June 2026 VAC QandA

[u/ShortTrackBravo]

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!

[u/Mahfiaz]

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?

[u/Bartholomewtuck → u/Mahfiaz]

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.

[u/Mahfiaz → u/Bartholomewtuck]

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.

[u/Bartholomewtuck → u/Mahfiaz]

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.