Question Period Note: EMPLOYMENT FOR VETERANS

• Our government is committed to helping releasing Canadian Armed Forces members and Veterans successfully transition from military to life after service.

• We have committed to launching a National Veterans Employment Strategy, with the goal of ensuring all Veterans find meaningful work once they transition to life after service.

• In recent months, we consulted with Veterans, employers, stakeholders and partners, and will use their input and perspectives to develop and launch a comprehensives strategy that promotes and supports Veteran employment.

• Veterans Affairs Canada connects with public service and private sector employers to educate them on the valuable skills and qualifications Veterans bring to the workplace.

BACKGROUND – EMPLOYMENT FOR VETERANS

Every year, several thousand Canadian Armed Forces members transition out of the military and seek civilian employment both in the private and public sector. During their military service, Veterans develop skills and abilities from first class training and experience. We want to help Veterans leverage those abilities to achieve their post service goals.

In 2021, the government made a Mandate Commitment to launch a National Veterans Employment Strategy, with the goal of ensuring that all Veterans find meaningful work once they transition to life after service. In order to develop this strategy, a series of consultations took place over Fall 2022. This included a session of the Let’s Talk Veterans forum, ministerial roundtables and advisory groups and senior leadership engagements with partners and stakeholders. Target audiences for these consultations included Veterans, employers, third party stakeholders and other government departments, including provincial, territorial and municipal partners.

Veterans Affairs Canada offers Career Transition Services to help CAF members, Veterans, Survivors and their spouses/common-law partners with career counselling and related services delivered by qualified employment coaches.

In 2015, the Public Service Employment Act was amended by the Veterans Hiring Act to help eligible Canadian Armed Forces members find federal public service jobs. Veterans Affairs Canada established a unit dedicated to supporting Veterans seeking careers in the public service, educating hiring managers and promoting Veterans as a skilled talent pool. A Joint Evaluation of the Implementation of the Veterans Hiring Act was published in 2020.Veterans Affairs Canada is working with the Public Service Commission, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces to improve Veteran hiring across the federal public service, based on the recommendations contained in the evaluation.

Veterans Affairs Canada has partnered with the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group to lead and coordinate efforts to improve departmental support to Veterans and their families. Working closely with Employment and Social Development Canada, the Veterans Job Bank portal was launched in 2020 offering employers a location to advertise current job opportunities directly to Veterans and offering Veterans a one-stop hub to search employers interested in hiring Veterans.

Veterans Affairs Canada works closely with numerous Canadian not-for-profit organizations and third parties interested in promoting Veteran friendly hiring programs and special initiatives designed to advocate for greater employment of Veterans. We also provide grants under the Veterans and Family Well-Being Fund to support initiatives such as the Challenge Factory’s production of the Canadian Guide to Hiring Veterans, which was launched in November 2020.

WHEN PRESSED:

Q1 – What services are included in the Career Transition Services program?
Career Transition Services is a Veterans Affairs Canada service which offers career counselling, help with resume writing, interview preparation, job searching and, in some cases, job placement. It is available to support CAF members, Veterans, Survivors and their spouses/common-law partners.
Q2 – How is Veterans Affairs Canada supporting the employment of Veterans in the Public Service?
In 2015, the Public Service Employment Act was amended by the Veterans Hiring Act to help eligible Canadian Armed Forces members find federal public service jobs. Veterans Affairs Canada established a unit dedicated to supporting Veterans seeking careers in the public service, educating hiring managers and promoting Veterans as a skilled talented workforce. Since July 1, 2015, 1276 medically released Veterans were hired after activating their Priority entitlement. PSC has reported that 65% of Veterans who activate their Priority entitlement are successful in securing employment. This is 10% higher than others with Priority. Overall, the percentage of Veteran appointments to the federal public service has been stable in the past seven years. Veterans Affairs Canada is working with the Public Service Commission, the Department of National Defence, and the Canadian Armed Forces to improve Veteran hiring across the federal public service, based on the recommendations contained in the Joint Evaluation of the Implementation of the Veterans Hiring Act of 2020.
Q3 – Has Veterans Affairs Canada consulted with private industry regarding the National Employment Strategy?
Yes, we have consulted with dozens of employers via a digital questionnaire and in-person consultation. Private industry is a key stakeholder in the development and implementation of the National Veterans Employment Strategy and we value the input and perspectives from all levels of employers. Veterans Affairs Canada has an established and growing network of private sector employers who are interested in hiring Veterans. We have an ongoing dialogue where we provide advice and share best practices regarding connecting with Veterans regarding employment opportunities. We help to establish these connections through Career Transition Services, the Veterans Job Bank portal, which was launched in cooperation with ESDC in 2020, and the Hire-a-Veteran LinkedIn group, which was established in July 2021.
Q4 – Is Veterans Affairs Canada working with not-for-profit organizations or other third parties supporting or advocating for improved Veteran employment opportunities?
Veterans Affairs Canada works closely with numerous not-for-profit organizations and third parties that are active in this area. For example, we routinely communicate with organizations such as Helmets to Hardhats, True Patriot Love Foundation, the Treble Victor Group as well as a variety of industry and trade associations. We also have liaised with organizations offering technology certification or reskilling programs for Veterans such as Coding for Veterans, Soldiers in Tech, With You With Me and Fortinet. We have provided funding to several projects with a Veteran employment scope with view of enhancing overall service and support to Veterans. For example, we funded an organization called the Challenge Factory to create the Canadian Guide for Hiring Veterans as a resource for employers unsure about the merits of hiring Veterans. We also provided funding to the Prince’s Trust program called Operation Entrepreneur to support its highly successful business boot camp training for Veterans. Round table Consultation regarding the strategy occurred throughout Fall 2022 and we are committed to an on-going and open dialogue. Many stakeholders from the Veterans employment community provided valuable input and information that will be considered and leveraged as we develop the strategy.
Q5 – What has Veterans Affairs Canada done to promote job placement or directly connect Veterans with employment opportunities?
Career Transition Services includes a full suite of job searching resources and job placement as a service offering. In cooperation with the service provider, Veterans Affairs Canada recently hosted a virtual careers and employment webinar for Veterans that had over 1200 registered participants. During this event, over 40 employers representing multiple sectors and with national reach presented career and job opportunities targeting Veterans. In 2021, working collaboratively across 12 departments and agencies, Veterans Affairs Canada planned and delivered a Public Service Spotlight Webinar series at the national level followed by regional sessions in Atlantic Canada and Province of Quebec. Two thousand Veterans/Transitioning members registered for this series and an estimated 1,000 attended one or more sessions. More webinars are planned for 2022. The Veterans Affairs Canada monitored LinkedIn Group “Hire A Veteran” launched in 2021 and serves as a space to directly connect employers with current job opportunities targeted towards Veterans and Veterans to join the network. To date, the group has over 2,500 members and showcases dozens of new job opportunities with Veterans in mind on a weekly basis.