QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Veterans Affairs
Funding for Veterans
October 23, 2025
Minister McKnight, while the government plans major new investments in defence readiness and equipment, there remains a troubling imbalance between funding for current operations and long-term care for those who served. For example, thousands of veterans still face months-long waits for disability decisions, transition support or access to mental health care. As Canada increases defence spending, will the minister commit to ensuring that a fixed and transparent proportion of that spending is set aside specifically for veterans transition, rehabilitation and family supports so that those who defend Canada are not forgotten once they take off the uniform?
Thank you for the question.
You made mention of some of the waits that veterans may experience when waiting for services. The department has been working very hard to reduce those times, because we know that when a veteran has gotten to the point of submitting an application they may have already gone through a period of suffering at that point. Therefore, any time there’s a wait, it can really make it feel impossible.
That is part of the steps that we’re taking with our service modernization on service delivery to be able to respond in more timely ways to veterans so we can get them the services and benefits that they’re eligible for in a quicker fashion. This also leads to the component about making sure that we are meeting the needs of the families who stand with our veterans in their service.
Minister, I didn’t hear a commitment to a shared percentage of funding. I didn’t hear a number, and it’s worrying.
Can you at least commit to embedding transparent, measurable veteran care and transition outcomes into all future defence-budget planning so that Canadians know how much of the new spending directly benefits veterans and their families rather than being absorbed by bureaucracy or procurement? It’s nice to have these aspirational talking points, but we need to have a concrete number and a percentage of the new funding that will be allocated to this problem.
One of the important things to keep top of mind is that 94% of the funding that Veterans Affairs receives goes to delivering benefits and supports to our veterans. I can commit to making sure that we are putting the needs of veterans at the top of our priorities and that we are ensuring that veterans are able to receive all the benefits for which they are eligible.
Minister, according to your briefing notes from last June, when the 2025-26 budget is tabled, your department should be receiving $7.8 billion towards its mission of supporting Canada’s 163,000 veterans. Roughly speaking, that is just under $50,000 per veteran and for their family members, caregivers and survivors, and I really should be multiplying that by the 94% you talked about.
How could the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of National Defence and perhaps even other departments that provide services work together to better support our veterans and their families?
Veterans Affairs is very committed to working with our fellow ministries to ensure we are able to support veterans in as many ways as possible.
I’ve made reference to some of the work that we do with Health Canada with regard to new, emerging treatments. Certainly, we work together with the Minister of National Defence. This is something that I’m working closely on, particularly as it relates to ensuring a seamless transition for those who are serving and are moving into their role as a veteran.
We are looking to ensure we have that continuum of experience. These are individuals who have served our country, and we are focused on working together to ensure they have that smooth transition.
We are looking for all of those opportunities to work with our fellow ministries.
Minister, with the budget restrictions announced in conjunction with the increase in NATO military spending targets, can our NATO commitments include Veterans Affairs budgets while maintaining services for veterans? If so, how? If not, why not?
Veterans Affairs spending does count towards NATO spending. I believe $7.3 million last year was contributed to it, and we are actually the second-largest contributor to the NATO calculation for Canada’s contribution.
