Program directory · Veterans Affairs Canada
Health Care Benefits
- Department
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Program code
- BWI06 (VAC)
- Core responsibility
- Benefits, Services and Support
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Veterans Affairs Canada’s Health Care Benefits Program provides coverage for a variety of healthcare services and benefits under the Veterans Health Care Regulations (VHCR). These benefits and services include medical, nursing, surgical or dental examinations or treatments provided by a health professional; surgical or prosthetic devices and aids, and their maintenance; home adaptations to accommodate the use of devices or aids; preventive health care; pharmaceuticals; cannabis for medical purposes; mental health benefits; and travel costs and other expenses incurred to access these benefits.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Care Benefits | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $4.41B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $774M, against $1.13B in 2026-27 (−32%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 85% | 2020 | — The results for the 2020 VAC National Survey have not yet been determined as all field work for this project (including data collection) was suspended on March 20, 2020 after the decision was reached to temporarily halt all VAC Public Opinion Research projects as a result of COVID-19 Public Health measures. The project’s field work and data collection will resume at a later date (TBD). | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 78% The Department is reviewing what next steps can be taken to determine why the result is not meeting its target and ways to improve. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 78% We recognize that responses reflect personal perceptions, so we cannot identify specific causes for the shortfall. However, we are improving the Health Care Benefits Program by focusing on Veterans’ needs, strengthening collaboration with stakeholders, enhancing data collection and performance tracking, and aligning policies to better support Veterans’ well-being. Since Veterans have direct acces… | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $542M | $478M |
| 2019-20 | $561M | $495M |
| 2020-21 | $636M | $521M |
| 2021-22 | $733M | $605M |
| 2022-23 | $725M | $655M |
| 2023-24 | $800M | $751M |
| 2024-25 | $829M | $909M |
| 2025-26 | $1.11B | — |
| 2026-27 | $1.13B | — |
| 2027-28 | $774M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $760M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 410 | 435 |
| 2019-20 | 474 | 477 |
| 2020-21 | 424 | 522 |
| 2021-22 | 549 | 561 |
| 2022-23 | 416 | 533 |
| 2023-24 | 434 | 429 |
| 2024-25 | 432 | 437 |
| 2025-26 | 412 | — |
| 2026-27 | 409 | — |
| 2027-28 | 409* | — |
| 2028-29 | 409* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $542,022,235 | $542,040,102 | $541,988,506 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $560,942,167 | $552,867,325 | $552,875,556 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $636,072,973 | $635,363,622 | $635,347,042 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $732,946,396 | $758,407,820 | $551,502,844 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $725,436,275 | $540,364,769 | $540,448,625 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $799,574,718 | $865,737,075 | $863,712,360 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $828,605,470 | $888,847,189 | $871,624,310 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $1,110,149,616 | $873,746,450 | $869,659,757 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $1,132,990,380 | $774,180,473 | $760,362,353 | ||||||||
| Actual | $477,520,470 | $495,475,709 | $520,700,274 | $605,077,271 | $654,960,447 | $750,872,881 | $909,371,458 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
