The health-related travel benefit will help you pay for travel to attend health care treatment or rehabilitation appointments that are covered by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).
Who should use this form?
You should use the VAC752 form to claim qualifying expenses if:
- You have travel related expenses required to access health care treatment benefits that are covered by VAC;
- You are an active participant in VAC’s rehabilitation program and you travel to receive approved rehabilitation services.
Rehabilitation-related travel must be approved before you travel to your appointment.
You should NOT use this form if:
- Your expenses are from medical appointments that VAC or the Veterans Review and Appeal Board requested for a disability pension or award
- Your expenses are from medical appointments to have a doctor complete forms or assessments for VAC’s Financial Benefits program
In both of these cases you should submit form VAC1018.
What appointments are included?
You can submit a health-related travel claim for any VAC-approved health care treatment appointment or pre-approved rehabilitation appointment that you attend.
VAC pays for travel to appointments that are VAC benefits. If a treatment is not a VAC benefit, VAC cannot pay for any costs that result from the travel to the appointment.
Appointment Verification
You will need to get an "Appointment Attendance Verification" from your health provider’s office. You must keep this verification for 12 months after you submit your travel claim in case VAC asks for it. This is part of VAC’s regular review process. Your health care professional or their office staff can provide this verification by:
- Completing and signing/stamping your claim form (VAC752) in Section B
- Providing you with an appointment attendance card that includes the date and time of your appointment, as well as your health care professional’s address and signature/stamp
- Providing a signed letter from your health care professional’s office confirming the appointment attendance date, time, and address
What types of expenses are covered?
VAC may cover the following travel costs:
- transportation
- meals
- lodging
- fees you pay to an escort when an escort is medically necessary and pre-approved by VAC.
Transportation
VAC will reimburse you for travel to the nearest treatment centre within Canada. VAC takes your health condition into consideration when processing a health-related travel reimbursement. Some transportation costs that may be covered include:
- Private motor vehicle
- When submitting a claim for travel in a private motor vehicle (either yours or someone else’s), you should include the round-trip distance in kilometers recorded from the vehicle’s odometer, or using an online distance calculator.
- Submit the distance travelled to and from your appointment only. If you travelled extra distance for personal reasons, that distance cannot be included in your claim.
- VAC will verify the distance using an online calculator when reviewing your claim. VAC will contact you for more details if there is a significant difference between the distance shown in the online calculator and the distance on your claim.
- Air, bus, or train travel
- Travel by air, bus (other than local transit), or train must be pre-approved by VAC in order to be covered as a health-related travel expense. When using these forms of travel, you must choose the most economical option, such as economy class, to receive reimbursement.
- Taxi
- We may reimburse you for your taxi ride minus a $5 flat fee you must pay yourself for each one-way trip.
The Government of Canada does not recommend the use of ridesharing services, such as Uber.
- We may reimburse you for your taxi ride minus a $5 flat fee you must pay yourself for each one-way trip.
- Ferry, parking, or tolls
- We will reimburse the cost of ferry, parking, or tolls where applicable.
Transportation costs may not be fully reimbursed if the transportation you used was not the most economical considering your health condition, or if it was not to the nearest appropriate treatment centre.
Meals
VAC will pay you a fixed meal allowance if you are away from home for the entire meal period (meal periods listed below) because of a medical appointment.
Receipts for meals that you claim do not need to be kept or submitted.
When determining the time away from home, VAC uses an online distance calculator and considers the time it takes to travel to and from the appointment, the wait time, and the time to attend the medical appointment.
The meal periods are:
- breakfast: 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
- lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- dinner: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
For example, a breakfast allowance will be paid if you leave home before 6:30 a.m. and return home after 8:30 a.m. to attend the appointment you are submitting a claim for. If your travel time is extended for personal reasons or to eat, a meal cannot be included in your claim.
Meal allowances may be paid outside the hours noted above if a reasonable explanation is provided (for example, if you are undergoing tests where fasting is required).
Lodging
VAC may cover the cost of lodging when the round-trip travel between your home and the nearest appropriate treatment centre is more than 350 kilometers.
Pre-approval is required for lodging to be covered. Lodging will be covered up to the maximum commercial accommodation rate.
Lodging and related expenses may be covered when you are required to stay overnight due to your treatment, and the distance is less than 350 kilometers round-trip. In this situation pre-approval is also required.
The Government of Canada does not recommend the use of private offerings, such as Airbnb.
What is an Escort?
An escort is a person who accompanies you, when medically necessary, to your medical, surgical or dental appointment. Some things you should know about escorts are:
- Your health care professional must confirm that it is medically necessary that someone accompany you to your appointment(s) for VAC to approve an escort.
- Travel expenses for your escort should be included in the travel expenses you enter in Section C of the claim form. Costs associated with travel in a vehicle (kilometric rate/mileage, parking, tolls, etc.) will be covered only once per claim as you and your escort would be travelling together.
- You may qualify for an escort fee if your escort is not your spouse, common-law partner, dependant, or any member of your household, including a live-in caregiver.
- If you are submitting a claim for escort fee and expenses, the escort must complete and sign a VAC752D, Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form for each appointment they attended with you.
- Escort-related expenses are reimbursed to you, not the escort.
The Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form is considered a receipt and you will need to keep it for 12 months from the date you submit your claim in case VAC asks you to provide your receipts. The amount you enter in Section D of the claim form and the amount you pay your escort must match the amount your escort enters on the Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form.
The maximum VAC will cover for an escort is based on pension rates under the Pension Act and is adjusted each year. If you pay your escort a lower rate, VAC will cover the amount you paid.
How do I submit my travel claim?
Online
Complete and submit your form online using My VAC Account
By mail
Mail your completed form to:
National Reimbursement Centre
PO Box 6700
Moncton NB E1C 0T8
How much time do I have to submit my claim?
Health-related travel claim for treatment benefits: within 18 months of the date of the medical or health appointment.
Rehabilitation-related expense claim: within 12 months of the date of service for rehabilitation services.
Do I need receipts?
Receipts must get:
- verification of your attended medical appointment(s)
- escort fees
- lodging
- transportation costs other than kilometers/mileage
Receipts are not required for:
- meals
- kilometers when driving in a private vehicle
- any amount claimed that is less than $10
Some Veterans are specifically asked to submit receipts with each of their travel claims. Unless you fall into this category you do not need to submit receipts with your health-related travel claim.
You do need to get appointment verification, receipts, and other supporting documents at the time of the appointment for 12 months from the date you submit your claim. At any time during those 12 months, you may be asked to provide them for review purposes.
If you do not want to keep your receipts for 12 months, you can include the receipts and related documents with your claim or upload them to My VAC Account, and we will keep them for you. If you choose one of these options, you will not be asked to provide them again.
Where can I get more information?
If you have questions, you can contact VAC:
- Call us toll-free at 1-866-522-2122 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time)
- Send us a My VAC Account secure message
- Request an in-person appointment using our online booking form or by calling 1-866-522-2122
Please note our service locations offer in-person services by appointment only.
You will find additional information on the VAC website at the following links: