Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor declined to comment this week on new figures revealing that her department now employs one staff member for every 39 veterans it serves, even though the majority of veterans in Canada have no contact with the department at all. Blacklock's Reporter says the statistics have raised concerns about efficiency and resource allocation within the department, as veteran engagement remains low.According to a recently released report, Veterans Affairs Canada Services For Veterans: Concept Testing And Evaluation, the department serves 143,835 clients out of Canada’s 461,240 veterans, based on the 2021 Census. The report also highlights that “half of non-clients are not familiar with the programs and services available” to them.Despite this, the department has increased its staffing by 26% since 2015, growing from 2,907 to 3,676 full-time employees. This staffing surge has occurred while fewer than a third of veterans are in contact with the department. Critics are questioning why the department continues to expand its workforce, even as the number of veterans it serves remains relatively small.Petitpas Taylor’s office did not respond when asked whether Veterans Affairs had considered a hiring freeze or reducing staff numbers to better align with the veteran population. The department recently boosted its spending to a record $6.2 billion, with much of the new funding going toward staff salaries and benefits. A 2024 Departmental Plan noted that $109.2 million of a $164.4 million increase for veterans’ benefits was allocated to “help us keep temporary employees.”At a May 8 hearing before the Commons veterans affairs committee, Petitpas Taylor defended the increased spending. “As you know, the majority of Veterans Affairs Canada’s programs are demand-driven,” she said, explaining that the additional staff was necessary to “meet the demand.”However, internal documents suggest that the department’s operational planning does not take into account the broader veteran population figures. In a briefing note titled Census Data On Veterans, the department stated that it relies on “actual program intake and service utilization data” to forecast needs, rather than Census counts.This approach has sparked criticism, especially since Canada’s Veterans Affairs Department employs far more staff compared to other countries with similar veteran populations. A 2009 report, New Veterans Charter Evaluation, found that while Canada has 3,676 employees managing veterans’ programs, the United Kingdom and Australia each employ only 2,100 staff, despite having similar numbers of veterans to serve.
