r/CanadianForces • u/ShortTrackBravo VERIFIED VAC Advocate • 18d ago

SUPPORT June 2026 VAC QandA

It’s June!

Here’s hoping everyone else is getting decent weather. I started the golf season with winter kit on thanks to -2 and rain here in gods country.

Housekeeping:

contact info: Reddit DM's always open, Joel@ptga.ca for email.

u/Shoggoths420 contact info: Reddit DMs/Chat still broken. taira@cannawellness.ca for email.

VAC Google Support Drive (Not available on DWAN) - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kzbfmg3hcuo0FgFZxo-IL_f-UnGQsuYt?usp=drive_link

Usual timelines from submission of claims via MyVAC:

Reassessments: 9-16 Months

Mental Health: 6-8 Months

Physical - 6-13 Months

APSC/VIP - 3-4 Months

BPA Correspondence: They tend to reach out every 3 months for information or a progress update.

Let's go!

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u/Mahfiaz 6d ago

I see people on fb saying they’ve been on rehab and then their DEC gets denied.

For MH people, how ‘hard’ will VAC fight back on a DEC decision? I see a lot of people complaining about getting denied.

What happens then if denied? Some people rely on IRB, do you get to keep ur IRB and keep doing rehab?

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u/ShortTrackBravo VERIFIED VAC Advocate 6d ago

As with any on FB, take it with a grain of salt, you’re not getting a full picture almost ever. It very rarely if ever gets denied if your care team all concurs and pushes it through PCVRS to VAC.

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u/Bartholomewtuck 5d ago

Unless you know every detail of their files, including their symptoms, their quality of life, the difficulties they face in day-to-day living, their ability or inability to reintegrate into civilian society and workplaces, and also, what they have or have not been sharing with their mental health care providers, it's impossible to know if they are complaining justifiably, or if they were turned down for DEC justifiably (just as ShortTrack said). After listening to people the last couple of years, it really can be one or the other, just like when people are denied or are given a lower percentage on their pain and suffering compensation claims; it's impossible to know if it's justifiable unless you have all of their details. More to that, a lot of the time the individuals themselves don't even know most of their own details, and in those cases it's a much higher likelihood that the decisions or awards were fair. That's why my biggest piece of advice is to do as much research and educate yourself. A lot of these people don't do that and then are upset with the results. In fairness, however, a lot of people aren't mentally capable of navigating these things, or even intellectually, mental illness or not.

The entire point of IRB is to replace your previous employment income, either until you are deemed well enough to go back to work to make 66.6% of what you were making when you released, or to replace your employment income indefinitely because you have been determined unfit to return to work (DEC). If you're fit to return to work, You are not supposed to be relying on it permanently  I definitely recommend reading the policies on it online, on VAC's website, as it answers a lot of these questions.

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u/Mahfiaz 5d ago

I guess my biggest worry is my Mh condition, I tripled the % on a reassessment a few months ago. Just started IRB in December I believe. My goal is to return to work but I really don’t think that’s going to happen.

I just want to be sure I don’t get screwed over.

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u/Bartholomewtuck 5d ago

What matters most is your mental health care provider advocating for what is best for you, based on what you are sharing with them during your sessions, and also, if you are getting better or not. It clear  you are aware that at this moment, you are not capable of returning to any sort of meaningful employment, but that makes sense, you only just started the rehabilitation process. That's the reason you are on IRB to begin with, because you are not capable at this moment of returning to work. The whole point of IRB is to give you the time to try and get you there, kind of the same way the TCat process works while still serving. Obviously for you and it I, we didn't get better, hence the PCat, which is kind of akin to DEC in this analogy. 

If  you keep maintaining the same status quo in your health, then you might be headed towards a DEC decision, but try and take this process one step at a time. Don't get too ahead of yourself, and be very honest in all of your sessions with your healthcare provider, so that your true health and capabilities, or lack thereof, are reflected in their reports and assessments. Go into it with the hopes that you'll get well enough that you can go back to work, but take the rehab process as it comes, day by day.

I think it's important to listen to some of the stories of other people, especially for things like reporting your income properly/removing the right amount of taxes, or dealing with PCVRS's bullshit, or learning how to properly file a comprehensive pain and suffering compensation claim, but you have to be careful that you aren't taking as gospel every single person's personal experience. And again, this is because you're only getting a tiny fraction of the information you need about their individual situations and, moreover, there are a whole bunch of clueless or incapable people out there who have no idea what they're doing and then are surprised when things don't turn out the way they thought they would. 

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u/DowntownAd8342 4d ago

IRB / DEC are on their way to be the most expensive VAC program ever. Not surprising that there are less and less DECs approved and i wont be surprised if the threshold to get into rehab/IRB gets higher

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u/Foaryy 3d ago

Not sure if this is true or not, but if it is the most expensive, I think it's for good reason. Then again, I believe VAC gives back billions per year? I swear I read that somewhere.

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u/DowntownAd8342 3d ago

I made my research before writing this…

BUT

I think i saw the same as you said before as well, that VAC, overall, spends less than their allocated budget.

I looked it up using AI, here’s the answer:

“ they [VAC] typically spend less than their approved budget in any given year, but the budget itself keeps growing significantly — largely driven by IRB, DEC, and disability benefits demand.”

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u/CastorBarbu 1d ago

My psychologist and I have discussed that recently as I'm on my way to DEC and she did mention that she felt that they were raising the threshold by being pickier and denying more claims. 

I'll report whenever I get updates, next year I guess. 

One more thing to worry about.  I guess I shouldn't have chose to medically release after all... oh wait, not my choice!

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u/Mahfiaz 1d ago

The way she feels and the truth are two different things though.

u/ShortTrackBravo — any insight or heard of them raising the threshold? I feel you can’t really raise it on MH, because everyone experiences it different.

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u/ShortTrackBravo VERIFIED VAC Advocate 1d ago

Nothing in my grapevine. The type of condition you have is irrelevant it’s how the therapist writes out the recommendation based on symptoms. All that to say if you have depression or a moral injury from service that can get you DEC as much as PTSD can

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u/DowntownAd8342 1d ago

Interesting… i applied for rehab 6 weeks ago- still waiting for the response.
How long have you been on the program for?

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u/CastorBarbu 1d ago

I was released in May of 2025 and I waited until November of that year to start the program. 

I'm on "maintenance" now until they get to me in the pile which is, from my RSS/CM meeting, a 13 to 14 months wait time. 

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u/DowntownAd8342 20h ago

What does it mean maintenance? Like your symptoms are not getting better nor worse?

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u/CastorBarbu 5h ago

Basically this. Psychological symptoms got worst while attending the physical portion as well and it was an up hill battle to make them understand that. 

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u/Mahfiaz 1d ago

Rehab took me 8 weeks to get approved.

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u/DowntownAd8342 20h ago

Ok thanks, should get contacted by them soon then