Pensioners Training Regulations

Regulations Respecting the Training of Pensioners These Regulations may be cited as the Pensioners Training Regulations. In these Regulations, Act means the Department of Veterans Affairs Act; (Loi) dependant means the wife, child or parent of a pensioner maintained by him or for whose maintenance he is legally responsible and a daughter of the pensioner, 17 years of age or over, or other person, who, being competent to do so, has assumed conduct of the pensioner’s household and care of his children, and includes a child legally adopted or in the process of being legally adopted by the pensioner and maintained by him, a stepchild of the pensioner maintained by him, an illegitimate child of the pensioner acknowledged or maintained by him, and where the pensioner is a woman, having been born during service or within nine months thereafter and being maintained by her, and an illegitimate child of the pensioner’s wife maintained by him, and a woman who, although not legally married to the pensioner, was living with him at the time of his enlistment and on whose account dependants’ allowance was being paid by the Department of National Defence; (personne à charge) Minister means the Minister of Veterans Affairs; (ministre) pensioner means a person who is in receipt of a disability pension awarded under section 22, 64, 65 or 66 of the Pension Act, under section 5 of the Veterans Benefit Act or under the Pension Act in respect of military service in an area designated in the Special Duty Area Pension Order. (pensionné) Subject to these Regulations, where a pensioner is awarded a pension under the Pension Act in respect of military service rendered during World War I, World War II or in an area designated in the Special Duty Area Pension Order or a pension under section 5 of the Veterans Benefit Act, and in the opinion of a full-time medical officer of the Department, the pensioner is by reason of his pensionable or non-pensionable disability, or both, unable to follow his regular or any secondary occupation in which he has been previously employed for a period of one year or more, or it is apparent that the pensioner is fit to carry on in one or more of such previous occupations, but placement in any one of them is not possible and will probably not be possible within a reasonable time, or a pension under subsection 21(2) of the Pension Act and a full-time medical officer of the Department certifies the pensioner to be, by reason of his pensionable disability, unable to follow his regular occupation or any secondary occupation in which he was previously employed for a period of one year or more, the Minister may approve a course of training that, in his opinion, will assist the pensioner to fit himself for employment. Notwithstanding section 3, no course of training may be approved after the day on which this section comes into force. Where the Minister approves a course of training for a pensioner, that training shall be, for a pensioner of World War I, a complete course of vocational training of not more than 12 months duration; for a pensioner of World War II, a pensioner awarded a pension under section 5 of the Veterans Benefit Act, a pensioner awarded a pension under subsection 21(2) of the Pension Act or a pensioner awarded a pension under the Pension Act for military service in an area designated in the Special Duty Area Pension Order, a complete course of vocational training, training-on-the-job for a period not exceeding two years, educational training not beyond undergraduate university level, post-graduate studies not exceeding three academic years, a correspondence course training program to assist the pensioner in obtaining employment, or home instruction for seriously disabled pensioners, confined to their homes, of not more than 12 months duration. Subject to section 6, the Minister may pay to or in respect of a pensioner approved for training the allowances set out in the schedule. The allowance that may be paid for full-time training shall be for a pensioner, the allowance provided for in the schedule, less the amount by which the pensioner’s income from the training program exceeds $100 a month; and for dependants, an amount that, with the pension paid on behalf of the dependants of the pensioner, does not exceed the allowance payable for such dependants in the schedule. No allowances may be paid to a pensioner who is taking home instruction or a correspondence course. The Minister may pay the following fees, costs and charges on behalf of pensioners approved for full-time training: for university training, tuition fees, university registration fees, library fees, instrument rental fees, regular university examination fees, and “student activity” and similar fees as specified in university calendars; for secondary school training or vocational training, fees for athletics and regular student activities, the cost of prescribed text books that are ordinarily purchased by a student and are not included in the fees, and the cost of expendable materials supplied by the institution; and for a correspondence course training program or for home instruction training, the cost of prescribed text books required for the training course. The maximum amount of fees, costs and charges for full-time training, excluding allowances, that may be paid in respect of a pensioner, shall not exceed $800 for any period of 12 consecutive months or for any academic year of university training. A pensioner who is requested to appear at a specified place for an interview or for counselling with respect to his rehabilitation may be allowed the travel expenses specified in subsection (3) for the trip from his place of residence to the place of consultation and return. A pensioner who is taking a course of vocational training in Canada may be allowed the travel expenses specified in subsection (3) for one trip from his place of residence to the place where the course is being held and one trip back to that place of residence or to such other place as the Minister, in the interest of the pensioner’s rehabilitation and without incurring additional expenses, deems it advisable for him to go. The following expenses may be allowed to a pensioner described in subsections (1) and (2) for travel in Canada: the cost of railway transportation including a sleeping berth where necessary; reasonable charges for other modes of transportation where necessary and supported by a voucher; transportation allowance at the rate of $0.045 a mile where the transportation is provided by a privately-owned automobile, irrespective of the number of passengers carried in the automobile; the cost of meals at the rate of $2 a meal while travelling by train and where the meals are not provided by the transportation company; the cost of meals at the rate of $1.50 a meal while travelling otherwise than by train where the meals are not provided by the transportation company; and the cost of board and lodging where not available at a Departmental institution at the rate of $1.25 a meal for board and, when supported by a voucher, an amount not exceeding $5 a night for lodging. The payment of expenses set out in subsection (3) shall be the cost in respect of travel by the most direct appropriate route. A pensioner who is required to live away from his usual place of residence in pursuing a course of training and is receiving an allowance for dependants may be paid an additional allowance of $65 a month for extra living expenses. A pensioner who is receiving an allowance for dependants, and whose place of residence is at such distance from the place where the course of training is being held, that daily transportation to and from such place is advantageous as an alternative to changing his place of residence, may be allowed transportation to and from his place of residence each day that his course necessitates at a total cost not exceeding $7.50 a week or the actual cost of such transportation, whichever is the lesser. Subject to these Regulations, a pensioner who is caused personal injury by accident arising out of or in the course of vocational training with respect to which he is paid allowances under these Regulations, or is disabled by reason of an industrial disease due to the nature of his vocational training, and the dependants of a pensioner whose death results from such accident or industrial disease, are, notwithstanding the nature or class of that training, entitled to receive compensation at the same rate and under the same conditions as are provided under the law of the province where the pensioner is receiving his training respecting compensation for workmen and the dependants of deceased workmen, employed by persons other than Her Majesty, who are caused personal injuries in that province by accidents arising out of the course of their employment, or are disabled in that province by reason of industrial diseases due to the nature of their employment, and such compensation shall be determined by the same board, officers or authority as that established by the law of that province for determining compensation for workmen and dependants of deceased workmen employed by persons other than Her Majesty or by such board, officers or authority as the Governor in Council may direct. Any compensation awarded to a pensioner or the dependants of a deceased pensioner by any board, officer or authority or by any court, under authority of these Regulations, shall be paid to such pensioner or dependants or to such person as the board, officer, authority or court may direct, and the said board, officer, authority and court have the same jurisdiction to award costs as in cases between private parties is conferred by the law of the province where the pensioner is receiving his training. For the purpose of this section, accident includes a wilful and intentional act, not being the act of the pensioner and a fortuitous event occasioned by a physical or natural cause; (accident) compensation includes medical and hospital expenses and any other benefits, expenses or allowances that are authorized by the law of the province where the pensioner is receiving his training respecting compensation to workmen and dependants of deceased workmen; (indemnité) industrial disease means any disease in respect of which compensation is payable under the law of the province where the pensioner is receiving his training respecting compensation to workmen and the dependants of deceased workmen. (maladie industrielle) For the purpose of computing the compensation payable in respect of a pensioner, the Minister, with the approval of the Governor in Council, may determine the amount of direct monthly wage that a pensioner shall be deemed to have been receiving at the time of the occurring of the accident or the contracting of an industrial disease. Where an accident happens to a pensioner in the course of his training under such circumstances as entitle him or his dependants to an action against some person other than Her Majesty, the pensioner or his dependants, if entitled to compensation under these Regulations, may claim compensation or may claim against such other person. Where a claim is made against a person other than Her Majesty and less is recovered and collected, either upon a settlement approved by the Minister or under a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, than the amount of compensation to which the pensioner or his dependants are entitled under these Regulations, the difference between the amount so recovered and collected and the amount of such compensation shall be paid as compensation to the pensioner or dependants. If the pensioner or his dependants elect to claim compensation under these Regulations, Her Majesty shall be subrogated to the rights of the pensioner or his dependants and may maintain an action in his or other names or in the name of Her Majesty against the person against whom the action lies and any sum recovered shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Where an action is brought under subsection (1) and the amount recovered and collected exceeds the amount of compensation to which the pensioner or his dependants are entitled under these Regulations, there may be paid to the pensioner or his dependants such portion of the excess as the Minister with the approval of the Treasury Board deems necessary, but if after such payment has been made the pensioner becomes entitled to an additional amount of compensation in respect of the same accident, the sum paid under this subsection may be deducted from such additional compensation. The parent, tutor or guardian of an infant dependant may make an election under this section for such dependant. Notice of the election shall be given within three months after the happening of the accident or, in case it results in death, within three months after the death, or within such longer period either before or after the expiration of such three months as may be allowed by the board, officers or authority having power to determine the right to and the amount of the compensation under these Regulations. No pensioner or dependant of a deceased pensioner shall have a claim against Her Majesty or any officer, servant or agent of Her Majesty, except for compensation under these Regulations in any case where an accident happens to such pensioner in the course of his training under such circumstances as entitle him or his dependants to compensation under these Regulations. Notwithstanding anything in these Regulations, the Minister may refuse or discontinue training of a pensioner if, in the Minister’s opinion, the course of training would not result in reasonable re-establishment of a pensioner or if a pensioner is not making satisfactory progress in the training program. Any benefit received by a veteran under these Regulations shall not affect, nor be affected by, any other benefit that he is entitled to receive as a veteran. An allowance payable pursuant to section 5 or 9 of these Regulations shall be adjusted quarterly in the manner set out in subsection 19(1) of the War Veterans Allowance Act. Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), an allowance payable pursuant to section 5 or 9 of these Regulations for any month in a calendar year shall not be less than the amount payable for any month in the immediately preceding calendar year.