7 October 2025
09:00 – 15:00 ET
Hybrid – 66 Slater Street, Ottawa / Microsoft Teams
Care and Support Advisory Group members
- Lieutenant Navy (Retired) Sylvain Bouliane, VeteransCanada.ca
- Mary Boutette, The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre
- Second Lieutenant (Retired) Walter Callaghan, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
- Major (Retired) Jorma Hamalainen
- Major (Retired) Bruce Henwood, National Council of Veteran Associations
- Captain (Retired) Rod Holowaty
- Sergeant (Retired) Andrea Newton (Care and Support Advisory Group co-chair)
- Alexa Pasha, Royal Canadian Legion
Policy Advisory Group members
- Master Warrant Officer (Retired) Dave Armitt, Métis National Veterans Council
- Lieutenant Commander (Retired) Lori Buchart
- Major (Retired) Mark Campbell
- Sergeant (Retired) Kim Hendricken, RCMP Veterans Association
- Lieutenant (Retired) Carolyn Hughes, Royal Canadian Legion
- Captain (Retired) Dennis LeBlanc (Policy Advisory Group co-chair)
- Master Corporal (Retired) Keith McAllister, Veterans UN-NATO Canada
- Sailor 1st class (Retired) Scott White
Regrets
- Sergeant (Retired) Catherine Bergeron
- Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (Retired) Debbie Eisan, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones
- Marie-Andrée Malette, Canadian Caregivers Brigade
- Brigadier General (Retired) Joe Sharpe
Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs
- Michael Hamm, Director of Policy
Veterans Affairs Canada officials
- Nathan Svenson, Senior Director, Disability and Health Care Policy Division (VAC co-chair)
- Jeff Gallant, Manager, Community Engagement Division
- Amy MacDougald, Senior Analyst, Community Engagement Division
- Noah Ellis, Project Operations Assistant, Community Engagement Division
Observers
- Brigadier-General Serge Ménard, Canadian Armed Forces
- Bronwyn Rodd, Office of the Veterans Ombud
Presenters
- Steve Giberson, Respect Canada
- Leo Goudal, Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
- Laura Kelly, Office of the Veterans Ombud
Welcome and land acknowledgement
The VAC co-chair opened the meeting by welcoming members, in-person and virtual attendees, and thanked those who travelled to Ottawa for their hybrid meeting. He shared a land acknowledgement and encouraged members to reflect on how they can contribute towards reconciliation.
Opening remarks
The member co-chairs provided welcoming remarks, with one member co-chair reflecting on her positive phone conversation with the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defense. The VAC co-chair then welcomed members to provide roundtable introductions and share their objectives for the meeting.
The group was joined by the Director of Policy for the Minister of Veterans Affairs. He shared that the Minister was disappointed that she was unable to attend herself, as her presence was required in the House of Commons.
Presentations
Steve Giberson, Director of National Programs with Respect Canada presented an overview of their organization and programs, then held a roundtable discussion with the members. The discussion included information about Respect Canada’s Respect Forms, academic outreach, and their vetting process for Veterans organizations included in the Respect Map. Some members suggested that VAC should provide a directory of Veterans organizations on their website in addition to the Veterans Resource Directory. It was shared that CAF provides the National Resource Directory that includes verified organizations that offer supports, services and resources for the Military, Veteran, and family communities. Finally, Mr. Giberson expressed his thanks and shared information on the funding that VAC provides to support their work.
Leo Goudal, Research and Policy Analyst from the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families shared information on their Peer support guidelines for Veterans, military, public safety personnel, and their Families. In response to a member’s question, Mr. Goudal shared that Indigenous representation was included in the formulation of the guidelines, but not specifically input from elders. Members engaged in a discussion on formal and informal peer support approaches, agreeing that there is a need for both. Finally, members discussed the Atlas Peer Support Directory and its mapping of peer support programs throughout the country.
Following the presentation, the group reflected on the discussions as related to their objectives. They discussed the role of the Clergy in providing peer support to CAF members and Veterans. The discussion also included questions surrounding the upcoming Federal budget on 4 November 2025.
Laura Kelly, Director of Intervention Services in the Office for the Veterans Ombud presented the types of complaints that her office see related to Treatment Benefits, including how many complaints the office pursues. She noted that their mandate focuses on ensuring fair treatment. Members then engaged in a broad discussion, including on the use of newly developed weight loss medication and under what conditions they might be covered by VAC, as well as CAF members who leave the CAF, but choose not to become clients of VAC.
The debrief on the Federal Health Claims Processing Service (FHCPS) May 2025 information session was omitted due to time constraints. The presentation was previously distributed to the members.
Recommendations discussion
The group reviewed the themes associated with their feedback related to the groups’ mandate to date including:
- Gaps in Treatment Benefits
- Access and Navigation Barriers
- Financial and Coverage Issues
- Communication and Awareness
- Equity Across Veteran Populations
The group discussed potential recommendation topics including:
- The Advisory Group members unanimously affirmed their support of the 2021 Office of Veterans Ombuds recommendation that family members have access to federal Government funded mental health treatment in their own right when the mental health illness is related to conditions of military service experienced by the family member, independent of the Veteran’s treatment plan and regardless of whether the Veteran is engaging in treatment. They voiced that this should apply to CAF and RCMP.
- Ensuring spousal reunification in the event that both the Veteran and their spouse are in long-term care.
- Measures to prevent organizations from profiting off of Veterans by providing services that VAC and RCL provide for free.
- Review of existing treatment benefits to remove unnecessary administrative barriers. A specific example was POC 1 items that are disposable or low value should not require an annual medical recommendation.
- Streamlining consequential diagnosis.
- Wellness initiatives, such as fitness memberships, for prevention.
In preparation for the next meeting, the co-chairs will provide a recommendations summary for prioritization.
A member expressed concern that updates on the recommendations that had previously been made by this advisory group have not been shared leading them to think they have not been acted upon. The VAC co-chair updated the group that the department has been actively tracking progress of their recommendations.
The VAC co-chair and member co-chairs thanked members for their continued work and wished them safe-travels.
Meeting adjourned.