During the 2015 election campaign, the Liberals promised that, if elected, the federal government would increase the number of case managers to reach a ratio of one official for every 25 veterans.
However, according to recent figures, the Liberals have failed to reach their intended goal.
Currently, every one official has to handle the cases of 32 veterans.
Although the federal government claims that they have doubled the number of case workers, they cite an increase in veterans applying for support as the reason behind the poor ratio.
“Despite the increase in funding and resources, Veterans Affairs Canada has been unable to achieve the stated objective to reduce the caseload ratios,” reads an internal federal note.
The distribution of case workers is also at issue for the federal government. Provinces like Quebec have the promised 25-1 ratio, while Ontario, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are falling behind.
Handling of cases has gotten so bad that some disabled veterans are waiting for well over a year to have their disability claims approved.
According to statistics from 2018, nearly ten percent of applicants or 3,110 veterans had to wait over a year to be approved for disability benefits.