By Canadian Press

Injured vets waiting twice as long as promised to learn if they qualify for aid

Jun 1, 2020 | 2:01 AM

OTTAWA — Canadian veterans are being forced to wait on average twice as long as promised to find out whether they qualify for financial help from the government, even as the backlog of unprocessed applications for assistance continues to grow.

Veterans are told the vast majority will know within 16 weeks whether they simply qualify for disability benefits after filing an application with the federal government.

Yet Veterans Affairs Canada says the average wait time at the end of April was 34.5 weeks — an increase of nearly two weeks since the start of the year.

It was not immediately clear how much the COVID-19 pandemic has played into the problem, though the department says officials are continuing to process applications from home.

The federal government has been repeatedly accused in recent years of causing added frustration and stress to many injured veterans because of the long wait times and a growing backlog of unprocessed applications.

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Veterans Affairs says the backlog had hit 46,200 applications at the end of December, an increase of 1,600 from September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2020.

The Canadian Press