Veterans Affairs committee  It certainly does. It's coming in two ways, from that strategic level and, from what we're hearing, directly from veterans. To give you an example, on our application form you're asked to provide your name. We had an application from a male, and while we were seeking out their

Veterans Affairs committee  I certainly noticed a difference in productivity in those first few months, as people began to adapt to working online. When the pandemic hit, only about 10% in my organization were equipped to work from home and already in a telework-type arrangement. It did take some time for t

Veterans Affairs committee  I think that's fair...if not, maybe even more efficient.

Veterans Affairs committee  I assume you just mean decision-makers. We have different names there. One is specifically entitled “disability adjudicator”. We have hired close to 518 individuals since the time of that report. Of that, about 70% are decision-makers.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, I would call them “intake officers”. The individual isn't making a decision but receives the application. We have “service verification officers” and those types of positions.

Veterans Affairs committee  I certainly can. It may just take me a second to get that exact number. I want to clarify one quick point. The intake of first applications did drop when the pandemic first hit, but then it began to steadily increase from September 2020 to now. I just want to make that clear. Th

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not sure I'm following you 100%.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for that clarification. I appreciate that. Yes. For some months—again, intake isn't always a straight line, as it does ebb and flow—we did see an alignment with waves, meaning that as communities opened up, so did people's opportunity to access medical professionals. W

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes—certainly within April, May and June of 2020, but as I mentioned earlier, that was quickly gained back in those months when application volume increased. There would have been a short-term difference, but it started to increase from then on. It went right back to standard lev

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, they are all full-time positions.

Veterans Affairs committee  Traditionally, when hiring new employees, the onboarding or training was face to face, elbow to elbow. When the pandemic occurred, of course that was not possible. Within a very short period of time, we partnered with a local college to help us develop virtual modules intended fo

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a great question. It would be being able to better anticipate the types of applications that are coming forward, and the volume of applications, understanding the cause and effect of new programs coming into place, and the communication around that, and to be better prepa

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure. When someone serves in the Canadian Armed Forces or the RCMP, throughout their career there are service records related to where they served—overseas or across Canada—as well as all of the health information associated with their time. It is held by the Canadian Armed Forc

Veterans Affairs committee  The pandemic has offered some opportunities and some challenges. The challenges would, I think, be fairly evident. Most of us have experienced them. How do you get people working remotely? How do you hire 350 people when they cannot come into an office? How do you train 350 peopl

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. I have some demographics here, but as part of the formal process of Let's Talk Veterans, we will be publishing the fulsome report with all of those demographics. Just quickly, I would highlight 76% were males, 21% were females, 84% were English and 16% were French. Th