Question Period Note: ACCOMPLISHMENTS

RECENT INITIATIVES FOR VETERANS
• Our Government is committed to supporting and honouring our Veterans and their families.
• We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that Veterans receive the respect, support, care, and economic opportunities they deserve.
• Reducing wait times for disability benefit applications remains our number one priority. The department is pursuing a variety of initiatives, including hiring additional full-time staff, seeking process innovation and digital solutions, etc., to address this long-standing issue. Recent results are trending in the right direction with the backlog having declined from 49,216 on March 31, 2020 to 16,292 as of October 4, 2021.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been maintaining the department’s level of service, and have expanded supports for Veterans and Veterans’ organizations.
• Since Budget 2016, new investments for Veterans have totalled more than $11 billion, including addressing the backlog and supporting Veterans transition to civilian life.
• We are also continuing our foundational investments and progress in research and innovation - we have funded more than 60 projects through our Well-being Fund, created two new Centers of Excellence (Mental Health and Chronic Pain), as well as a new Office of Women and LGBTQ2 Veterans at VAC.
• Budget 2021 announced new initiatives to further enhance Veterans’ access to mental health supports, and support for our homeless Veterans.
• We continue to work closely with the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence to ensure seamless transition from military to life after service, and eliminate sexual misconduct and gender-based violence in the military and support survivors.
• All of these initiatives serve to support Veterans and their families to receive the honor, respect, support and care they deserve.

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