June 2, 2021 – Ottawa, ON The Office of the Veterans Ombud (OVO) today released its report, Peer Support for Veterans who have Experienced Military Sexual Trauma.
April 21, 2022 - The Office of the Veterans Ombud (OVO) today released its report, The Adjudication of Sexual Dysfunction Claims Consequential to an Entitled Psychiatric Condition.
Our investigation found sex-based bias in Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) adjudication processes for female sexual dysfunction claims. VAC streamlines male-specific erectile dysfunction claims related to a psychiatric condition, but no similar process exists for female claims. This is unfair.
October 12, 2022, Ottawa, ON – Today, the Office of the Veterans Ombud (OVO) released its 2022 Report Card tracking the status of the implementation of its recommendations to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). As of March 31, 2022, VAC has fully or partially implemented 69 percent or 52 of the OVO’s 75 recommendations, showing a slight improvement over last year.
October 25, 2022, Ottawa, ON – Today, the Office of the Veterans Ombud (OVO) released its Disability Benefit Wait Times Update. This builds on our 2018 report and provides an update on how long members and Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP are waiting for disability claim decisions from VAC.
The long wait time for disability benefits continues to be the number one complaint the OVO receives. Wait times significantly exceed the 16 week service standard set by VAC.
February 1, 2023, OTTAWA, ON – Veterans Ombud Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine will be in British Columbia the week of February 6 to meet with the Veterans community. This visit will include town halls, meetings with stakeholders, and attending the grand opening of the Veterans Village in Surrey.
February 27, 2023, OTTAWA, ON – Veterans Ombud Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine will be in Edmonton, Alberta the week of February 27 to meet with the Veterans community. The visit includes a town hall on March 1, as well as meetings with a broad range of area stakeholders.
February 23rd, 2023, Ottawa, ON – Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine, Veterans Ombud, released a letter she has written to the Minister of Veterans Affairs highlighting unfairness in the way Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is reducing Disability Pensions for some Merlo Davidson class action settlement claimants.
Following a complaint from the Chair of the RCMP Veterans Women’s Council, made on behalf of Merlo Davidson class action settlement claimants, the Office of the Veterans Ombud reviewed the complaint and found unfairness.
November 30, 2020 – Ottawa, ON: The Veterans Ombud Commendation recognizes and honours the exceptional dedication, hard work and selfless motivation of an individual or group's contribution to Canada's Veterans and their families. This afternoon, Veterans Ombud Colonel (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine awarded these eight Commendations for 2022:
February 23, 2022 – On January 1, 2022, Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) released initial details of its proposed new mental health benefit and requested feedback from the public. This new benefit provides Veterans with mental health treatment while they are waiting for a VAC decision on their mental health disability claim. Veterans Ombud Col (Ret’d) Nishika Jardine issued the following statement on the proposed new benefit:
