Canada’s military ombudsman flags decade-long failure to fix reservist compensation system

A decade after the Department of National Defence pledged to fix systemic inequities facing military reservists, a new report from the Canadian Forces ombudsman concludes that little has changed — leaving ill and injured Primary Reserve members navigating a fragmented system marked by delays, confusion and unequal treatment.

In the report — titled Marking Time: A Decade of Stalled Progress for the Primary Reserve — ombudsman Mario Baril says recommendations first issued by his predecessor in 2016 remain largely unimplemented, despite repeated assurances from senior military leadership that the problems would be addressed.

The findings land at a time when the military increasingly relies on reservists for domestic emergencies and overseas deployments, and perhaps most importantly when the federal government plans to expand the size of the Reserve Force in the coming years.

“Nearly a decade later, many of the inequities identified in these reports persist,” Baril wrote in the executive summary, calling the lack of progress “especially troubling” given the growing role of reservists in CAF operations.

In an interview with CBC News, Baril expressed frustration that the issues of care for part-time military members has been allowed to languish.

“It’s obviously very disappointing and shocking,” he said.

“But … from an ombud’s perspective, we never stop monitoring and we never stopped putting pressure on the system until we have accomplished what it is that we want to be accomplished.”  

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The report traces long-standing problems in how reservists who are injured — or become ill during service — access health care, compensation and administrative support.

Unlike their Regular Force counterparts, Primary Reserve members often serve part-time and move between different classes of service — a complexity the ombudsman says the military has failed to account for in policy and practice.

That has meant delayed compensation, interrupted health care and financial hardship.

In one case cited by the report, a reservist injured during training was informed, incorrectly, that they were no longer eligible for CAF health care and might be required to repay months of treatment costs. In another, a reservist waited more than a year for compensation paperwork that was never properly submitted, leaving them thousands of dollars in debt and at risk of homelessness before the claim was ultimately approved retroactively.

The report also identifies a persistent cultural divide between the Regular Force and the Reserve Force — one that affects how reservists are perceived, prioritized and supported.

One former senior official is quoted as describing a stark contrast in how injured personnel are treated: “If a Regular Force person is injured off duty, they are entitled to uninterrupted, automatic, full pay and benefits until they recover … At the same time, when a Reservist suffers a service-related injury, the CAF makes Reservist families beg for money to pay the mortgage or credit card.”

As part of a proposal to increase the size of the military, the Department of National Defence is currently mapping out a strategy that would see the size of the Primary Reserve increase to 100,000 from the current level of approximately 30,000. It is also proposing to drastically expand the supplementary reserve to 300,000.

The ombudsman’s report raises the question: Who would want to join an organization that can’t get compensation and health care for injuries covered, and also ignores warnings about the system?

“We need to keep our promise in a way that will attract and retain people,” Baril said.

The ombudsman’s office says all of the recommendations it made in 2016 remain relevant today. Among the updated recommendations, Baril wants to see the compensation application process digitized and the allocation of additional resources to Reserve-specific health policy.

In a written response, Defence Minister David McGuinty formally agreed with the recommendations — something his predecessors had also done.

The defence department, he said, is currently developing a proposal to formally address concerns about compensation and governance of the reserves.

On digitization, the minister said the military is “fully committed to providing a secure, efficient, and user-friendly processing system” and confirms the effort is part of a broader 2026-27 modernization plan.

Even still, the ombudsman said that similar commitments were made in the past, only to stall amid competing priorities, leadership turnover and chronic resource constraints.

Baril was asked where he thinks he can succeed where his predecessors have failed.

“Persistence,” he said. “I will not stop until [the recommendations] are achieved. I will monitor them on an ongoing basis.”

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/military-reserves-health-ombudsman-inequities-9.7081485?cmp=rss