Current status: closed
This consultation ran from 19 September 2022 to 31 October 2022.
Every year thousands of Regular and Reserve Forces members transition from the military without guidance on how to find employment in the private and public sectors. During their military service members develop unique skills from first-class training and experiences that make them vital assets to the civilian workforce. VAC developed a strategy to connect Veterans and employers to leverage these skills resulting in finding meaningful employment after service.
To help develop the National Veterans Employment Strategy, we consulted with members of the Veteran and employer community from 19 September 2022 to 31 October 2022.
VAC promoted the consultation on all social media channels, My VAC Account, email, and in the Salute! newsletter, to help us reach as many Veterans and stakeholders as possible.
Who was the focus of this consultation
Veterans Affairs Canada engaged with:
- Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces;
- Still-serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Key questions for discussion
Through 21 questions (including six open-ended ones), we asked respondents to share their thoughts on Veteran employment. Questions focused on the following topics:
- Demographics;
- Expectations for employment;
- Barriers encountered while job searching;
- Ways to reduce barriers; and,
- Types of support needed.
What we heard
You said
From the 1,016 people participated in the consultation we received 945 submissions in English and 71 in French.
Key takeaways
- While some Veterans transition to civilian work right away, others feel they aren’t given enough time to be ready to enter civilian workplaces. In that latter case, they may be excluded from resources because they do not meet time-related eligibility criteria;
- Some Veterans want to do work that is new and unrelated to their military experience. Others would like to do similar work, but are frustrated that their military occupations don’t translate well into civilian work, and want civilian equivalencies to be easier to obtain; and,
- Many Veterans feel they are seen as either too young to obtain senior positions, or too old for companies to be interested in hiring them.
Next steps
The data we collected from this consultation was used to guide and develop the National Veterans Employment Strategy. It will also inform other initiatives at VAC and the Government of Canada.
The Department and the Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs will continue working together with stakeholders and Veterans to further identify barriers and solutions to dismantle them.
Related information
Service after Service: The National Veterans Employment Strategy