VRAB's 2023-24 Departmental results report

Results achieved:

• Access to justice is a key component of the Board’s mandate. The Board is continuously working to help Veterans and their families obtain access to the disability appeal process, and ultimately benefits more quickly. In 2023-24, the Board continued to identify and implement a range of measures to improve productivity and access to justice. During the reporting period, the Board:
  • Continued to develop and enhance data tracking via dashboards to improve analytics capacity and management, and assist with effective workload management and support informed, timely decision-making.
  • Regularly monitored and reported on productivity results against performance targets, identifying challenges as they arose and adjusting processes as required.
  • Reviewed workflows and made meaningful process improvements to eliminate operational redundancies and ensure more flexible service delivery. In 2023-24, the Board developed and piloted an Early Resolution Process, set for implementation in 2024-25, to efficiently and informally resolve simple or single-issue claims through a streamlined approach.
• Through these efforts, the Board was able to issue 5,795 decisions to Veterans, an increase of 32% compared to the 4,386 decisions issued in the previous year. Additionally, we completed 73% of Review decisions within the service standard. This is up from 49% in 2022-23. As we continue to find efficiencies in the disability appeal process, we expect to see even more improvement in the following year.
• In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases coming to the Board. In 2023-24, the Board received 6,727 applications, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year and an increase of 63% compared to 2019-20. To manage the growing workload, the Board secured both permanent and temporary funding through Budget 2023. This funding has allowed us to expand the Board’s capacity, helping to address the increased workload and reduce the backlog of cases that has built up over the years. During the reporting period, we launched a Board Member process in collaboration with the Privy Council Office. New Member appointments are expected to be made in 2024-25, increasing the Board’s capacity to conduct hearings and issue decisions.
• Maintaining a culture of innovation and continuous improvement allows the Board to best serve Veterans and their families. We are continuously evolving and adapting what we do and how we do it by implementing new processes, increasing automation and leveraging technology to enhance the timeliness, and efficiency of the appeal program, so that Veterans receive decisions sooner. To this end, the Board:
  • Continued to explore innovations that aim to create efficiencies in the Board’s appeal program, such as Veterans Affairs Canada’s Service Health Record Search Tool. This tool enables faster identification of relevant information for a specific health condition, providing only relevant search records instead of all service health records, reducing the time it takes to prepare documentation for Board hearings. Implementation of the tool is planned for 2024-25.
  • Encouraged the creation and supported the ongoing operation of employee-led networks and initiatives, such as the Board’s artificial intelligence exploration and innovation teams, devoted to raising awareness, and sharing ideas and information to support process improvement and improve service to Veterans and their families.
  • Continued to modernize our website to ensure it is user-friendly and barrier free; creating fillable web forms and reviewing website content for clarity, use of plain language, and ensuring information is up to date. By ensuring that information is clear, accessible, and upto-date, we reduce the time Veterans and their families spend searching for information or navigating complex forms, which indirectly contributes to the efficiency of our processes.
  • Initiated a project to implement a new ATIP management software, aimed at accelerating the processing of information requests while ensuring compliance with government guidelines and legislative requirements. Implementing this software enhances our ability to respond to information requests more quickly and accurately.
  • Continued the work on the Board’s end-to-end cassette tape digitization process with the goal of archiving more than 75,000 hearing recordings, to preserve records and enable faster service when these are requested. More than 20,000 were processed by the end of the fiscal year.

Results achieved:

• Focusing on quality and consistency in decision-making ensures the Board is providing meaningful and fair access to justice. To optimize high-quality decision-making, Members must have access to relevant and timely training. In 2023-24, the Board held training seminars where Members were provided training on a variety of topics, including Agent Orange, Additional Pain and Suffering Compensation, Critical Injury Benefit, and Climate Change and Military Health.
• To better support all Veterans through care, compassion and respect the Board provided several information sessions to staff and Members on relevant and timely issues that are important to those we serve. These included topics like post-traumatic stress disorder, the LGBT Purge Class Action, and peace-keeping.
• To improve the quality of hearings, the Board launched an initiative aimed at standardizing the setup and contents of the Board’s hearing rooms. This effort aims to enhance the functionality of each location, resulting in a more consistent in-person hearing experience and ultimately leading to more efficient and higher-quality proceedings. Recommendations from this initiative will be implemented in 2024-25.
• Communications and outreach are fundamental to improving and supporting access to the Board’s appeal program, while ensuring that Veterans, their families and stakeholders understand what the Board does. Building on the success of the informational videos the Board created in 2022, we began work on two new educational videos for Veterans. The first video will provide an overview of the Board and what we do, and the other will increase awareness about the Board’s commitment to enhancing access to disability benefits through a number of new initiatives that will improve efficiency and ensure high-quality hearings and decisions. The Board also began work on a new public awareness advertising campaign to ensure Veterans are informed about their right to appeal, and the services and support that are available to them if they are dissatisfied with a decision from VAC on their disability benefits. The campaign will launch in 2024-25. These communication and outreach efforts are designed to ensure that all participants in the appeal process are well-informed, well-prepared, and fully aware of their rights and the Board’s commitments. By increasing awareness and providing detailed information upfront, we help Veterans come to their hearings better prepared. This level of preparedness and understanding directly contributes to the quality of the hearings.
• Feedback is crucial for continuous improvement and enhancing services for Veterans. To this end, the Board focused on improving the process for collecting and monitoring client feedback. This included revising the Board's Hearing Exit Survey, which is scheduled to be rolled out in 2024-25.
• In an effort to stay connected to Veterans, the Chair met with many Veteran groups across the country to hear first-hand about the issues that Veterans and their families face. By meeting with various Veteran groups across the country, the Chair gained valuable insights into the challenges and needs of Veterans and their families, which directly informs and guides improvements in the appeal process. In addition to meetings with stakeholders, the Chair attended many commemorative events to honour those who served, including events like the National Stakeholder Summit and Women Veterans Forum, 25th Anniversary of Operation Persistence for Swissair Flight 111, and 60th Anniversary of the Canadian Armed Forces Peacekeeping Operations in Cyprus.
• Recognizing a diverse and skilled workforce is the foundation of the organization’s success, we continued to manage our workforce through employee development and effective succession planning strategies, to provide the language requirements, expertise, leadership and experience needed to ensure Veterans and their families receive high-quality hearings and decisions. To this end, the Board:
  • Provided training in Plain Language Writing to promote concise, plain language writing that improves readability for Veterans.
  • Invested in our staff and Members by offering new opportunities to build skills and knowledge through new work experiences.
  • Supported staff in learning and maintaining proficiency in their second official language.
  • Provided training with a focus on User Experience (UX) Research and Design with the aim of establishing a small group of UX ambassadors with the Board.
  • Continued to promote openness and transparency as set out in the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, providing employees with the resources and training so the Board is more open and transparent.
  • Continued to support our middle management group to excel in their roles and lead their teams effectively. In 2023-24, the Board:
    • Hosted a Prosci Change Management information session, equipping our managers with the knowledge to prepare for, manage, sustain, and reinforce change in the workplace;
    • Delivered an Influencing Skills and Conflict Management course, focusing on teaching skills and providing tools to apply influence strategies, gain commitment from others, foster collaboration, and build a cooperative environment; and
    • Conducted a session on navigating staffing processes as a supervisor/manager.

The dedicated staff and Members who work at the Board are integral to the organization successfully fulfilling its mandate. The Board recognizes that to achieve its results of providing high-quality and timely hearings and decisions, means ensuring staff and Members are supported.

The Board sets a high standard for promoting an organizational culture that is based on the values of respect, diversity and inclusion. During the reporting period, the Board continued to focus its efforts on creating an equitable, diverse, inclusive, accessible, and bilingual work environment. Highlights from the 2023-24 include:

• Working on several initiatives to ensure a work environment where people feel safe, valued, and respected, including holding Civility in the Workplace sessions for all staff.
• Building on feedback obtained in the 2022 Public Service Employee Survey, the Board launched a quarterly internal “Pulse” survey for staff and Members to collect feedback on the work environment and culture. Feedback from the survey is being used to make improvements for staff and Members.
• Conducting Strategic Plan sessions with our staff to align organizational goals and priorities with individual roles within the Board. These sessions aimed to deepen understanding of each employee's contribution to our overarching priorities and objectives.
• Incorporating a more Veteran-centric approach into our work is one of the goals of the Board’s new Strategic Plan. This includes ensuring staff understand our mandate and values. To help staff learn more about those we serve, all new staff attend an in-person hearing as part of their onboarding process.
• Holding a self-care and meditation workshop for staff and Members, focusing on promoting mental well-being and reducing stress.
• Introducing an official languages campaign where helpful and interesting information and resources to promote official languages are shared with staff and Members each month.
• Hosting cultural education sessions for staff and Members as part of the Board’s ongoing commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. This included an Indigenous beading workshop led by Experience Lennox Island, an Acadian Storyteller for National Acadian Day, and a commemorative wall during the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
• Maintaining our commitment to raising awareness and understanding of Indigenous and minority perspectives, we continued offering courses designed to enhance cultural skills and awareness of issues related to Indigenous Peoples as part of the mandatory training for new staff. Providing this training to all staff and Members is one of the Board's commitments in its 2023 to 2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
• Holding an information session for managers on our Awards and Recognition program, to promote acknowledgement and appreciation for the dedication and commitment of our staff, and their contributions to the success of the Board's mandate.
• Promoting a healthy and inclusive work environment, the Board's social committee played a pivotal role by organizing various events throughout the year for staff and Members.