Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan, and the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Kent Hehr, today attended Calgary’s annual Breakfast on the Bridge in support of the Calgary Military Family Resource Centre.

“Throughout our history, Canada’s military has been filled with courageous, compassionate, innovative and capable soldiers who earned the respect of our allies – and our foes. From all walks of life, their story is the story of Canada. The best way to honour our history is to care for our military members, veterans, and their families today.”

Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan

“Our military members, Veterans and their families sometimes face unique challenges in their daily lives. Canada's Military Family Resource Centres provide critical resources to ensure our people do not deal with these challenges alone. Events like Calgary's Breakfast on the Bridge help provide the support to MFRCs so that they can continue offering assistance to those who work directly with serving members and Veterans – the families.” 

Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Kent Hehr

• • Through Canada’s new defence policy, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces will take care of the women and men in uniform, and their families, by:
    • Investing $198.2 million over the course of the policy to implement a new Total Health and Wellness Strategy that will expand wellness beyond the traditional healthcare model to include promotion, prevention, treatment, and support, and provide a greater range of health and wellness services and programs.
    • Augmenting the medical services branch by 200 additional personnel to meet the increased level of care that will be part of the new Total Health and Wellness Strategy.
    • Transforming the transition process to better support members and their families. It will establish a 1,200-person Transition Group, which means our women and men will be taken care as they transition back into military service following illness or injury, or out of the Forces back into civilian life at the end of a career in uniform.
    • Making new investments including an additional $6 million per year to modernize family support programs such as Military Family Resource Centres (MRFCs), so we can provide better support to families when members are deploying or during periods of absence
    • Implementing teams at Military Family Resource Centres to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
    • Providing federal tax relief on the military salaries of all Canadian Armed Forces personnel, up to the salary level of Lieutenant-Colonel, deployed on named international operations as designated by the Chief of the Defence Staff.
    • Increasing the proportion of women in the military by one percentage point annually, to achieve 25 percent representation by 2026, to our operational advantage.
    • Increasing the size of the Regular Force by 3,500 (to 71,500) and the Reserve Force by 1,500 (to 30,000) members. The Reserves will also become more integrated into the total force, providing agile and effective full-time capability through part-time service.
  • The launch of Strong, Secure, Engaged concludes the most comprehensive review process in Canadian defence and security history – a year-long review process that included open and transparent consultations with Canadians, parliamentarians, defence experts, allies, and partners.
  • The focus of Breakfast on the Bridge is to raise funds so that the Calgary MFRC can continue supporting mental health initiatives.

Associated Links

• Canada’s Defence Policy
• Imagery

Jordan Owens
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of National Defence
Phone: 613-996-3100
Email: jordan.owens@forces.gc.ca

Sarah McMaster
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
613-996-4649

Media Relations
Department of National Defence
Phone: 613-996-2353
Toll-Free: 1-866-377-0811
Email: mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca