Starting this September, veterans and their family members will be able to participate in a free online health promotion program called MissionVAV. This program, sponsored by the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Fund, is a fun way to improve wellness in different areas such as fitness, decreasing stress, improving sleep, eating healthier and losing weight. The program sets up missions, which include physical activities that can be measured. The missions last approximately six weeks and each one has a different wellness goal. Start a team, join a team or do it on your own, there are many ways to take part whenever you want and wherever you are. Because the program is online, anyone with access to the internet using a computer, tablet or smartphone can join a mission. The objective of each ...

Did you know service officers care and can help you, and it will cost you nothing? Yes, that is true, free of charge. The Royal Canadian Legion’s Veterans Services Network service officers can assist and represent still-serving Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, veterans, RCMP members and their families regarding disability claims or related issues with Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board (VRAB). We provide free professional counselling and representation services at all levels of the disability claim process under the Pension Act or the Veterans Well-being Act. Our professional Legion command service officers provide these services free of charge, whether or not you are a member of the Legion. Our representation role is mandated through legislation...

What is the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) Assistance Service? The VAC Assistance Service is a counselling and referral service, available 24/7 through a toll-free number to veterans, former RCMP members, their families and caregivers. The VAC Assistance Service is a voluntary and confidential service delivered through a nationwide team of mental-health professionals. When you phone, you will speak to a mental-health professional who will ask you questions to determine your needs and your location, and then match you up with a local mental-health professional for face-to-face counselling. There is no cost for the services provided. What types of counselling are available? The VAC Assistance Service can provide up to 20 sessions of counselling in a number of areas, including work-rela...

The CAF is reintroducing cards, known as the NDI 75, as a veteran’s service card intended to acknowledge the service of members and to encourage an enduring affiliation with the CAF. The Legion has not yet received all of the details so the purpose of this article is to provide advance notice of the imminent implementation of the NDI 75 Veteran’s Service Card (VSC), which replaces the former NDI 75 Record of Service Card. Eligibility for this card is aligned with Veterans Affairs Canada’s definition of a veteran and will be issued to all CAF members who successfully completed basic training and honourably released. The new Veteran’s Service Card will be distributed in stages beginning in September 2018. The first stage includes all newly releasing Canadian Armed Forces members. Inte...

Over the next three years Veterans Affairs Canada will roll out a guided support program for certain veterans and their families who need help navigating the department’s processes. “Previously it was up to the veteran to apply for benefits and services, (but) veterans often did not have enough information to be able to ask the questions that would enable them to apply,” Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan told the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs in March. “Now, VAC staff take the initiative to give veterans all the information they need about the services they’re eligible for,” he said. The program is aimed at veterans who “do not need a case manager, but need more than just a phone call,” he said. These veterans fall between those with complex needs who require help ...