Canada offers a wide range of services and benefits to qualified veterans and certain civilians, their dependants or survivors, in recognition of the sacrifices made by Canadians in this nation's war and peacekeeping efforts. These programs are carried out by the Veterans Affairs Portfolio which is made up of two organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board.
The Veterans Review and Appeal Board was created in 1995 by an Act of Parliament. The Board is an independent Board with full and exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals from the decisions of the Minister of Veterans Affairs. The Board may affirm, vary or reverse the Minister's decisions, or refer decisions back to the Minister for reconsideration. The Board is completely independent from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Veterans
Review and Appeal Board provides two levels of appeal on disability pension
applications and the final level of appeal on allowance decisions. The Board's
objective is to ensure veterans, Canadian Forces personnel, Royal Canadian
Mounted Police members, certain civilians, and/or their respective dependants
receive the disability pensions and benefits to which they are entitled. In
the period between April 2005 and March 2006, the Board heard 6387 claims.
