War Veterans Allowance Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. W-3)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the War Veterans Allowance Act.

Construction

Marginal note:Construction

1.01 The provisions of this Act shall be liberally construed and interpreted to the end that the recognized obligation of the people and Government of Canada to those who have served their country so well and to their dependants may be fulfilled.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  adjudication

  adjudication means any decision, determination, refusal or award made under this Act pertaining to an allowance; (décision)

  allowance

  allowance means an allowance payable under this Act; (allocation)

  base calendar year

  base calendar year means the calendar year ending next before the current payment period; (année civile de base)

  blind

  blind has the meaning prescribed by regulations made under paragraph 25(q); (aveugle)

  Board

  Board means the Veterans Review and Appeal Board established by section 4 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act; (Tribunal)

  child

  child means a child of

  • (a) a veteran,

  • (b) a veteran’s survivor who, having been a recipient, marries and

    • (i) whose spouse of that marriage dies, or

    • (ii) whose marriage ends in dissolution or legal separation, or

  • (c) a veteran’s survivor who, having been a recipient, acquires a common-law partner and

    • (i) whose common-law partner dies, or

    • (ii) who ceases to cohabit with that common-law partner,

  and includes an adopted child or a foster child of a veteran, and a child, adopted child or foster child of a veteran’s spouse or common-law partner; (enfant)

  common-law partner

  common-law partner, in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual at the relevant time in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year. For greater certainty,

  • (a) in the case of an individual’s death, the relevant time means the time of that death; and

  • (b) common-law partners cease to be common-law partners when they cease to cohabit; (conjoint de fait)

  Consumer Price Index

  Consumer Price Index, in relation to any adjustment quarter, means the average of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that adjustment quarter; (indice des prix à la consommation)

  current fiscal year

  current fiscal year[Repealed, 1998, c. 21, s. 121]

  current payment period

  current payment period, in relation to a month, means the payment period that includes the month; (période de paiement en cours)

  Department

  Department means the Department of Veterans Affairs; (ministère)

  dependent child

  dependent child means

  • (a) a child who has no spouse or common-law partner and is

    • (i) under the age of eighteen years,

    • (ii) under the age of twenty-five years and following and making satisfactory progress in a course of instruction approved by the Minister,

    • (iii) under the age of twenty-one years and prevented by physical or mental incapacity from earning a livelihood, or

    • (iv) over the age of twenty-one years and prevented by physical or mental incapacity from earning a livelihood, where the incapacity occurred before the child attained the age of twenty-one years, or after the age of twenty-one years and before the age of twenty-five years while following and making satisfactory progress in a course of instruction approved by the Minister, or

  • (b) a child referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) who has a spouse or common-law partner and is financially dependent on a recipient; (enfant à charge)

  first adjustment quarter

  first adjustment quarter, in relation to a payment quarter, means,

  • (a) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of April, the period of three months commencing on the first day of November next before that first day of April,

  • (b) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of July, the period of three months commencing on the first day of February next before that first day of July,

  • (c) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of October, the period of three months commencing on the first day of May next before that first day of October, and

  • (d) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of January, the period of three months commencing on the first day of August next before that first day of January; (premier trimestre de rajustement)

  Korean War

  Korean War means the military operations undertaken by the United Nations to restore peace in the Republic of Korea during the period from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, inclusive; (guerre de Corée)

  Minister

  Minister means the Minister of Veterans Affairs; (ministre)

  orphan

  orphan means

  • (a) a child who is bereft by death of his or her parents,

  • (b) a child who is bereft by death of one parent and whose surviving parent has, in the opinion of the Minister, abandoned or deserted the child, or

  • (c) a child of

    • (i) divorced or separated parents, or

    • (ii) parents who are neither spouses nor common-law partners of each other

    who is bereft by death of a parent who, at the time of death, was receiving an additional allowance in respect of that child or would have been eligible to receive an additional allowance in respect of that child but for the level of that parent’s income, and

  which child, not being the child of any other recipient, is

  • (d) under the age of eighteen years,

  • (e) under the age of twenty-five years and following and making satisfactory progress in a course of instruction approved by the Minister,

  • (f) under the age of twenty-one years and prevented by physical or mental incapacity from earning a livelihood, or

  • (g) over the age of twenty-one years and prevented by physical or mental incapacity from earning a livelihood, where the incapacity occurred before the child attained the age of twenty-one years or after the age of twenty-one years and before the age of twenty-five years while following and making satisfactory progress in a course of instruction approved by the Minister; (orphelin)

  parent

  parent includes

  • (a) an adoptive or foster-parent, and

  • (b) a parent’s spouse or common-law partner; (parent)

  payment period

  payment period means

  • (a) before April 1, 1998, the fiscal year,

  • (b) the fifteen-month period that begins on April 1, 1998 and ends on June 30, 1999, and

  • (c) after June 30, 1999, the twelve-month period that begins on July 1 of one year and ends on June 30 of the next year; (période de paiement)

  payment quarter

  payment quarter means a period of three months commencing on the first day of April, July, October or January in any payment period; (trimestre de paiement)

  payment review period

  payment review period[Repealed, 2000, c. 34, s. 69]

  personal information

  personal information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Privacy Act; (renseignements personnels)

  previous fiscal year

  previous fiscal year[Repealed, 1998, c. 21, s. 121]

  previous payment period

  previous payment period means the payment period ending next before the current payment period; (période de paiement précédente)

  recipient

  recipient means any person to whom or on whose behalf payment of an allowance is authorized by this Act; (allocataire ou bénéficiaire)

  resistance group

  resistance group means any force that was raised during World War I or World War II, as delimited by subsection 37(10), in a country after it was occupied by an enemy of His Majesty in that War and that operated against that enemy; (groupe de résistance)

  second adjustment quarter

  second adjustment quarter, in relation to a payment quarter, means,

  • (a) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of April, the period of three months commencing on the first day of August next before that first day of April,

  • (b) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of July, the period of three months commencing on the first day of November next before that first day of July,

  • (c) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of October, the period of three months commencing on the first day of February next before that first day of October, and

  • (d) if the payment quarter commences on the first day of January, the period of three months commencing on the first day of May next before that first day of January; (second trimestre de rajustement)

  surviving common-law partner

  surviving common-law partner, in relation to an individual, does not include, for greater certainty, a person who, at the time of the individual’s death, was a former common-law partner of that individual; (conjoint de fait survivant)

  surviving spouse

  surviving spouse, in relation to an individual, does not include, for greater certainty, a person who, at the time of the individual’s death, was a divorced spouse of that individual; (époux survivant)

  survivor

  survivor, in relation to an individual, means

  • (a) a surviving spouse or surviving common-law partner of that individual who is not a veteran and who has not remarried or married, as the case may be, or acquired a subsequent common-law partner,

  • (b) a surviving spouse or surviving common-law partner of that individual who is not a veteran, who has remarried or married, as the case may be, and whose spouse of that marriage dies or whose marriage ends in dissolution or legal separation, and

  • (c) a surviving spouse or surviving common-law partner of that individual who is not a veteran, who has acquired a subsequent common-law partner and whose subsequent common-law partner dies or who ceases to cohabit with that common-law partner; (survivant)

  veteran

  veteran means any former member of the North West Field Force and any of the following persons, more particularly described in section 37, namely,

  • (a) [Repealed, 2015, c. 3, s. 167]

  • (b) a Canadian veteran of World War I or World War II,

  • (b.1) a merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II,

  • (c) an allied veteran,

  • (d) a Canadian dual service veteran,

  • (e) an allied dual service veteran,

  • (f) a Canadian Forces veteran, and

  • (g) a Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War. (ancien combattant)

  widow

  widow, widower or surviving spouse[Repealed, 2000, c. 12, s. 317]

• Marginal note:Surviving spouse of allied veteran

  (2) For the purposes of this Act, the definition survivor in subsection (1) includes a person who has resided in Canada for a total period of at least 10 years and who was the spouse or common-law partner of an individual at the time of the individual’s death and the individual

  • (a) died after October 13, 2008;

  • (b) was, at the time of death, a resident in Canada; and

  • (c) was, at the time of death, an individual described in subsection 37(4.1) or (4.2), even if they had not resided in Canada for a total period of at least 10 years, but only if the total of the time they resided in Canada prior to their death and the time that has elapsed since their death is at least 10 years.

• Marginal note:Survivor — limitation

  (3) For the purposes of the definition survivor in subsection (1), a spouse or common-law partner is the survivor of an allied veteran referred to in paragraph 37(4)(d.1) or subsection 37(4.1) or (4.2) only if that allied veteran died after October 13, 2008.

Equality of Status

Marginal note:Status of males and females

3 Male and female veterans under this Act enjoy equality of status and, subject to subsection 4(2), equal rights and obligations under this Act.

Allowances to Veterans, Survivors and Orphans

Marginal note:Veterans, survivors and orphans

• 4 (1) Subject to this Act, an allowance is payable to

  • (a) any male person who is a veteran or a survivor of a veteran and who has attained the age of sixty years,

  • (b) any female person who is a veteran or a survivor of a veteran and who has attained the age of fifty-five years,

  • (c) any veteran, or survivor of a veteran, who, in the opinion of the Minister,

    • (i) is permanently unemployable because of physical or mental disability,

    • (ii) is, because of physical or mental disability or insufficiency combined with economic handicaps, incapable and unlikely to become capable of maintaining himself or herself, or

    • (iii) is, because of the need to provide care for a dependent child residing at home, incapable of maintaining himself or herself, and

  • (d) an orphan,

  and who is resident in Canada.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Section 3 does not apply to subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Amount of allowance

  (3) The monthly allowance payable under this section to a veteran, survivor or orphan in a current payment period shall be computed as follows:

  • (a) determine the applicable monthly income factor specified for the veteran, survivor or orphan in column II of the schedule;

  • (b) determine the applicable monthly allowance ceiling for the veteran, survivor or orphan by subtracting from the applicable monthly income factor determined under paragraph (a) one-twelfth of the income for the base calendar year of the veteran and the veteran’s spouse or common-law partner, if any, or the survivor or orphan, as the case may be; and

  • (c) determine the monthly allowance payable to the veteran, survivor or orphan by subtracting from the applicable monthly allowance ceiling determined under paragraph (b) the current monthly benefits, if any,

    • (i) payable under the Old Age Security Act or, if no such benefits are payable, such benefits as are deemed to be payable pursuant to regulations made under paragraph 25(p), to or in respect of the veteran and the veteran’s spouse or common-law partner, if any, or the survivor or orphan, as the case may be, or

    • (ii) payable under section 34 of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act, any enactment prescribed by regulations made under section 25, or any similar or equivalent laws of the country in whose forces the veteran served.

• Marginal note:Payment where recipient absent from Canada

  (4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the allowance payable under this section to a veteran, survivor or orphan may be paid to that veteran, survivor or orphan who absents himself or herself from Canada after July 31, 1960 if, on the day that he or she leaves Canada, he or she

  • (a) is a recipient of an allowance under this section or section 5; and

  • (b) had been resident in Canada for the twelve months immediately preceding that day.

• Marginal note:Payment to survivors and orphans resident outside Canada

  (5) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the allowance payable under this section to a survivor or orphan may be paid to

  • (a) the survivor of a recipient if that survivor resides outside Canada and was living with, maintaining or being maintained by that recipient at the time of the recipient’s death; and

  • (b) an orphan of a recipient if that orphan resides outside Canada and if that recipient, at the time of death,

    • (i) was receiving an additional allowance in respect of the child, or

    • (ii) would have been eligible to receive an additional allowance in respect of the child but for the level of the recipient’s income.

• Marginal note:Exception — allied veterans

  (5.1) Subsections (4) and (5) do not apply to an allied veteran referred to in paragraph 37(4)(d.1) or subsection 37(4.1) or (4.2) or to the survivor or orphan of that veteran.

• Marginal note:Veteran couples

  (6) Where spouses residing together, or common-law partners, are both veterans, each may be paid the allowance that would be payable under this section if each veteran were a veteran without a spouse or common-law partner.

• Marginal note:Veteran couples

  (6.1) Where one of the veterans referred to in subsection (6) is not entitled to any allowance under that subsection, each may be paid the allowance that would be payable under this section if each veteran

  • (a) were a veteran without a spouse or common-law partner; and

  • (b) had one half of the aggregate of the income and benefits of both veterans.

• Marginal note:Dependent child allowance exception

  (7) Notwithstanding subsection (6), either veteran referred to in that subsection is entitled to an allowance in respect of a dependent child of either or both of the veterans.

• Marginal note:If couple not residing together

  (8) If the Minister is satisfied that an applicant and their spouse or common-law partner, or a recipient and their spouse or common-law partner, are not residing together as a result of one or both of them having to reside in a treatment or care facility or as a result of any other circumstances that are prescribed by regulations made under section 25, the Minister may direct that the applicant and spouse or common-law partner, or the recipient and spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be, be treated in the same manner as if they were persons referred to in subsection (6) and each person had one half of the aggregate of the income and benefits of both persons, and in that case, if the Minister deems it appropriate, the Minister shall apportion the allowances payable to them having regard to the circumstances of each of them and any dependent children involved.