they released and continuing after their release period.

Veterans Affairs committee  Good evening, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear as a witness, and thank you for undertaking this important study. I'm here in Charlottetown with my colleague Dr. Lisa Garland Baird, who has a Ph.D. in nursing and is a senior researcher, as mentioned, at Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are two areas we focus on when we're measuring. One is the people participating in the programs and services offered by the department, and one is the broader veteran population. Thanks to the census identification question in 2021, Statistics Canada is now able to identify who those veterans are.

Veterans Affairs committee  Since its inception in 2018, the veteran and family well-being fund has supported more than 100 community-based organizations. In particular, 14 of those projects have gone towards initiatives that are focused on employment and retraining, totalling almost $6 million in funding awarded to date.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. What we found is that the seven different domains of well-being really are interrelated and interconnected. You can't impact one domain without having auxiliary and peripheral impacts on the other domains. There was a question leading up to this meeting about the life-after-service studies that have been conducted since 2010.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are two things I want to add. One is that the U.S. study really did—

Veterans Affairs committee  At this time, they have not announced it, because their study was just released in the past couple of months. Actually, the study they have released is just part one. There's a second part that we're expecting to see in the fall, which deals with the cost impacts to health care systems of rolling out a broader program of psychiatric service dogs.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are a couple of considerations. One, Australia is currently conducting a study. They started in 2018. It is a four-year study looking at how assistance dogs—the term they use is “psychiatric assistance dogs”—can complement other evidence-based treatment. They were also looking at practical implementation challenges for a formal program.

Veterans Affairs committee  It sounds as though the practical implementation rules are still under development or still being studied.

Veterans Affairs committee  I would differentiate the use of the word “standards” here. I'm sorry if I'm getting too specific. We're using the term “standards” to mean “standards and policies”. In the U.S., they have not announced a policy on this, or at least a policy change, but there are certain standards that exist in the U.S.

Veterans Affairs committee  There are some providers in Canada who have been doing this for a very long time. Earlier, one of the members asked about simply adopting the Assistance Dogs International standards. That was one of the proposals that were discussed with the standards board and met opposition, because the people who are currently supplying dogs in Canada don't all subscribe to those standards.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. Service dogs are working animals. They're not pets. Service dogs are trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. Guide dogs assist with navigation for people with diminished vision. Hearing dogs alert people with hearing impairments to sounds like a doorbell.

Veterans Affairs committee  Right. That's an excellent question. Really, it comes down to a comparison of the impact of service dogs—psychiatric service dogs, in this case—versus emotional support dogs. The therapy dogs can be present during treatment, but they're not something that the veteran would have with him at all times.

Veterans Affairs committee  At the conclusion of our pilot study in Canada, we were left with this question: There were some benefits that were shown, but were those due to having a companion animal and having constant companionship and association, or were they due to the fact that these were psychiatric service dogs that were trained for that purpose?