Queensway Avenue location will serve approximately 3,500 Veterans
KELOWNA, BC, Nov. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - Veterans, their families and local officials today joined Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament for Kelowna–Lake Country, on behalf of the Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, for the reopening of the Veterans Affairs Canada office in Kelowna, British Columbia.
The office is located on the 1st floor of 471 Queensway Avenue, Kelowna, BC. The Kelowna office will employ approximately nine staff who will serve approximately 3,500 Veterans in the area. Staff at the office will answer questions about VAC services and benefits; arrange pension medical examinations; and, assist Veterans to complete and submit applications and receipts. Case-managed Veterans will also be able to meet with their case manager.
In August, Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr visited the Kelowna office while it was still under construction. The Kelowna office is the third of nine Veterans Affairs offices to be reopened across the country by May 2017.
Quotes
"I am extremely proud to be reopening doors that were previously closed to Veterans and their families here in Kelowna. They have selflessly answered the call to serve our country, and now we are answering their call by enhancing financial benefits, restoring and expanding access to critical services, expanding service in British Columbia and the territories, and hiring more frontline staff. This was part of our commitment to Canadians, and we stand by this promise."
The Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
"I am pleased to officially reopen Veterans Affairs Canada doors here in Kelowna so that approximately 3,500 Veterans in this area, as well as their families, will once again receive important in-person services and care from Veterans Affairs Canada."
Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country.
Quick Facts
- Reopening the nine Veterans Affairs offices that closed is a top priority in the Minister of Veterans Affairs' mandate letter.
- The offices in Corner Brook, NL, and Brandon, MB, have already been reopened. The rest of the offices will open between now and May 2017. Offices in Saskatoon, SK, Sydney, NS, and Charlottetown, PE, will open in the fall of 2016. The Thunder Bay, ON, office will open in January 2017. Offices in Windsor, ON, and, Prince George and Surrey, BC, will open in spring 2017.
- Veterans Affairs Canada is hiring 400 new employees to help ensure that Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members, RCMP personnel, and their families are provided with the best possible services in their own communities. This includes new staff to ensure case managers have a caseload of an average of 25 Veterans.
Associated Links
- Office Openings
- Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Mandate Letter
SOURCE Veterans Affairs Canada
Media Relations, Veterans Affairs Canada, 613-992-7468, [email protected]; Sarah McMaster, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs, 613-996-4649
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