The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, today announced funding of $139.6 million over two years to extend temporary positions as part of action to reduce processing times for disability benefit applications at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

“Nothing is more important right now than ensuring Veterans receive their benefits in a timely manner and we remain committed to reducing the processing times for Disability Benefit applications. We are making tangible progress, but the job is not done. With this investment, VAC staff can continue making decisions faster, and get the backlog under control.”

The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

• Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, VAC experienced a 40% increase in disability benefit applications, including an increase of more than 75% in first applications.

• As of 19 February 2022, we had reduced the number of applications waiting longer than 16 weeks by 44% (from about 23,000 to just under 13,000). By the end of March, we expect to have cut the backlog in half, to 11,500.

Associated links

• Reducing processing times for Veterans (veterans.gc.ca)
• Disability benefit processing summary report (quarterly statistics)

Media Relations
Veterans Affairs Canada
613-992-7468
media@veterans.gc.ca

John Embury
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
john.embury@veterans.gc.ca