# 2025-057 Pay and Benefits, Home Equity Assistance Program

Case summary

F&R Date: 2026-01-07

The grievor suffered a $104,000 home equity loss resulting from being posted from Toronto. They were reimbursed $34,000 through the Home Equity Assistance (HEA) benefit of the Canadian Armed Forces Relocation Directive (CAFRD). The grievor argued that the loss was financially devastating, that it was incurred in fulfilling the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and that the CAFRD needs to better protect members when they are required to relocate.

The Initial Authority (IA) determined that the grievor had been treated in accordance with applicable policy, noting that the grievor had been reimbursed to the maximum extent possible under the CAFRD. The IA noted that HEA is among a variety of topics that are continually reviewed and that grievance cases are taken into consideration when reviewing and updating policies.

The Committee highlighted the long-standing view shared by both the Committee and Final Authority that the HEA benefit was, and remains, lacking in addressing large home equity losses precipitated by a CAF member being ordered to relocate. While the Committee found that the grievor had been reimbursed the maximum amount allowed by policy, it also found that the grievor had suffered a devastating personal financial loss as a result of their duty to follow orders. The Committee concluded that the HEA benefit failed to account for the realities of the Canadian real estate market and the CAFRD also failed to provide any avenue for the consideration of special circumstances. As such, the Committee found that the grievor had been aggrieved. 

The Committee recommended that the grievor be added to the list of personnel who have suffered losses far beyond the reimbursement limit established in the CAFRD, with acknowledgment that it was unclear to the Committee whether the grievor could be included under a submission that was understood to be before the Treasury Board related to similar HEA-related grievance cases arising from grievors being posted from Cold Lake, Alberta. The Committee additionally recommended that the Chief of Defence Staff champion improvements to the HEA benefit to adequately protect CAF members from devastating financial losses as a result of being ordered to relocate.