Operating context and key risks

Operating context

VAC's operating context is characterized by demographic changes and economic conditions that affect the opportunities available to Veterans. These changes contribute to the rising expectations for our delivery of services.

The population that VAC serves is diverse in age, location, financial well-being, family supports and more. Approximately 650,000 former CAF members with distinct needs make up this population. The Department's mandate is to find a way to address all these different needs. This challenge informs all of VAC's activities and operations.

The Government of Canada has committed to support Veterans and their families, and has continued to increased funds to VAC services in its federal budgets. Keeping pace with such significant change can challenge our capacity to deliver programs and services. Pacing our programs and planning carefully helped us overcome this challenge.

This year we continued to implement the commitments from the Minister's mandate with our current resources. The Department assigned more resources to the program areas so that those areas were properly equipped.

The policies and priorities of the Government of Canada influence how the Department is able to complete its work. We balanced the new commitments of the mandate letter with our own departmental priorities, while still working towards the more general goals of the government. Canadians expect open and transparent government. They want to participate in their government's decisions. We need to continue to provide reliable and timely information to make sure that Veterans know about the benefits available to them and their families.

We understand that Veterans and their families have individual needs. We therefore provided benefits and services tailored to those unique needs. This strategy is part of our promise to Canadians to make real changes to our services. We also recognize that we need to work with other government departments and with individual Veterans to address all aspects of Veterans' well-being, and ensure Veterans receive all the help they need.

Key risks

Integrated risk management is a key component of modern management. It identifies possible risks and strategies for managing them. It makes sure all team members understand the risks, communicate them and consider them in their decisions. If done well, the technique allows teams to tackle challenges before those difficulties present themselves. The table below outlines the Department's response to potential risks and the steps taken to control them.