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The Veterans Affairs Program, delivered by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), contributes to the financial, physical, and social health and well-being of veterans and other eligible clients in recognition of their sacrifices while serving the country; and keeps the memory of these sacrifices alive for all Canadians.
Through its Benefits and Services Business Line, over 3,000 employees administer services to clients in the areas of: Pensions and Allowances, Health Care, Pensions Advocacy and Commemoration. More specifically, VAC provides clients with compensation for hardships arising from disabilities and lost economic opportunities; delivers health and social programs; provides professional legal representation; and administers programs that recognize and honour the achievements and sacrifices of its clients. VAC has a client base of over 200,000 veterans; Canadian Forces members and former members; and qualified civilians and their dependants.
Clients can receive information about programs and services through a variety of channels which include: telephone; fax; mail; in-person; electronic mail; and through the Internet. VAC has a decentralized delivery network with a Head Office in Charlottetown, a National Capital Office in Ottawa, and a number of Regional and District offices throughout Canada. The Department also operates a hospital in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, and maintains battlefield memorials in Europe.
VAC is committed to honouring those who have served the country through the delivery of high quality services and benefits. VAC's on-going commitment to service improvement is prominently profiled in the recently announced Five-Year Strategic Plan (2001-2006). Service improvement is one of the over-arching strategic objectives in the plan and is also an integral part of the Values and Ethics adopted by the Department.
VAC is currently in the process of adopting a continuous service improvement planning and implementation approach which includes: establishing baselines for client satisfaction; implementing service improvement plans; revising service standards; incorporating results-based accountability for managers; and reporting progress on standards achievement.
VAC first established service standards in 1995, revising them in 1997 after a series of consultations with Veterans Groups and administration of a client survey. The twenty-one service standards, published in a brochure entitled Veterans Affairs at Your Service, established commitments in the areas of accessibility to services, methods of communication, waiting times for responses and decisions, guidelines for receipt of payments, and courteous treatment.
In June 2001, the department conducted a National Client Satisfaction Survey. The primary purpose of the survey was to establish baseline data with respect to level of satisfaction of clients with the delivery of VAC's programs and services. The survey was designed using the Common Measurements Tool, centering on five key service drivers of client satisfaction: timeliness of service, knowledge and competence of staff, courtesy of staff, fair and equitable treatment; and outcome.
A Client Service Delivery Network (CSDN) system is used to monitor and report on achieving standards. Each year, results are reported through the Departmental Performance Report (DPR). Need more info here on CSDN and the PS Award on Service Improvement
VAC has exhibited the following exemplary practices in its approach to developing, implementing, monitoring and using its service standards:
Service Standards as a Tool to Satisfying Client Expectations
Surveying Clients as a Tool to Improve Client satisfaction
For more information on the services provided by the VAC, please contact:
Marlene Zalewski
Senior Project Officer
Corporate Planning Division
Veterans Affairs Canada
Tel 902-566-8797
mazalews@vac-acc.gc.ca