Informational Videos
What We Do
This informational video will introduce you to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and help you understand the process of bringing a claim to the Board.
What We Do - Transcript
Are you dissatisfied with the disability benefits decision you received from Veterans Affairs Canada?
Did you know that you can come to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board for a review of that decision. And there is no time limit on when you can do this.
It’s important to know that the Board is an independent organization from Veterans Affairs Canada.
The Board ensures that Veterans, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP, as well as their family members receive the benefits they are entitled to for service-related disabilities.
We do this by providing you with an opportunity for redress that involves a fair and independent process.
Hearing panels are made up of Board Members who are independent decision makers. At your hearing, they listen to your testimony and ask clarifying questions.
Based on what you tell them and on the evidence before the panel, they make a decision.
Board Members are knowledgeable about the military and RCMP. They also understand the health conditions commonly associated with working in these environments.
The process is not adversarial, which means that no one is arguing against you.
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board offers two levels of hearings.
First is a Review Hearing of your Veterans Affairs disability benefits decision. Then, if you’re dissatisfied with the Board’s Review decision, you have the right to an Appeal Hearing with new decision makers.
Every year thousands of Veterans and their families receive new or increased disability benefits after receiving a decision from the Board.
You have the right to be heard. And we are here to listen.
To learn more about our hearing process, please visit our website and watch our other videos.
How to Apply and Prepare for Your Hearing
This informational video will assist you in understanding how to apply and prepare for your hearing with the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.
How to Apply and Prepare for Your Hearing - Transcript
You’ve decided to come to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board for an independent review of the disability benefits decision you received from Veterans Affairs Canada.
Here’s what you need to know about applying and preparing for your Review hearing.
The first step is to consider representation.
You can get free legal representation from the Bureau of Pensions Advocates or you may choose to be represented for free by a Service Officer from the Royal Canadian Legion. You can also pay a private representative or you can represent yourself.
Next, you or representative register your Review application. Visit the How to Apply page on our website for instructions.
Our staff then prepares the evidence package that will be used for your hearing called a Statement of Case. This includes all relevant evidence gathered from Veterans Affairs Records. It may include your service and medical records and previous Veterans Affairs Canada disability benefit decisions.
Once the Statement of Case is ready, we share this evidence package with you and/or your representative. It will be available on MyVAC account or mailed to you.
The next step is to prepare your case with the help of your representative, if you have one. This involves gathering and submitting evidence, like additional or new medical records, documents and witness statements.
You should also prepare to share your testimony if you feel comfortable in doing so. This may include talking about your service, how your disability came about and how it has affected you. It’s important to think about how you want to share your testimony with the two Board Members making the decision in your case. Writing it down in advance may be helpful to you.
Once your case is ready, the final step is for you or your representative to ask the Board to schedule your Review hearing.
Review hearings are held in locations across Canada. You also have the option to attend your hearing by phone or video call. If you choose an in-person hearing, it is scheduled in the location nearest you and your eligible travel costs are reimbursed by Veterans Affairs.
There is another step you can take if you're dissatisfied with the Review decision. You have the right to an Appeal hearing with the Board. Appeal hearings are conducted by three Board Members who did not hear your case at the Review hearing.
Though there is no oral testimony permitted at an Appeal hearing, it is a further opportunity for you or your representative to make oral and/or written submissions in support of your case.
Every year, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board awards thousands of Veterans with new or increased disability benefits.
You have the right to be heard. And we are here to listen.
To learn more about he hearing process, please visit our website and watch our other videos.
What Happens at Your Review Hearing
What Happens at Your Review Hearing - Transcript
The day of your review hearing with the Veterans Review and Appeal Board has arrived. Here is what you can expect.
If your hearing is in person, you are met at the location by your representative, if you have one. They will meet with you, answer any questions you may have, and then enter the hearing room with you.
If your hearing is being held on the phone or on a video call. Your representative helps you connect to your hearing.
You may have a family member or friend at your hearing for support.
When your hearing begins you will meet the two board members deciding your case.
If your hearing is in person you are also greeted by a commissionaire who makes an audio recording of the hearing.
If your hearing is held on the phone or on a video call a board member makes the audio recording.
Prior to testimony you are asked to affirm that you will tell the truth.
The affirmation is conducted by an commissionaire if your hearing is in person and by a board member if your hearing is held on the phone or on a video call.
Next the board members explain how your hearing is going to proceed and then your representative begins to present your case.
Keep in mind board members have already reviewed the evidence to better understand your case.
Your representative explains your case, highlights the evidence, and asks you to talk about the details of your service and disability if you feel comfortable doing so.
If you are representing yourself, you are responsible for explaining your case to the board members.
During the hearing board members may ask questions to help them a fair and informed decision.
No one argues against your testimony.
After your hearing ends, you leave the hearing room and the board members discuss and carefully consider your case.
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board Act requires board members to be impartial and objective.
Decision makers are required to draw every reasonable inference in your favour; accept any uncontradicted evidence; and resolve any doubt about whether you have established a case in your favour.
If the two board members disagree the most favourable decision stands.
The decision is put in writing clearly explaining the reasons for the decision.
It will be available on my VAC account and mailed to you and/or your representative.
Board decisions are published on the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s website.
Before being published decisions are depersonalized this means that identifying information not relevant to the reasons for the decision is removed.
Remember if you are dissatisfied with your review hearing decision you have the right to an appeal hearing with different decision makers.
This is an opportunity for further oral and/or written arguments in support of your case.
Every year the Veterans Review and Appeal Board awards thousands of Veterans with new or increased benefits.
You have the right to be heard and we are here to listen.
For more information about how you can obtain the disability benefits that you are entitled to.
Please visit our website and watch our other videos.
Improving Access to Disability Benefits for all Veterans
Improving Access to Disability Benefits for all Veterans - Transcript
Every year, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board receives a number of applications from Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces, and RCMP Members, most of whom are supported by the Bureau of Pensions Advocates, also called BPA.
In partnership with BPA, the Board is working to enhance services as the need for Reviews
and Appeals continues. We continue to examine internal processes, to ensure that we are doing everything we can to reduce the burden on Veterans and their families, so that they receive timely access to benefits.
To ensure the most efficient and greatest access to benefits for Veterans, the Board has a number of hearing types, or avenues to justice, based on the level of complexity. Cases that are similar are grouped together to create a more efficient and effective process overall.
In addition to traditional Review and Appeal Hearings, there are other streams, or ways that claims are categorized or processed by the Board.
Let's take a closer look.
The claims that come before the Board are varied in nature. Some claims may need to be accelerated due to increased urgency. The age of the Veteran, the need for treatment, or hardship, are all factors that would be considered when deciding whether a case needs to be accelerated.
Claims also vary in complexity. Claims that may be less complex can be grouped together. These cases involve simpler issues and can often be resolved through a quicker hearing process, that allows for a larger number of cases to be heard at one time. This gives us more time and capacity for complex cases.
More recently, the Board and the BPA have introduced a process which allows claims to be brought forward for quicker resolution, when the evidence supports that the case may be resolved by administrative review.
In all cases, the Board works closely with Veteran representatives to review and identify claims to determine the best course of action. If a claim is eligible for one of these expedited streams, the Veteran will be informed by their representative and will be guided through the process.
As a Board, we are continuously looking for new ways to review cases, process applications and make decisions more efficiently to better serve Veterans.
These initiatives are intended to reduce the burden on Veterans and families when making a claim and ensure that all claims are considered in a timely manner.
To learn more about the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, check out the other information on our website and follow us on X.