Dear Stakeholders and Advisory Group members,

As a follow-up from our recent update when we shared the Department’s plan to address wait times, we are providing you with additional information regarding the injection of new funds for Veterans Affairs Canada included in Economic And Fiscal Snapshot 2020 presented by Finance Minister Bill Morneau on July 8th. As part of the fiscal update, Veterans Affairs Canada will receive $96 million in 2020-21 and $96 million in 2021-22, for a total of $192 million over two years towards reducing the Veteran Disability Benefit backlog. More specifically, this funding will extend case management and disability adjudication resources provided in Budget 2018 to keep pace with incoming applications, innovate adjudication processes, and hire new teams dedicated to reducing the backlog.

For more information on the fiscal update please visit: Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 and the details of VAC’s plan is Timely Disability Benefit Decisions: Strategic Direction for Improving Wait Times.

Additionally, as we enter month four of operating in a pandemic environment with nearly 3,000 VAC employees empowered to perform their duties virtually, we wanted to share this infographic that we recently published outlining key COVID-19 information and assistance for Veterans and their families. We continue to work remotely to make as many decisions as possible on treatment and benefits while quickly issuing payments to Veterans.

Your support in helping us inform the Veterans community and your advocacy on their part is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Team
Veterans Affairs Canada
[email protected]