Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun
The federal government has announced that a new Veterans Affairs Canada office in Surrey will open by May 2017.
As part of the Trudeau government’s first budget in March, the government announced it is reopening nine veterans service centres shut down by the Tories, including one in Kelowna, and adding the new one in Surrey.
Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Kent Hehr made the announcement in Surrey on Tuesday morning. The new office will be located on the 3rd floor at 13479 108th and will employ around 21 staff members serving 7,500 veterans.
Hehr says staff at the Surrey office will answer questions about VAC services and benefits; arrange pension medical examinations; and assist veterans to complete and submit applications and receipts.
Included in this year’s budget was $5.6 billion to improve veterans’ benefits and services, including increased payments under the Disability Award and the Earnings Loss Benefit, and expanded access to the Permanent Impairment Allowance.
By next spring, the government says offices will also reopen in Charlottetown, Sydney, NS., Windsor and Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Brandon, MB., and Prince George and Kelowna.
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