Program directory · Veterans Affairs Canada
Income Support
- Department
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Program code
- BWI12 (VAC)
- Core responsibility
- Benefits, Services and Support
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2025-26 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
The Income Support program comprises Income Replacement Benefit and Canadian Forces Income Support. The Income Replacement Benefit is designed to provide income support to Veterans who are experiencing barriers to re-establishment due to a health problem resulting primarily from service. The benefit is available to Veterans and survivors for life, should they need it, and for eligible orphans.
Canadian Forces Income Support (CFIS) is a tax-free monthly benefit available to help low income CAF Veterans, survivors, and dependent children. CFIS is available to Veterans who have completed the Rehabilitation Services and Vocational Assistance Program and are no longer eligible for the Income Replacement Benefit but have not yet successfully transitioned to civilian employment above a certain income level. Survivors may receive the benefit if the Veteran was in receipt of CFIS at the time of death.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income Support | This program | 2018-19 – 2027-28 | $6.62B |
| Canadian Forces Income Support | Later program (name match, medium confidence) | 2026-27 – 2028-29 | — |
| Income Replacement Benefit | Later program (name match, low confidence) | 2026-27 – 2028-29 | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Employees (FTEs) 81, against 4 in 2018-19 (+2139%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Indicators added: # of Veterans who receive at least one payment prior to the development of a Rehabilitation Plan or a Vocational Assistance Plan | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Renamed from “Canadian Forces Income Support Benefit” to “Income Support”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2019-20 | Spending $912M, against $1.9M in 2018-19 (+48253%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators added: % of Veterans Affairs Canada clients receiving Income Replacement Benefit who are satisfied with their financial situation | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators dropped: # of Veterans who receive at least one payment prior to the development of a Rehabilitation Plan or a Vocational Assistance Plan | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Appears to be split across: Canadian Forces Income Support; Income Replacement Benefit | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
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 | ≥ 75% | 2020 | 37% As the system does not correctly track the start date of CFIS application, the indicator and methodology are being revised in 2020-21 to improve the accuracy of reporting. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 75% | 2021 | 69% A manual review of CFIS decisions rendered outside the published service standard last year indicated that the “% of Canadian Forces Income Support decisions rendered within 4 weeks of a completed application” was being met 69% of the time. This increased to 89% for decisions rendered within 30 days. Two actions have been taken to bring the service standard within the established time frame. The… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 80% | 2023 | 92% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 80% | 2024 | 64% This program necessitates a great deal of manual processing. Factors that contributed to delays in processing during 2023-24 include the labour strike (April/May 2023) and onboarding and training of a new employee. Due to the low volume of program applicants, these factors greatly skewed the results. Program Management has investigated this issue and continues to work with pertinent areas to impr… | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | — | — | 54% As this was a new indicator for 2022-23, once data has been collected, a baseline and target will be established by March 2024. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | — | — | 69% The target and timeline for achieving it were marked as “To Be Determined” (TBD) due to the evolving nature of the data and the need for sufficient trend analysis. This target will be set as part of the 2026–2027 Departmental Results Framework (DRF) process, and will reflect a more informed and evidence-based approach aligned with observed performance trends and the characteristics of the updated… | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | — | — | Due to a delay in development of a data collection mechanism, the result is not available. The indicator is being replaced in 2022-23 to measure satisfaction which will show whether this benefit is meeting the needs of VAC clients in receipt of Income Replacement Benefit. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | — | — | 1,134 The target and date to achieve target were not established as indicator was replaced in 2022–23 with “% of Veterans Affairs Canada clients receiving Income Replacement Benefit who are satisfied with their financial situation”. Measuring satisfaction will show whether this benefit is meeting the needs of VAC clients in receipt of Income Replacement Benefit. | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
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 | $2.4M | $1.9M |
| 2019-20 | $693M | $912M |
| 2020-21 | $881M | $888M |
| 2021-22 | $1.06B | $983M |
| 2022-23 | $1.14B | $1.1B |
| 2023-24 | $1.26B | $1.28B |
| 2024-25 | $1.38B | $1.45B |
| 2025-26 | $1.6B | — |
| 2026-27 | $1.39B* | — |
| 2027-28 | $1.38B* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 4 | 4 |
| 2019-20 | 80 | 81 |
| 2020-21 | 72 | 88 |
| 2021-22 | 93 | 95 |
| 2022-23 | 70 | 90 |
| 2023-24 | 74 | 73 |
| 2024-25 | 73 | 74 |
| 2025-26 | 70 | — |
| 2026-27 | 69* | — |
| 2027-28 | 69* | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $2,419,706 | $2,419,945 | $2,419,737 | |||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $693,194,411 | $777,861,270 | $806,839,125 | |||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $881,190,043 | $910,095,911 | $926,153,307 | |||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $1,062,445,836 | $1,161,600,118 | $823,599,053 | |||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $1,139,896,124 | $823,098,275 | $823,097,983 | |||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $1,262,327,806 | $1,383,990,612 | $1,383,651,404 | |||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $1,378,739,071 | $1,476,581,814 | $1,385,028,810 | |||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $1,598,547,864 | $1,385,361,029 | $1,384,683,648 | |||||||
| Actual | $1,885,219 | $911,555,993 | $888,027,234 | $983,310,066 | $1,104,002,384 | $1,281,281,994 | $1,451,871,654 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
