The cost of supporting Canada’s veterans

The parliamentary budget office released a report in February 2019 looking at the three different packages of supports and benefits for veterans introduced over the past 100 years.

Those included the Pension Act, which applied to veterans before 2006; the New Veterans Charter, which applied to veterans between 2006 and 2019; and the Pension for Life, which came into effect in 2019.

The report came amid veterans’ calls for the government to reinstate the Pension Act.

Here is a breakdown of the estimated costs for each:

Pension Act

Clients as of February 2019: $40 billion

New Entrants (2019-23): $10 billion

Total Cost: $50 billion

New Veterans’ Charter

Clients as of February 2019: $22 billion

New Entrants (2019-23): $7 billion

Total Cost: $29 billion

Pension for Life

Clients as of February 2019: $25 billion

New Entrants (2019-23): $7 billion

Total Cost: $32 billion

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2021.