War Veterans Allowance Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. W-3)

Powers of Minister

Marginal note:Errors in administration may be rectified

26 Where, in the opinion of the Minister, an applicant for an allowance or a recipient has suffered a financial disadvantage as a result of an error on the part of any person in the exercise or performance of any powers, duties or functions of the person under this Act, the Minister may take such steps to remedy the disadvantage so suffered as the Minister deems reasonably necessary in the circumstances.

Marginal note:Review of adjudication

• 27 (1) Every adjudication by the Minister is subject to review by the Minister who may, for the purpose of any review, require the recipient to submit a statement of such facts as the Minister may consider relevant to determine the right of the recipient to have any allowance continued.

• Marginal note:Statement to be verified

  (2) Any statement submitted pursuant to subsection (1) shall be verified in such manner as the Minister may direct and in the event the recipient fails to furnish a statement as required, the Minister may reduce, suspend or cancel payment of the allowance.

28 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 20 (3rd Supp.), s. 33]

Marginal note:Investigation

• 29 (1) The Minister has all the powers of a commissioner under Part I of the Inquiries Act for the purpose of any investigation required to be made in order to determine whether any allowance should be made, suspended or revoked, what should be the amount of any allowance, or whether payment of any allowance should be made to the recipient or to some other person for administration on behalf of the recipient.

• Marginal note:Taking oaths, etc.

  (2) Any officer or employee of the Department authorized by the Minister may, in the course of their employment and subject to any other Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province, administer oaths and take and receive affidavits, declarations and solemn affirmations for the purpose of the administration of this Act or the regulations, and every person so authorized has, with respect to any such oath, affidavit, declaration or affirmation, all the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits.

• Marginal note:Acceptance of oaths, etc.

  (3) The Minister may accept, for the purpose of the administration of this Act or the regulations, any oath administered or any affidavit, declaration or solemn affirmation taken or received by any officer or employee of

  • (a) a department in, or other portion of, the federal public administration specified in Schedule I, IV or V to the Financial Administration Act, or

  • (b) a department of the government of a province

  who has all the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits.

Exchange of Information

Marginal note:Census information

• 30 (1) The Minister has the right, for the purpose of ascertaining the age of any applicant, to obtain any information from Statistics Canada on the subject of the age of the applicant that may be contained in the returns of any census taken more than twenty years before the date of the application for the information.

• Marginal note:Information that shall be made available to Minister

  (1.1) The following personal information relating to a veteran shall, if requested by the Minister, be made available to the Minister for the purpose of determining or verifying the veteran’s service in order to determine eligibility for an allowance under this Act or for a benefit under any enactment incorporating this Act by reference:

  • (a) personal information collected or obtained by the Department of National Defence in the administration of the National Defence Act or the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces, or any predecessor enactment relating to the same subject-matter;

  • (b) personal information collected or obtained by the Department of Transport in the administration of the Canada Shipping Act, or any predecessor enactment relating to the same subject-matter; and

  • (c) personal information collected or obtained by the Library and Archives of Canada in the administration of the Library and Archives of Canada Act, or any predecessor enactment relating to the same subject-matter.

• Marginal note:Information that Minister may disclose

  (2) Personal information that has been collected or obtained by the Minister in the administration of this Act, or any enactment incorporating this Act by reference, may be disclosed by the Minister

  • (a) to any person or body, to the extent that the disclosure is necessary in order for the Minister to obtain from that person or body information that the Minister requires for the administration of this Act or any other enactment administered by the Minister;

  • (b) to any officer or employee of the Department, to the extent that the disclosure is required for the administration of this Act or any other enactment administered by the Minister;

  • (c) to the Department of Employment and Social Development, to the extent that the disclosure is required for the administration of the Old Age Security Act or the Canada Pension Plan; and

  • (d) to the Correctional Service of Canada, to the extent that the disclosure is required for the administration of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Where Social Insurance Numbers have been assigned under the authority of any other Act, the Minister or other authority charged with the administration of that Act and the Minister of Veterans Affairs may exchange any information contained in applications for those numbers and any numbers so assigned and may make or cause to be made available any such information or numbers in such manner as may be authorized by that Act.

Marginal note:Additional duties of Minister

31 The Governor in Council may impose on the Minister duties similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act in respect of any allowances authorized to be paid under any other Act, and such effect shall be given to any such adjudication by the Minister as the Governor in Council may direct.

Appeals

Marginal note:Review by departmental official

• 32 (1) Where an applicant for an allowance or a recipient is dissatisfied with any adjudication affecting him or her, other than an adjudication under section 18 or on an appeal under subsection (2) of this section, he or she may, in accordance with the regulations, apply to an officer or employee of the Department designated by the Minister for the purpose for a review of the adjudication.

• Marginal note:Appeal to Veterans Appeal Board

  (2) Where, following a review under subsection (1), the applicant or recipient remains dissatisfied with the adjudication, he or she may appeal the adjudication to the Board, within sixty days after the adjudication is rendered or such longer period as the Board may, for special reasons, allow.

• (3) to (5) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 20 (3rd Supp.), s. 36]

33 [Repealed, 1995, c. 18, s. 104]

Administration of Act

Marginal note:Administration of Act

• 34 (1) Subject to this Act, the Minister shall be charged with the administration of this Act and the determination of whether any allowance is payable and the amount thereof.

• Marginal note:Income information

  (1.1) Subject to section 7, the Minister may, in determining whether an allowance is payable and the amount of the allowance, consider any statement or estimate of income respecting the recipient or their spouse or common-law partner that is being used for the purpose of the Old Age Security Act or the Income Tax Act.

• Marginal note:Authorization of others to carry out functions, etc.

  (2) The Minister may authorize any person to exercise and perform any of the powers, duties or functions of the Minister under this Act.

Marginal note:Forms

34.1 Every application, statement, notification, consent or report required or permitted by this Act, or by any enactment incorporating this Act by reference, must be made or given in the form required by the Minister.

Marginal note:Combining information

34.2 The Minister may combine in any single document, and in any electronic form, the collection of personal information required for the purposes of this Act and other enactments administered by the Minister.

General

Marginal note:Benefit of the doubt

35 In all adjudications or proceedings under this Act, the Minister shall

• (a) draw from all the circumstances of the case and all the evidence presented to the Minister every reasonable inference in favour of the applicant or recipient;

• (b) accept any uncontradicted evidence presented to the Minister by the applicant or recipient that the Minister considers to be credible in the circumstances; and

• (c) resolve in favour of the applicant or recipient any doubt, in the weighing of evidence, as to whether the applicant or recipient has established a case.

Marginal note:Immunity

36 No action or other proceeding lies or shall be instituted against any person for or in respect of anything done, reported or said in good faith in any adjudication or proceedings before the Minister or anything reported or said in good faith in any material, information or report made or furnished by any person at the request of the Minister.

Marginal note:Disclosure in legal proceedings

36.1 Notwithstanding any other Act or law, no member of the federal public administration shall be required to disclose personal information that has been collected or obtained for the purpose of this Act, or any enactment incorporating this Act by reference, in any legal proceedings except

• (a) criminal proceedings; or

• (b) proceedings on a review, appeal, reconsideration or judicial review relating to an application made under this Act or any enactment incorporating this Act by reference.

Veterans Described

Marginal note:Veterans described

• 37 (1) The veterans referred to in the definition veteran in section 2 are those described in this section.

• (2) [Repealed, 2015, c. 3, s. 168]

• Marginal note:Canadian veterans of World War I or II

  (3) A Canadian veteran of World War I or World War II is any former member of His Majesty’s Canadian forces

  • (a) who

    • (i) having enlisted and having the enlistment attested, served in a theatre of actual war during World War I or World War II and was discharged from the service in which he or she was enlisted,

    • (ii) is in receipt of a pension for disability under the Pension Act in respect of service during World War I or World War II as those wars are defined in that Act,

    • (iii) has accepted a commuted pension in respect of service described in subparagraph (ii), or

    • (iv) is, after death, declared to have been eligible for, or awarded, a pension described in subparagraph (ii); or

  • (b) who served in the United Kingdom during World War I.

• Marginal note:Allied veteran

  (4) An allied veteran is any former member of

  • (a) any of His Majesty’s forces,

  • (b) any of the forces, other than resistance groups, of any of His Majesty’s allies,

  • (c) any of the forces, other than resistance groups, of any power associated with His Majesty in World War I, or

  • (c.1) any of the forces that took part in the Korean War

  who was domiciled in Canada at the time when he or she joined that force or at any time while a member of that force, and

  • (d) served in a theatre of actual war during World War I or World War II,

  • (d.1) served in a theatre of operations during the Korean War,

  • (e) is in receipt of a pension for disability under the Pension Act in respect of service during World War I or World War II as those wars are defined in that Act,

  • (f) has accepted a commuted pension in respect of service described in paragraph (e),

  • (g) is, after death, declared to have been eligible for, or awarded, a pension described in paragraph (e), or

  • (h) served in the United Kingdom during World War I.

• Marginal note:Allied veteran — World War II

  (4.1) An allied veteran is also any former member of any of His Majesty’s forces, or of any of the forces, other than resistance groups, of any of His Majesty’s allies in World War II, who served during that war, who resided in Canada for a total period of at least 10 years beginning on or after August 15, 1945, who has been honourably discharged or has been permitted honourably to resign or retire from one of those forces and who

  • (a) served in a theatre of actual war during that war;

  • (b) is in receipt of a pension for an injury or disease incurred or aggravated during service in any such force during that war or is declared to have been eligible for, or awarded, such a pension subsequent to their death; or

  • (c) has accepted a commuted pension.

• Marginal note:Allied veteran — Korean War

  (4.2) An allied veteran is also any former member of any of the forces that took part in the Korean War and who served during that war, who resided in Canada for a total period of at least 10 years beginning on or after July 27, 1953, who has been honourably discharged or has been permitted honourably to resign or retire from one of those forces and who served in a theatre of operations during that war.

• Marginal note:Canadian dual service veteran

  (5) A Canadian dual service veteran is a person who

  • (a) served during World War I and World War II as a member of His Majesty’s Canadian forces;

  • (b) was enlisted or obligated to serve in those forces without territorial limitation; and

  • (c) has been honourably discharged or has been permitted honourably to resign or retire from those forces.

• Marginal note:Allied dual service veteran

  (6) An allied dual service veteran is

  • (a) a person who

    • (i) served during World War I as a member of His Majesty’s forces,

    • (ii) was domiciled in Canada when he or she became a member of those forces,

    • (iii) was a member of His Majesty’s Canadian forces during World War II, enlisted or obligated to serve without territorial limitation, and

    • (iv) has been honourably discharged or has been permitted honourably to resign or retire from those forces.

  • (b) [Repealed, 1995, c. 17, s. 71]

• Marginal note:Canadian Forces veteran

  (7) A Canadian Forces veteran is a person who,

  • (a) as a member of the forces referred to in section 14 of the National Defence Act, left Canada or the United States, including Alaska, at any time prior to July 27, 1953 to participate in military operations undertaken by the United Nations to restore peace in the Republic of Korea; or

  • (b) is in receipt of a pension under the Pension Act, or is declared to have been eligible for, or awarded, a pension under the Pension Act after the member’s death, having become eligible for that pension by virtue of

    • (i) service as a member of the special force, as that force is defined in subsection 3(1) of that Act, or

    • (ii) service in the Korean War, as that service is defined in subsection 3(1) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (7.1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

  allied ship

  allied ship means a ship other than a Canadian ship or a ship serving the enemy, and includes a ship that belonged to a government of an enemy-occupied country, or to a person resident in an enemy-occupied country, and that was placed under Canadian or allied control. (navire allié)

  Canadian manning pool

  Canadian manning pool means a manning pool of the Canadian merchant navy established under Order in Council P.C. 14/3550 of May 19, 1941. (dépôt d’équipages canadien)

  Canadian ship

  Canadian ship means

  • (a) a ship registered or licensed in Canada or Newfoundland, except

    • (i) a ship chartered by bareboat charter to a charterer resident outside Canada or Newfoundland, or

    • (ii) a ship taken over and operated by any allied country; and

  • (b) a ship, wherever registered or licensed, having a crew engaged under the laws of Canada or Newfoundland and

    • (i) chartered by bareboat charter to a charterer resident in Canada or Newfoundland, or

    • (ii) taken over and operated by, under the control of, or on behalf of the Canadian Shipping Board or a Canadian naval authority. (navire canadien)

  distressed mariner

  distressed mariner means a person who was in distress in a place outside Canada or Newfoundland, having been shipwrecked, discharged or left behind from a ship on which the person was engaged, and who received or was entitled to receive relief under

  • (a) the Distressed Seamen Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 609 of March 23, 1937, as those regulations read at the relevant time; or

  • (b) Order in Council P.C. 8592 of November 9, 1943. (en détresse)

  foreign voyage

  foreign voyage means a voyage from or to any place outside the area of a home-trade voyage. (voyage de long cours)

  home-trade voyage

  home-trade voyage means a voyage between places in Canada, Newfoundland, the United States or Saint Pierre and Miquelon, in the course of which the ship did not go south of 36° North latitude or through the Bering Strait. (voyage de cabotage)

  territorial waters of Canada

  territorial waters of Canada means all waters within three nautical miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks or harbours of Canada and Newfoundland, not included within the limits specified and described in the first article of the convention between His Majesty King George III and the United States, signed at London on October 20, 1818, and includes all waters that, pursuant to Order in Council P.C. 3139 of December 18, 1937, were delimited as Canadian territorial waters, but does not include

  • (a) the waters of the St. Lawrence River seaward from a line drawn due south across that river from the mouth of the Saguenay River; or

  • (b) the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca westward beyond 124° 30′ West longitude. (eaux territoriales du Canada)

  war risk bonus

  war risk bonus means the pay supplement that was paid to ships’ crews serving in dangerous waters

  • (a) by shipowners or shipping companies under the authority of decisions, findings or directions of the National War Labour Board pursuant to

    • (i) the Wartime Wages and Cost of Living Bonus Order, Order in Council P.C. 8253 of October 24, 1941,

    • (ii) the Wartime Wages Control Order, Order in Council P.C. 5963 of July 10, 1942, or

    • (iii) the Wartime Wages Control Order, 1943, Order in Council P.C. 9384 of December 9, 1943,

    as those respective orders read at the relevant time; or

  • (b) by the Government of Canada pursuant to Order in Council P.C. 122/7359 of August 19, 1942, as it read at the relevant time. (indemnité pour risques de guerre)

• Marginal note:Applicable rules

  (7.2) The following rules apply for the purposes of this section:

  • (a) the status of a vessel and of the members of its crew, and the class of voyage in which a vessel was engaged, shall be determined according to the Canada Shipping Act, 1934 and the regulations made thereunder, as that Act and those regulations read at the relevant time;

  • (b) the official records verifying the authenticity of any ship, other than a ship registered in Canada or Newfoundland, shall be those used under international practice or under the laws of the country of registration;

  • (c) a ship does not qualify as a Canadian ship or an allied ship if, at the relevant time,

    • (i) it was neither registered nor licensed,

    • (ii) it was a pleasure yacht not engaged in trade, or

    • (iii) it was engaged in the fishing industry;

  • (d) where official records of a person’s service as a merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II or as a Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War are not available, the Minister may accept a statutory declaration or like statement from anyone if

    • (i) information about the existence of any registered or licensed ship on which it is claimed that the person served is corroborated by official records,

    • (ii) no information in the declaration or statement is contradicted by other evidence, and

    • (iii) after taking into consideration such corroboration as may be available, the Minister is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the information in the declaration or statement is true,

    but this paragraph does not apply in relation to subparagraph (7.3)(a)(i) with respect to the availability of war risk bonus;

  • (e) a person’s domicile shall be understood as meaning the person’s domicile at the commencement of the service, activity or status referred to in paragraph (7.3)(d); and

  • (f) the Minister may presume death in every case where, according to the evidence available as to the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the person whose death is in question or the loss of the ship on which the person was serving, the Minister is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the death has in fact occurred.

• Marginal note:Merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II

  (7.3) A merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II is

  • (a) any person who, during World War I or World War II, served on board a Canadian ship while it was making

    • (i) a voyage for which war risk bonus was available, as verified by articles of agreement or other official documentation,

    • (ii) a foreign voyage,

    • (iii) a home-trade voyage any part of which went outside the territorial waters of Canada and the territorial waters of all other countries and was

      • (A) between a place in Canada and a place in the United States, in either direction,

      • (B) between a place in one province and a place in another province,

      • (C) between a place in Newfoundland or Saint Pierre and Miquelon and a place outside Newfoundland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, in either direction, or

      • (D) a search and rescue, salvage, cable-laying or cable-repairing operation, or

    • (iv) a voyage during the course of which

      • (A) the ship served on, or another Canadian or allied ship in the vicinity of the ship served on, was attacked by the enemy, or

      • (B) the ship served on was attacked or damaged

        • (I) by friendly forces engaging in action or counteraction against the enemy, or

        • (II) as a result of marine hazards due to the war;

  • (b) any person who, during World War I or World War II, made a trip by sea, land or air through or over a theatre of actual war for the purpose of

    • (i) proceeding to a Canadian ship in order to serve on a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii), or

    • (ii) returning to Canada, or to the country of which the person was a citizen or national, from having made a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) or from service referred to in paragraph (c);

  • (c) any person who, as a member of a Canadian manning pool during World War I or World War II, served in a theatre of actual war;

  • (d) any person domiciled in Canada who, during World War I or World War II,

    • (i) served on board an allied ship while it was making a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv),

    • (ii) made a trip by sea, land or air through or over a theatre of actual war for the purpose of

      • (A) proceeding to an allied ship in order to serve on a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii), or

      • (B) returning to Canada from having made a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) or from service referred to in subparagraph (iii),

    • (iii) as a member of an allied manning pool, served in a theatre of actual war, or

    • (iv) was a distressed mariner; or

  • (e) any person who

    • (i) is in receipt of a pension,

    • (ii) has accepted a commuted pension, or

    • (iii) is declared to have been eligible for, or is awarded, a pension subsequent to the person’s death

    for an injury or disease incurred or aggravated during service as a Canadian merchant mariner of World War I or Canadian merchant mariner of World War II within the meaning of section 21.1 of the Pension Act.

• Marginal note:Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War

  (7.4) A Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War is

  • (a) any person who, at any time during the period from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, served on board a Canadian ship in any of the waters, including gulfs, bays and inlets, lying between

    • (i) the coasts of Siberia, Korea and China

    and

    • (ii) a line beginning at a point on the coast of Siberia at longitude 135° East; thence south to a point at latitude 38° 30′ North and longitude 135° East; thence southwesterly to a point at latitude 30° North and longitude 124° East; thence south to Shokoto Sho; thence westerly to Shichisei Seki; and thence westerly to a point on the coast of China at latitude 23° North; or

  • (b) any person who

    • (i) is in receipt of a pension,

    • (ii) has accepted a commuted pension, or

    • (iii) is declared to have been eligible for, or is awarded, a pension subsequent to the person’s death

    for an injury or disease incurred or aggravated during service as a Canadian merchant mariner of the Korean War within the meaning of section 21.1 of the Pension Act.

• Marginal note:Definition of theatre of actual war

  (8) For the purposes of this section, theatre of actual war means

  • (a) [Repealed, 2015, c. 3, s. 168]

  • (b) in the case of World War I,

    • (i) as applied to the army or air forces, the zone of the allied armies of the continents of Europe, Asia or Africa, or wherever the veteran has sustained injury or contracted disease directly by a hostile act of the enemy, and

    • (ii) as applied to the naval forces or the merchant navy, the high seas or wherever contact has been made with hostile forces of the enemy, or wherever the veteran has sustained injury or contracted disease directly by a hostile act of the enemy; and

  • (c) in the case of World War II,

    • (i) with respect to a former member of His Majesty’s Canadian forces or a merchant navy veteran of World War II, any place where the person has been on service involving duties performed outside the Western Hemisphere, including

      • (A) service involving duties performed outside Canada, Newfoundland, the United States, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and the territorial waters thereof in aircraft, and

      • (B) service anywhere in a ship or other vessel, which service is classed as “sea time” for the purpose of advancement of naval ratings, or which would be so classed were the ship or other vessel in the service of the naval forces of Canada, and

    • (ii) with respect to a former member of His Majesty’s forces other than His Majesty’s Canadian forces, or of any of the forces of His Majesty’s Allies or powers associated with His Majesty in World War II, such places, zones or areas as the Board may prescribe.

• Marginal note:Meaning of sea time

  (8.1) For the purposes of clause (8)(c)(i)(B), sea time for the purpose of advancement of naval ratings includes time served in

  • (a) a sea-going ship,

  • (b) a defensively-equipped merchant ship, or

  • (c) any ship employed in harbour, other than a boom defence scow, gate vessel, depot ship or harbour craft,

  as well as time served in combined operations organizations, but does not include time served on any ship prior to its commissioning.

• Definition of commuted pension

  (9) For the purposes of this section, commuted pension means a final payment under the Pension Act in lieu of annual pension in respect of a disability rated at five per cent or more of total disability, or a similar or analogous final payment under the laws relating to the forces with which the veteran served.

• Marginal note:Commencement and duration of wars

  (10) For the purpose of this section, except subparagraphs (3)(a)(ii) to (iv) and paragraphs (4)(e) to (g),

  • (a) [Repealed, 2015, c. 3, s. 168]

  • (b) World War I shall be deemed to have commenced on August 4, 1914 and to have concluded on August 31, 1921; and

  • (c) World War II shall be deemed to have commenced on September 1, 1939 and to have terminated

    • (i) in respect of service in connection with operations in the European and Mediterranean theatres of war, on May 8, 1945, and

    • (ii) in respect of service in connection with operations in the Pacific theatre of war, on August 15, 1945.

• Marginal note:Application to Newfoundland

  (11) For the purposes of this Act, Canadian forces includes any forces raised in Newfoundland, and domicile in Canada and residence in Canada include respectively domicile and residence in Newfoundland, whether before or after the union of Newfoundland with Canada.

• (12) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 12 (2nd Supp.), s. 14]