QUESTION PERIOD — Veterans Affairs
Veterans Emergency Fund
November 8, 2023
Government leader, my question concerns two federal programs aimed at helping homeless veterans. In 2021, your government promised $45 million for a two-year pilot project to reduce homelessness among veterans through such measures as rent supplements. Rent is now the highest it has ever been in Canada, at an average of $2,149 in September according to the Rentals.ca National Rent Report. Your new program was finally launched in April of this year and accepted applications for eight weeks.
Government leader, has any of this funding been allocated? Have any veterans been helped under this program? Why did it take so long to get it up and running when rent has doubled in the meantime?
Thank you for underlining this important issue, an important one and a moral one for those who have served our country admirably, and their families as well.
I’m advised that the government is investing $445 million over the coming years to tackle the important issue of housing. It’ll be used to build new housing, bases and wings, and renovate a number of existing housing units. That’s one piece of it. In addition, I’m advised that the government has put into place a number of policies to support veterans and their families. For example, increasing rates of pay for military members to assure alignment with increases in the federal public sector; implementing an interim relocation policy to enable remote work options; and covering some additional expenses for dual residency for up to six months if a Canadian Armed Forces member cannot sell their residence. This is not a complete answer to the problem, that is for sure. It continues to work on this important matter.
I would appreciate your responses to my specific questions regarding the rent supplement program.
The Veterans Emergency Fund provides financial help to veterans experiencing a crisis. A briefing note produced in March for the Veterans Affairs minister states:
Every year since the program started in April 2018, the demand for the Veterans Emergency Fund has been more than the $1 million dollars of annual funding.
As this program has been underfunded every single year since it began, are Canada’s veterans still asking for more than the government can give, as Prime Minister Trudeau said once before?
It is important that there are proper resources to meet the legitimate demands of veterans, and I certainly will bring this particular matter to the attention of the minister.
