Question Period Note: COVID RELATED EXPENDITURES

COVID-19 RELATED EXPENDITURES

• Veterans Affairs has spent a total of $24.0M related directly attributable to the COVID-19 response, with $23.8M spent up to the end of FY 2020-21 and $271K spent to date in 2021-22.
• $20M was spent to support Veterans Organizations through the Veterans Organization Emergency Support Fund.
• $4.0M was spent to establish a Pandemic Response Unit, as well as establishing health and safety materials, signage and equipment for the office space.

BACKGROUND – COVID-19 Related Expenditures

Since March 2020, Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) has spent a total of $24.0M related directly to the COVID-19 response. VAC has incurred costs for salary, overtime, O&M (operations), Gs&Cs (Support to Veterans’ Organizations, and Veterans Emergency Fund), and statutory costs (EBP related to salary).

• $20M was spent in relation to the Government’s response measure to provide Support for Veterans’ Organizations.
o Funding provides financial support to Veterans’ organizations who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and who are in need of immediate support.
o Funding was disbursed in the form of grants to 42 non-profit and charitable Veterans’ organizations, including The Royal Canadian Legion ($14M), ANAVETS ($1M), True Patriot Love ($1.5M) and VETS Canada (850K) to cover a portion of their operating expenditures.

• VAC also established an internal team to manage the complexities created by the pandemic, costing just over $3.6M in expenditures.

• Operational expenditures totaling $440K were spent on items such as Plexiglas barriers, health and safety materials, signage and equipment for the offices.

• The Veteran’s Emergency Fund also saw an incremental increase in expenditures in the early months of the pandemic over previous years, attributing approximately $112K to the pandemic situation, mostly in April of 2020.

• Last year VAC spent an additional $1.3M to equip employees to work from home but these expenses were not to be included in the GC COVID related expenditures reports. As we start to re-occupy buildings in support of a hybrid working model, additional equipment and IT support costs will be incurred to enable this model.

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