National Defence committee  Knowledge is shared across the country. Our group is plugged into all clinical community services so that it forwards new information emerging from our research. Veterans Affairs Canada is doing the same thing.

National Defence committee  That goes beyond my mandate, which is limited to the health care provided to members of the Canadian Forces. Veterans Affairs Canada would be able to answer that question. Regardless, we help them as much as possible—

National Defence committee  Thank you, sir. As I mentioned earlier, by early 2015 we expect to receive the results of the Statistics Canada mental health survey and the health and lifestyle information survey, which will give us better global data to help guide the optimum distribution and requirement. W

National Defence committee  Yes, we have, but we weren't exclusively relying on the public service. Many of those positions were filled by Calian. We're pursuing other methods, like tele-mental health, which I mentioned, and process improvements. For example, I've just come back from Quebec City. The base

National Defence committee  —it's because of the self-imposed delay in presentation.

National Defence committee  It's 28 days. That is what the Canadian Psychiatric Association recommended. Ideally, no community in Canada would have to wait longer than that.

National Defence committee  On average, that is correct. However, the wait time varies depending on the circumstances. For example, a female psychiatrist might go on maternity leave and her team is made up of only three people.

National Defence committee  Everyone should have immediate access to medical care and psychosocial care. Some cases require a more comprehensive assessment by a specialist such as a psychiatrist or a psychologist. For those cases, we aim for a 28-day wait time.

National Defence committee  Together with the doctor, an assessment is made to determine what type of care people need immediately. The more complex cases will need a more comprehensive assessment. In Canada and in most countries around the world, general practitioners provide the bulk of the mental health

National Defence committee  Do you mean individual screening?

National Defence committee  A full assessment is done at the time of recruitment and then every five years until age 40, or thereabouts. We also do an assessment before every deployment and sometimes one during the deployment. Between three to six months after the deployment we do another comprehensive asse

National Defence committee  That is beyond the purview of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group. Another organization with the Department of National Defence deals with family support and services. Often, these centres offer the families on the base services from sociologists and other specialists. Wha

National Defence committee  Some bases do not have a single psychiatrist. When it comes to health care, we always try to have enough clinicians, nurses, physicians, physician assistants and people with enough mental health literacy to act as interpreters, if necessary, or to provide part of the care in Fren

National Defence committee  In the rest of the country, especially in the western provinces like Alberta and British Columbia, we try to have enough people with the skills required. It depends on the proportion of francophones on the military base and in the military community. It is hard, considering the s

National Defence committee  If the resources are not available in the military community, we try to find them externally. For instance, in a city like Victoria, there is likely at least one psychiatrist or psychologist who is bilingual. So we will then be able to provide the necessary service, especially to