2025-26 Departmental Plan

ISSN: 2371-7262
Catalogue No. V96-5E-PDF

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From the Chair

Headshot of Christopher J. McNeil

Christopher J. McNeil

Chair, Veterans Review and Appeal Board

I am pleased to present the Veterans Review and Appeal Board’s, (VRAB, the Board) 2025-26 Departmental Plan. This plan serves as our guide, leading us to achieve our strategic goals and priorities for 2025-26:

The Board’s priorities for 2025-2026 include:

  • building on existing and new initiatives to promote an efficient appeal process;
  • enhancing capacity to provide timely access to decisions to as many Veterans as possible;
  • maintaining an innovative culture for continuous improvements; and
  • promoting inclusion in our services and as a workplace.

The Board looks forward to continuing to serve our country’s Veterans, CAF and RCMP members, and their families, in order to provide them the benefits to which they are entitled.

Plans to deliver on core responsibilities and internal services

Core responsibilities and internal services

Core Responsibility: Appeals

Description

Provide an independent review and appeal program for disability benefits decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada; ensure Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, and their families, receive the benefits they are entitled to for service-related disabilities.

Quality of life impacts

Considering quality of life impacts contributes to the “Good Governance” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, “Access to fair and equal justice (civil and criminal).” It also contributes to the “Health” domain, more specifically, “Timely access to primary care provider”; and the “Prosperity” domain, more specifically, “Financial well-being”.

Indicators, results and targets

This section presents details on the Board’s indicators, the actual results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2025-26 for Appeals. Details are presented by departmental result.

Tables 1 and 2 provide a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under Appeals. 

Table 1: Applicants receive timely decisions.

Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under Appeals
Departmental Result Indicators
Actual Results
Target
Date to achieve

Percentage of Review decisions issued within 16 weeks of the applicant/representative notifying the Board their case is ready to be heard

2021–22: 77%
2022–23: 49%
2023–24: 73%
≥95%
March 2026

Percentage of Appeal decisions issued within 16 weeks of the applicant/representative notifying the Board their case is ready to be heard

2021–22: 37%
2022–23: 40%
2023–24: 35%
≥85%
March 2026

Table 2: Applicants receive high-quality hearings and decisions

Table 2 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under Appeals.
Departmental Result Indicators
Actual Results
Target
Date to achieve

Percentage of Applicants who provide positive feedback about their hearing

2021–22: Not available1
2022–23: 97%
2023–24: 97%
≥95%
March 2026

Percentage of Board decisions that meet quality standards

2021–22: 71%
2022–23: 93%
2023–24: 97%
≥85%
March 2026

Percentage of Board decisions overturned by the Federal Court

2021–22: 0.1%
2022–23: 0.4%
2023–24: 0.0%
<2%
March 2026

Plans to achieve results

The following section describes the planned results for Appeals in 2025-26.  

Everything the Board does under this core responsibility aims to provide Veterans and their families with high-quality and timely hearings and decisions. In 2025-26, the Board will continue to focus on the key priorities outlined in its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

  • Access to Justice
  • Productivity
  • Innovation 
  • People

The plan outlines clear objectives that are directly tied to our departmental results, ensuring that every initiative contributes to our overarching aim of providing high-quality and timely hearings and decisions to Veterans.

 

In 2025-26, the Board will also continue to implement its 2022-25 Accessibility Action Plan, which identifies ways to prevent and remove accessibility barriers. Next, the Board will develop its next Accessibility Action Plan (2025-28). This work will allow the Board to continue to promote inclusive programming and services for the Veterans and their families we serve, as well as for Board staff and Members. 

Key risks

  • While the Board has committed to meeting its service standard and eliminating the case backlog as a result of the Budget 2023 funding, there is a risk that the Board will not be able to meet the demands for timely hearings and decisions. To mitigate this risk, the Board works to improve the scheduling process, continues to explore options to bring in additional resources as required and continues to streamline processes even further, to ensure focus on delivering decisions to Veterans and their families as quickly as possible.
  • Due to the complex and changing environment under which the Board operates, there is a risk that the Board will not have adequate resources in place, with the necessary skillsets and competencies to meet the organization’s evolving operational goals in the years to come. To mitigate this risk, the Board has developed a strategic human resources plan to ensure the VRAB has a skilled and agile workforce in place to effectively support the organization. Key priorities include examining the Board’s human resource capacity to identify gaps in skillsets, and recruiting strategically to respond to organizational needs; diversity and inclusion; training and development; and employee engagement and well-being. 

Planned resources to achieve results

Table 3: Planned resources to achieve results for Appeals

Table 3 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.
Resource Planned
Spending $23,073,258
Full-time equivalents 203

Complete financial and human resources information for the VRAB's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Appeals is supported by the following program:

  • Review and Appeal

Additional information related to the program inventory for Appeals is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.

Internal services

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

  • management and oversight services
  • communications services
  • legal services
  • human resources management services
  • financial management services
  • information management services
  • information technology services
  • real property management services
  • materiel management services
  • acquisition management services

Plans to achieve results

This section presents details on how the department plans to achieve results and meet targets for internal services. 

VAC provides some internal services to the Board under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This service relationship has been in place since the Board was established in 1995. It allows the Board to maximize resources by capitalizing on the significant investment VAC has made in these services, while maintaining its adjudicative independence.

The Board will continue to work within this MOU with VAC for internal services.

Planned resources to achieve results

Table 4: Planned resources to achieve results for internal services this year

Table 4 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.
Resource Planned
Spending 01
Full-time equivalents 01

Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024-25.

The VRAB collaborates with VAC through a Memorandum of Understanding to provide procurement services, including Indigenous Procurement. As in previous years, the VRAB will work with VAC Procurement to identify new Indigenous vendors to meet or exceed the 5% target. We expect to meet or exceed the 5% target this fiscal year, including through the procurement of information technology and audiovisual equipment and office furniture.

Table 5: Percentage of contracts planned and awarded to Indigenous businesses

Table 5 presents the current, actual results with forecasted and planned results for the total percentage of contracts the department awarded to Indigenous businesses.
5% Reporting Field
2023-24 Actual Result
2024-25 Forecasted Result
2025-26 Planned Result
Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses

36.64%

7.7%

7.9 %

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the VRAB’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2025-26 with actual spending from previous years.

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department's planned expenditures from 2022-23 to 2027-28. 

Budgetary performance summary

Table 6: Three-year spending summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 6 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.
Core responsibilities and Internal services
2022-2023 Actual Expenditures
2023-24 Actual Expenditures
2024-2025 Forecast Spending
Appeals
13,620,181
18,124,186
20,769,544
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
13,620,181
18,124,186
20,769,544

Table 7: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 7 presents how much money the VRAB plans to spend over the next three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.
Core responsibilities and Internal services
2025-26 Planned Spending
2026-27 Planned Spending
2027-28 Planned Spending
Appeals
23,073,258
22,777,285
20,929,736
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
23,073,258
22,777,285
20,929,736

Funding

This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

[alt text]. Text version below:

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the VRAB’s operations for 2024-25 to 2025-26.

Table 8: Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ended March 31, 2026 (dollars)

Table 8 summarizes the expenses and revenues which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers for 2024-25 to 2025-26. The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.
Financial information
2024-25 Forecast results
2025-26 Planned results
Difference (forecasted results minus planned)
Total expenses
22,271,959
25,140,793
2,868,834
Total revenues
0
0
0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers
22,271,959
25,140,793
2,868,834

Human resources

This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

Table 9: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 9 shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents, for the VRAB’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.
Core responsibilities and internal services
2022-23 Actual full-time equivalents
2023-24 Actual full-time equivalents
2024-25 Forecasted full-time equivalents
Appeals
101.5
140.4
169
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
101.5
140.4
169

Table 10: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 10 shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents, for each of the VRAB’s core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for the next three years.
Core responsibilities and internal services
2025-26 Planned full-time equivalents
2026-27 Planned full-time equivalents
2027-28 Planned full-time equivalents
Appeals
203
200
188
Internal services
01
01
01
Total
203
200
188

Corporate information

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on VRAB’s website:

Information on VRAB’s departmental sustainable development strategy can be found on VRAB’s website.

Federal tax expenditures

VRAB’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.

This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Definitions