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Veterans Well-being Act (S.C. 2005, c. 21)

Act current to 2024-08-18 and last amended on 2024-04-01. Previous Versions

PART 2Rehabilitation Services, Vocational Assistance and Financial Benefits (continued)

Rehabilitation Services and Vocational Assistance (continued)

Marginal note:Eligibility — spouses and common-law partners

  •  (1) The Minister may, on application, provide rehabilitation services and vocational assistance to a veteran’s spouse or common-law partner if the Minister

    • (a) has approved an application for rehabilitation services made by the veteran under section 8; and

    • (b) has determined, based on an assessment of the veteran under subsection 10(1), that the veteran would not benefit from vocational rehabilitation as a result of their having a diminished earning capacity that is due to the physical or mental health problem in respect of which the rehabilitation services were approved.

  • Marginal note:Continuation

    (2) If a veteran dies after an application made under subsection (1) has been approved, the survivor continues to be eligible to receive rehabilitation services and vocational assistance under that subsection.

Marginal note:Eligibility — survivors

 The Minister may, on application, provide rehabilitation services and vocational assistance to a member’s or a veteran’s survivor, if the member or veteran dies as a result of

  • (a) a service-related injury or disease; or

  • (b) a non-service-related injury or disease that was aggravated by service.

  • 2005, c. 21, s. 12
  • 2011, c. 12, s. 6

Marginal note:Assessment of needs

  •  (1) The Minister shall, on approving an application made under subsection 11(1) or section 12, assess the vocational assistance needs of the spouse, common-law partner or survivor and, if such needs are identified, shall assess the person’s medical, psycho-social and vocational rehabilitation needs.

  • Marginal note:Vocational assistance plan

    (2) The Minister may, for the purpose of restoring the earnings capacity of the spouse, common-law partner or survivor to a level that the Minister determines to be reasonable, given the person’s education, skills and experience, develop and implement a vocational assistance plan to address the vocational assistance needs that are identified in the assessment.

  • Marginal note:Rehabilitation plan

    (3) The Minister may, to the extent necessary to achieve the purpose set out in subsection (2), develop and implement a rehabilitation plan to address the rehabilitation needs that are identified in the assessment.

  • Marginal note:Development of plan

    (4) In developing a rehabilitation plan or a vocational assistance plan, the Minister shall

    • (a) have regard to any prescribed principles and factors; and

    • (b) be guided by current research in the fields of rehabilitation and vocational assistance.

Marginal note:Duration of plan

  •  (1) The duration of a rehabilitation plan or a vocational assistance plan shall be fixed by the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Evaluation of plan

    (2) The Minister may evaluate a rehabilitation plan or a vocational assistance plan at any time, and may modify the plan or change its duration.

Marginal note:Examination or assessment

  •  (1) The Minister may, when evaluating a rehabilitation plan, require the person for whom the plan has been developed to undergo a medical examination or an assessment by a person specified by the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Assessment

    (2) The Minister may, when evaluating a vocational assistance plan, require a person for whom the plan has been developed to undergo an assessment by a person specified by the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Non-compliance

    (3) If a person who is required to undergo a medical examination or an assessment fails without reasonable excuse to do so, the Minister may cancel the rehabilitation plan or the vocational assistance plan.

Marginal note:Refusal to provide services or assistance

  •  (1) The Minister may refuse to provide rehabilitation services or vocational assistance to a person to the extent they are available to the person as an insured service under a provincial health care system, a provincial or federal workers’ compensation plan or any other plan that may be prescribed.

  • Marginal note:Refusal to provide services or assistance

    (2) The Minister may refuse to provide rehabilitation services or vocational assistance, in whole or in part, to a person if those services or that assistance has already been provided or if the Minister considers that the refusal is reasonable in the circumstances.

Marginal note:Cancellation

 The Minister may cancel a rehabilitation plan or a vocational assistance plan in the prescribed circumstances.

Income Replacement Benefit

Veterans

Marginal note:Eligibility

  •  (1) The Minister may, on application, pay, in accordance with section 19 or 19.1, an income replacement benefit to a veteran who makes an application under section 8 and who has a physical or a mental health problem resulting primarily from service in the Canadian Forces that is creating a barrier to re-establishment in civilian life.

  • Marginal note:Veteran’s participation

    (2) Subject to subsection (9), a veteran who is informed by the Minister of their entitlement to an income replacement benefit is required

    • (a) to participate in the assessment of their needs under subsection 10(1); and

    • (b) if the Minister determines, as a result of that assessment, that a rehabilitation plan should be developed for the veteran, to participate in the development and implementation of the plan.

  • Marginal note:When benefit payable

    (3) Subject to subsection (4), the income replacement benefit begins to be payable on the later of

    • (a) the first day of the month in which the Minister determines that the veteran has provided all the prescribed information, and

    • (b) the day that is one year before the first day of the month in which the Minister determines that the veteran is entitled to the benefit.

  • Marginal note:Release from Canadian Forces

    (4) If the determination referred to in paragraph (3)(a) is made before the day on which the veteran is released from the Canadian Forces, then the day referred to in that paragraph is the first day of the month in which the veteran is released or, if the veteran is released on the last day of the month, the first day of the month after the month in which the veteran is released.

  • Marginal note:Determination — diminished earning capacity

    (5) If a rehabilitation plan is developed under section 10 for the physical or mental health problem referred to in subsection (1) for a veteran who is entitled to the income replacement benefit, then the Minister shall, in accordance with the regulations, determine whether the veteran has a diminished earning capacity that is due to that health problem, before the earlier of

    • (a) the day on which the veteran completes the rehabilitation plan, and

    • (b) the day on which the veteran attains the age of 65 years.

  • Marginal note:Duration of benefit

    (6) Subject to subsections (7) and 20(2) and section 21, the income replacement benefit ceases to be payable on the earlier of

    • (a) the first day of the month after the month in which the Minister determines, as a result of an assessment of the veteran’s needs under subsection 10(1), that a rehabilitation plan should not be developed for the veteran,

    • (b) the first day of the month after the month in which the veteran completes the rehabilitation plan referred to in subsection (5) or the rehabilitation plan is cancelled,

    • (c) the first day of the month after the month in which the veteran attains the age of 65 years, and

    • (d) the first day of the month after the month in which the veteran dies.

  • Marginal note:Continuation

    (7) If the Minister determines under subsection (5) that the veteran has a diminished earning capacity that is due to the physical or mental health problem referred to in subsection (1), the income replacement benefit continues to be payable to the veteran even if the rehabilitation plan has been completed or cancelled or the veteran has attained the age of 65 years, but the benefit ceases to be payable on the earlier of

    • (a) the first day of the month after the month in which the Minister determines that the veteran no longer has a diminished earning capacity that is due to that health problem, and

    • (b) the first day of the month after the month in which the veteran dies.

  • Marginal note:Deeming

    (8) If the Minister makes the determination referred to in subsection (5) after the day on which the veteran attains the age of 65 years because the Minister was of the opinion that the reasons for delaying the determination were reasonable in the circumstances, that determination is deemed, for the purposes of subsection (7), to have been made before that day.

  • Marginal note:Non-application of subsection (2)

    (9) Subsection (2) does not apply to a veteran if the Minister determines under subsection (5) that the veteran has a diminished earning capacity that is due to the physical or mental health problem.

  • Marginal note:Non-application — paragraph (7)(a)

    (10) Paragraph (7)(a) does not apply to a veteran who has attained the age of 65 years.

Marginal note:Amount of benefit — veteran under age 65

  •  (1) Subject to the regulations, the monthly amount of the income replacement benefit that is payable under section 18 to a veteran who is under the age of 65 years — or to a veteran who has attained the age of 65 years, for the month in which the veteran attained that age — shall be determined by the formula

    A - B

    where

    A
    is 90% of the veteran’s imputed income for a month; and
    B
    is an amount that is payable to the veteran for a month from prescribed sources.
  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

    • (a) respecting, for the purposes of subsection (1), the determination of the imputed income in respect of a class of veterans, including the periodic adjustment — including in accordance with a career progression factor — of the monthly military salary used in that determination;

    • (b) providing for a minimum amount of imputed income in respect of a class of veterans and for the periodic adjustment of that minimum amount; and

    • (c) respecting the determination, for the purpose of the description of B in subsection (1), of an amount payable to a class of veterans for a month.

    • (d) [Repealed, 2018, c. 12, s. 132]

  • Marginal note:Career progression factor

    (3) If regulations made under paragraph (2)(a) provide for the periodic adjustment of a veteran’s monthly military salary in accordance with a career progression factor, that periodic adjustment may only be applied if the Minister determines under subsection 18(5) that the veteran has a diminished earning capacity, and it shall not be applied after the earlier of

    • (a) the last day of the prescribed number of years of service of the veteran in the Canadian Forces, and

    • (b) the day before the day on which the veteran attains the age of 60 years.

Marginal note:Amount of benefit — veteran 65 years or older

  •  (1) Subject to the regulations and section 19, the monthly amount of the income replacement benefit that is payable under section 18 to a veteran who has attained the age of 65 years shall be determined by the formula

    A – B

    where

    A
    is 70% of the income replacement benefit that the veteran would have been entitled to for the month in which they attain the age of 65 years had any amounts that were payable to the veteran from prescribed sources referred to in subsection 19(1) not been taken into account; and
    B
    is an amount that is payable to the veteran for a month from prescribed sources.
  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

    • (a) providing for the periodic adjustment of the amount determined for A in subsection (1); and

    • (b) respecting the determination, for the purpose of the description of B in subsection (1), of an amount payable to a class of veterans for a month.

Marginal note:Examination or assessment

  •  (1) The Minister may, for the purpose of determining whether a veteran continues to be entitled to an income replacement benefit under section 18, require the veteran to undergo a medical examination or an assessment by a person specified by the Minister.

  • Marginal note:Non-compliance

    (2) If a veteran who is required by the Minister to undergo a medical examination or an assessment fails without reasonable excuse to do so, the Minister may suspend the payment of the income replacement benefit. If the veteran continues to fail to undergo the medical examination or the assessment for a period of 30 days after the day on which payment of the benefit is suspended, the Minister may cancel the benefit.

Marginal note:Suspension or cancellation

 The Minister may, in the prescribed circumstances, suspend the payment of an income replacement benefit that is payable under section 18 or cancel the benefit.

Survivors and Orphans

Marginal note:Eligibility — service-related death before age 65

  •  (1) The Minister may, on application, pay, in accordance with section 23, an income replacement benefit to a member’s or a veteran’s survivor or orphan if the member or veteran dies before the day on which they attain the age of 65 years as the result of

    • (a) a service-related injury or disease; or

    • (b) a non-service-related injury or disease that was aggravated by service.

  • Marginal note:When benefit payable

    (2) The income replacement benefit begins to be payable on the later of

    • (a) the first day of the month after the month in which the member or veteran dies, and

    • (b) the day that is one year before the first day of the month in which the Minister determines that the survivor or orphan is entitled to the benefit.

  • Marginal note:Duration of benefit

    (3) Subject to section 26.2, the income replacement benefit ceases to be payable, as the case may be,

    • (a) to the survivor, on the first day of the month after the month in which the survivor dies; and

    • (b) to the orphan, on the earlier of

      • (i) the first day of the month after the month in which the orphan is no longer an orphan, and

      • (ii) the first day of the month after the month in which the orphan dies.

 

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