Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, we've been reducing the turnaround times for disability benefits applications over the course of the last number of years. As a result of the additional funding we received and the additional human resources capacity we've had on hand to address files beyond our service stan

Veterans Affairs committee  I would say that there are three things. The one we can't control is the number of applications that come forward to us. The department has made and has put an exceptional effort into making sure we're publicizing the benefits, services and programs that we have available. What

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't answer that question, since I wasn't involved in the file.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, not at all. I'm involved in service delivery, but the commemoration issue is not one of my responsibilities.

Veterans Affairs committee  We use surveys at every opportunity. We survey veterans every two years or so to learn more about their experiences related to programs and their accessibility, as well as their level of satisfaction with them. We use the results of these surveys to learn more about how we should

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, but we also conduct consultations with veterans, particularly through the Let's Talk Veterans site, which allows us to ask them a number of questions. Recently, we consulted them about their experience with the service application process. We asked them questions to see if t

Veterans Affairs committee  I think I can take that as it relates to transition. Frankly, with any of the recommendations that come from the committee itself, obviously the first thing we do is a formal government response. We take the recommendations that are issued in any report that is coming from ACVA

Veterans Affairs committee  The number of applications varies. We saw some variability during the COVID period. It seems that every year since about 2015-16 it has gone up. There has been an increase in applications for a variety of programs but mostly for the disability benefits program. As I said, there

Veterans Affairs committee  This specific amount relates to some of the service standard wait times that exist at our bureau of pensions advocates in particular. It's primarily for reducing the amount of time it might take for a lawyer who works in the bureau of pensions advocates to be able to assist a vet

Veterans Affairs committee  Perhaps I can take that question, Mr. Chair. We regularly do updates to systems. Generally, we schedule those for outside of normal working hours. The website for the My VAC Account that you're referring to is available 24-7, essentially, other than scheduled outages. There are

Veterans Affairs committee  They received notices in two ways. One was from the actual provider itself, Canada Life, the new provider of the public service health care plan. It's administered by our Treasury Board Secretariat colleagues. They also received notices from Veterans Affairs that this was comin

Veterans Affairs committee  There are a couple of different avenues. With respect to disability benefits, an individual who may not be successful in applying for disability benefits the first time has access to a Veterans Affairs-funded lawyer through the Bureau of Pensions Advocates, who will support the

Veterans Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, when information is missing in an application, we contact the veteran. We indicate what information is missing. We give them an opportunity to come back and provide the information that's required. If not, essentially the claim is held for when the veteran is able to

Veterans Affairs committee  We contact them either by letter or directly through My VAC Account, depending on how they've contacted us, and we may actually reach out to them directly, in certain cases, to ensure that we can get the right information from them.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, actually, it's a different group within the department who does that. It would be disability adjudicators, people who work in our centralized operation division who work on disability benefits.