ARCHIVED - Veterans Affairs Canada

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Section I – Overview

Minister's Message

Jean-Pierre Blackburn,
Minister of Veterans Affairs

It is my pleasure to present our 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities, which outlines the issues on which the Veterans Affairs Portfolio will concentrate in order to continue to improve the benefits and services it provides to its clients.

We are grateful for the commitment and courage of the men and women who have defended democracy and the ideals of Canada in the conflicts of the 20^th century and those of today. Our challenge is to make sure that our programs and services fully meet our clients' varied and changing needs at all times. Given the composition of our clientele, their needs and expectations are evolving rapidly. We are modernizing our service delivery to ensure we are able to meet their needs now and in the future, all the while continuing to provide quality services to our clients where and when they need them.

Given the increased participation by our Canadian military personnel who are being deployed to the four corners of the world in operations such as our humanitarian aid operation in Haiti and the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, we are experiencing an increase in the number of modern-day Veterans, while the number of our traditional Canadian Veterans is dwindling. However, the latter are dealing with increasingly serious health issues that require progressively more care.

We continue to offer our traditional clients access to a range of programs and services to meet their needs, maintain their independence and help them to achieve an optimal level of wellness. We offer modern-day Veterans a package of programs, backed by case management, including a rehabilitation program aimed at helping them to recover their health and make the transition to civilian life after a military career.

We are working in partnership with the Department of National Defence to improve the delivery of mental health services. Together, we are also looking to provide seamless access to services through a network of integrated personnel support centres at Canadian Forces bases and squadrons across the country.

Canadians are prouder than ever of their traditional and modern-day Veterans and becoming increasingly involved in commemoration. For our part, we are devoting more effort to recognizing the heroism of our modern-day Veterans, while continuing to honour our traditional Veterans. We also want to foster greater engagement of our youth in commemorative activities honouring our Veterans, both young and old. With the success of Veterans' Week 2009 behind us, we are looking to engage the younger generation through the use of social networking tools. Furthermore, in 2010, the Department will be celebrating the 65^th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands and the End of the Second World War in Europe and the Far East.

I am proud to note the remarkable commitment of Veterans Affairs staff to our war-service Veterans, Canadian Forces members and Veterans, their survivors and dependants, and our RCMP clients. I take this opportunity to invite you to learn more about how we are serving these special clients on your behalf.

Veterans Review and Appeal Board Chair's Message

John D. Larlee, Chair,
Veterans Review and
Appeal Board

It is my pleasure to share with you the plans and priorities of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board for 2010-11. These commitments will guide us in fulfilling our mandate on behalf of Veterans, Canadian Forces members, Royal Canadian Mounted Police clients and their families.

The Board provides an independent appeal process for individuals who are dissatisfied with disability decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada. The process provides two levels of redress (review and appeal) on matters relating to entitlement to a pension or award and assessment of the extent of a disability. The Board also provides the final level of appeal for War Veterans Allowance claims.

Our first priority is to hear and decide review and appeal claims at the request of individuals. To ensure applicants are well-served, our Members conduct hearings in person in approximately 30 locations across Canada as well as by teleconference and video conference. In 2010-11, we remain committed to effective operations and fair decision-making. We will continue to manage the time lines within our control so that hearings are scheduled at the earliest opportunity. We will work with the organizations that represent applicants to make the process as responsive and efficient as possible. We will provide our Members and staff with on-going training and the right tools to carry out their responsibilities in interpreting and applying the law.

Communicating with applicants and Canadians is another priority for the Board in the year ahead. Last year, we updated our service standard for issuing decisions to reflect a more realistic time frame for applicants and our employees. We will continue to focus and report on this target and provide other meaningful information about our program and performance. We will also strengthen our management practices and fulfill requirements for reporting while still delivering a timely hearing process.

These priorities form the basis of the Board's 2010-11 activities and our new strategic plan for the coming years. As a small tribunal, we will need to work hard to achieve our goals but remain dedicated to providing applicants with independent, well-reasoned decisions that are grounded in law.

Raison d'être

Veterans Affairs exists to repay the nation's debt of gratitude toward those whose legacy is the peace and security we enjoy as Canadians. Canada's contribution to global peace and security has come at a heavy price to our clients. Our clientele includes traditional war Veterans from the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, former and serving members of the Canadian Forces (CF), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and certain civilians as well as eligible family members (survivors and dependants).

Responsibilities

Veterans Affairs is a Portfolio consisting of: Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC, the Department); the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB, the Board); and the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman (OVO).

Veterans Affairs Canada

VAC's twofold focus is to provide access to client-centred services and benefits that respond to our clients' needs, and to foster the memory of Veterans.

VAC provides Disability Benefits and Special Awards to Veterans of the First and Second World Wars; the Korean War; any Veteran with service prior to April 1, 1947; Canadian Forces Veterans and members; and former and serving members of the RCMP (under a Memorandum of Understanding). The New Veterans Charter (NVC) supports modern day Veterans and their families to ease their transition to civilian life through access to a suite of programs which includes rehabilitation, health benefits, job placement assistance, financial support, and disability awards including death benefits. The Bureau of Pensions Advocates provides free legal advice and representation for individuals dissatisfied with decisions rendered by VAC regarding their disability benefits.

VAC's Health Care Program is designed to enhance the quality of life of clients, promote independence, and assist in keeping clients at home and in their own communities by ensuring a continuum of care. VAC provides Veterans and other eligible clients with access to treatment benefits, health care services such as advice and information, needs assessment, advocacy and referrals. The Veterans Independence Program (VIP) is a national home care program that helps clients remain in their own homes or communities for as long as possible. VAC supports Veterans in long-term care beds, either in community facilities, in Ste. Anne's Hospital (the last remaining federal hospital administered by the Department), or in larger contract facilities where Veterans have priority access to beds.

The Department keeps alive the achievements and sacrifices made by those who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace and promotes an understanding of how they helped shape our country. VAC fosters the memory of Canada's war dead and Veterans through its Remembrance Program, including the maintenance and preservation of 14 memorial sites in Europe.

Veterans Review and Appeal Board

The Veterans Review and Appeal Board provides two levels of redress for disability pension and disability award applications and the final level of appeal for War Veterans Allowance decisions. The Board's objective is to ensure that Canada's war Veterans, Canadian Forces Veterans and members, Royal Canadian Mounted Police clients, qualified civilians and their families receive the disability pensions, disability awards and other benefits to which they are entitled. The Board reports to Parliament through the Minister of Veterans Affairs and is completely independent of VAC.

Veterans Ombudsman

The Office of the Veterans Ombudsman helps Veterans and their families to address their concerns related to Veterans Affairs and the Veterans Bill of Rights. The Veterans Ombudsman is an independent officer who reports directly to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Affairs Points of Service

[D]

Program Activity Architecture

Veterans Affairs' Program Activity Architecture (PAA) was modified for the 2010-11 fiscal year to expand from one to two Program Activities for the Strategic Outcome of Canadians remember and demonstrate their recognition of all those who served in Canada's efforts during war, military conflict and peace.

[D]

Planning Summary

Planned Spending and Human Resources for Veterans Affairs

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome(s)

The Veterans Affairs Portfolio has:

• four strategic outcomes (two for Veterans Affairs Canada, one for the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, and one for the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman);
• seven program activities; and
• nine priorities.

The following tables link the Portfolio's operational and management priorities with our Strategic Outcomes and Program Activities.

Risk Analysis

Operating Environment

Veterans Affairs Canada's programs are delivered through a network of offices and points of service throughout the country and overseas. The Veterans Review and Appeal Board holds hearings in Charlottetown and across the country, whereas, the Veterans Ombudsman has offices in Charlottetown and Ottawa. To provide these services, the Portfolio has planned spending for 2010-11 of $3.4 billion.

External environmental factors that influence the Portfolio include: the priorities of the Government along with Canada's economic situation; the tempo of Canadian Forces operations, including Afghanistan and the relief operation in Haiti; public service renewal; the implications of an aging Canadian population; and the challenges facing the Canadian health care system. Other factors include: the planned activities of our international and federal partners, major stakeholders and other countries, and the global economic downturn.

Internally, the Portfolio is evolving to meet the changing needs of our Veterans. We continue to serve our aging traditional Veterans and their families. Although this group gets smaller with each passing month (our traditional Veteran clients are forecast to decrease from 75,000 in 2010 to 54,000 in 2013), the needs of those remaining continue to increase. At the same time, there are more modern-day Veterans - from those who served in peacekeeping missions and military operations in past decades, to those in Afghanistan today. Their number is forecast to increase from 58,000 in 2010 to 70,000 in 2013. Our modern-day Veterans, including women serving in combat, they have different needs and expectations. Our Portfolio is, quite literally, straddling the past and the future.

Priority Risks and Opportunities

The rapid shift in our client demographics, combined with the changing expectations and needs of our clients, means that VAC is entering an era of unprecedented change. While modernizing and transforming the Portfolio to meet the needs of our current and future clients, Veterans Affairs must maintain a balance between effective service delivery, client outcomes and management accountability.

Expenditure Profile

The Veterans Affairs spending trend shows expenditure increases through the 2009-10 year. These increases relate to several factors including: implementation and gradual uptake of programs under the New Veterans Charter; annual price indexation adjustments for Disability Pensions; program enhancements under the Veterans Independence Program; ex-gratia payments related to the use of Agent Orange at CFB Gagetown; and additional funding provided through Budget 2007 for enhanced services to Veterans and the establishment of the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman.

Current client demographic projections anticipate that over the next three years, there will be overall reductions in the number of clients accessing Disability Pensions, WVA, VIP and Treatment Benefits). However, the Department is facing an increased workload due to more serious health issues experienced by our aging Veterans and the complexity of the needs of our Canadian military personnel. The most significant client reductions will be for War Service Veterans with annual reductions of approximately 10% to 15% over the three year period. Clients who are survivors of War Service Veterans will decrease at a slower rate, with the exception of VIP, where survivor client numbers will increase slightly due to government decisions to increase eligibility. Modern-day Canadian Forces client numbers will increase slightly for both Treatment Benefits and VIP, and decrease slightly for Disability Pensions due to eligibility under the Disability Awards Program. The result of these demographic shifts will have a significant impact on proposed reference levels for VAC's traditional programs. This impact will be offset somewhat by the provision of inflationary adjustments to the benefits provided to clients.

The total Main Estimates for Veterans Affairs for 2010-11 are $3,414.1 million, an increase of $50.0 million in comparison to the 2009-10 Main Estimates. The major changes are as follows:

• an increase of $86.2 million for Disability Awards and Allowances for new conditions and reassessments of awards, and annual price indexation adjustments to award payments;
• an increase of $41.0 million due to the provision of benefits to Allied Veterans who served during the Second World War or the Korean War, and to eligible survivors;
• a decrease of $30.8 million for the Veterans Independence Program;
• a decrease of $20.0 million for Other Health Purchased Services primarily due to a decrease in the number of War Service clients receiving treatments benefits;
• a net decrease of $14.3 million in the cost of Pensions for disability and death; and
• a decrease of $13.8 million related to ex-gratia payments for the health effects of Agent Orange and/or unregistered US military herbicide use at CFB Gagetown.

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