Veterans Allowance Regulations

Regulations for Carrying Into Effect the Purposes and Provisions of the War Veterans Allowance Act These Regulations may be cited as the Veterans Allowance Regulations. In these Regulations, Act means the War Veterans Allowance Act; (Loi) application form[Repealed, SOR/84-784, s. 1] deduction means a deduction made pursuant to subsection 17(2) of the Act; (retenue) deduction form[Repealed, SOR/84-510, s. 1] guaranteed income supplement[Repealed, SOR/2004-68, s. 1] old age security benefit means any benefit payable under the Old Age Security Act; (prestation de sécurité de la vieillesse) old age security pension[Repealed, SOR/2004-68, s. 1] spouse’s allowance[Repealed, SOR/2004-68, s. 1] A person may make an application for an allowance by attending at an office of the Department or contacting an officer who represents the Department, giving the person’s full name and address and any other information that will enable the person’s records to be located and furnishing, on request, the information specified in subsection (4); or by filing a notice with the Department indicating the person’s intention to apply for an allowance and giving the person’s full name and address and any other information that will enable the person’s records to be located. Where any person is unable, by reason of physical or mental disability, to make an application for an allowance, an application may be made on the person’s behalf by any responsible person. Where the Department receives a notice referred to in paragraph (1)(b), the Department shall, in writing, immediately request the applicant, or the person making the application on the applicant’s behalf, to furnish the information specified in subsection (4). An applicant, or the person making the application on behalf of the applicant, shall furnish in accordance with subsections (1) and (3) the following information: details of the military service of the applicant or of the veteran on the basis of whom the applicant is making an application; the names of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner and dependent children; the income of the applicant and of the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner; an indication as to whether the applicant is in receipt of a disability pension related to military service or has accepted a commuted pension; and such other information as the Minister may require to determine the applicant’s eligibility for an allowance. Every application shall include a declaration signed by the applicant, or the person making the application on the applicant’s behalf, to the effect that all information and statements furnished are true and complete. An application shall be regarded as completed when the applicant, or the person making the application on the applicant’s behalf, has furnished the information required under section 3 and the declaration referred to in subsection (1). The Minister, in respect of any application for an allowance, may cause to be made such investigation into the facts stated in the application and into any other matter related thereto as may be necessary to determine whether the applicant is eligible for an allowance. The Minister may require any applicant to undergo any medical examination or provide any medical evidence or reports that, in the opinion of the Minister, are necessary to determine whether the applicant is a person described in paragraph 4(1)(c) of the Act. For the purposes of subsection (2), section 3 of the Act does not apply. Subject to subsection (2), for the purpose of enabling the Minister to determine the age of an applicant, the applicant shall furnish, when requested by the Minister, a certificate of birth or baptism or, if such a certificate is not obtainable, some other documentary evidence from which the applicant’s age may be determined. Where the Minister is satisfied that the applicant is unable to furnish a certificate or other evidence required by subsection (1), the Minister shall endeavour to obtain that evidence. For the purpose of determining the applicant’s status as a spouse or common-law partner, the Minister shall accept a marriage certificate or any other document that establishes the applicant’s status as a spouse; or any evidence that establishes the applicant’s status as a common-law partner. For the purposes of the Act, a person is considered to be blind if the person’s visual acuity in both eyes with proper refractive lenses is 20/200 (6/60) or less in accordance with the Snellen Chart or its equivalent, or if the greatest diameter of the person’s field of vision in both eyes is less than 20 degrees. The diameter of a person’s field of vision is to be determined by the use of a tangent screen at a distance of one metre using a ten millimetre white test object; or a perimeter at a distance of one third of a metre using a three millimetre white test object. For the purposes of the Act, a person resides in the place where the person makes their home and ordinarily lives. A person’s residence in Canada is deemed not to be interrupted where the person has been temporarily absent from Canada for no more than 183 consecutive days, or for no more than 183 days cumulatively in a payment period. [Repealed, SOR/96-256, s. 1] For the purpose of determining a question of residence, the Minister may take into account a statutory declaration made by any reliable person who knows the applicant. [Repealed, SOR/2004-68, s. 8] Subject to subsection (2), where an allowance is awarded to an applicant, the applicant is entitled to receive the allowance where the application was made as described in paragraph 3(1)(a), from the first day of the month in which the application was made; or where the application was made as described in paragraph 3(1)(b), from the first day of the month in which the notice was filed with the Department. Where, at the time the Minister is adjudicating the right of an applicant to an allowance, a requirement of the Act or these Regulations affecting that right is not satisfied and in the opinion of the Minister the requirement will be satisfied within a reasonable time thereafter, the Minister may award the allowance and the entitlement of the applicant thereto shall commence on the first day of the month in which the requirement is satisfied. Where the Minister has received information that the circumstances of the recipient or of the spouse or common-law partner of the recipient have changed, and the Minister has completed the Minister’s investigations into all matters relating to the change in circumstances, the Minister shall adjudicate the right of the recipient to the allowance and determine the amount of the allowance to be awarded, if any. For the purpose of determining the amount of allowance that a recipient is entitled to receive when a change in the circumstances of the recipient results in a change in the class of the recipient as set out in column I of the schedule to the Act or the income factor of the recipient as set out in column II of the schedule to the Act, the change shall take effect from the first day of the month in which the change in circumstances occurs, where the change in the class or the income factor of the recipient results in an income factor equal to or greater than the income factor in effect immediately prior to the change in circumstances; or the first day of the month following the month in which the change in circumstances occurs, where the change in the class or the income factor of the recipient results in an income factor less than the income factor in effect immediately prior to the change in circumstances. Where in any month a person ceases to be eligible for an allowance, the allowance shall be paid as if the person was eligible for the allowance for the whole of that month. Where an allowance becomes payable or payment of an allowance may be made under the Act to a person referred to in subsection 17(2) of the Act, the amount of any deduction shall not be greater than the amount by which the amount of an advance or assistance or welfare payment paid by any provincial or municipal authority in a province to that person exceeds an amount equal to one month’s allowance authorized to be paid to that person. No deduction shall be made unless the amount to be deducted exceeds $100; in the opinion of the Minister, the deduction will not cause undue hardship to the recipient; the Minister has notified the provincial or municipal authority that paid the recipient the advance, assistance or welfare payment of the date that an allowance was authorized to be paid to that recipient and within 30 days of such notification the Minister receives from that authority a declaration in which the recipient had, before receiving the advance, assistance or welfare payment, consented in writing to a deduction from the recipient’s allowance and to the payment to the government of the province or the municipal authority of the amount of the deduction; the recipient described in the declaration referred to in paragraph (c) forwards a statement to the Minister acknowledging receipt of the advance, assistance or welfare payment and setting out the amount of the payment; and where the recipient referred to in paragraph (d) has not forwarded the statement referred to in that paragraph, the Minister has verified that the recipient received the advance, assistance or welfare payment and the amount of the payment and that the recipient has been informed by mail that a deduction is to be made. No payment shall be made to the government of a province or a municipal authority under subsection 17(2) of the Act until 60 days have elapsed since the recipient was informed in writing that a deduction is to be made from the recipient’s allowance under that subsection and was informed in writing of the amount of the deduction. The declaration of a provincial or municipal authority of the province referred to in subsection (2) shall clearly identify the recipient and the provincial or municipal authority making the advance, assistance or welfare payment to the recipient; and indicate that the recipient consented to a deduction of an amount not exceeding the amount of the advance, assistance or welfare payment from any allowance payable to the recipient under the Act. [Repealed, SOR/2004-68, s. 11] Every recipient shall immediately notify the Minister of any change in the circumstances of the recipient or the recipient’s spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be, that results in a change in the class of the recipient as set out in column I of the schedule to the Act or the income factor of the recipient as set out in column II of that schedule. [Repealed, SOR/2009-225, s. 22] When the income factors specified in column II of the schedule to the Act are adjusted quarterly under section 19 of the Act, the product obtained by multiplying the income factor referred to in paragraph 19(1)(a) of the Act by the ratio referred to in paragraph 19(1)(b) thereof, shall be adjusted to the nearest cent in accordance with subsection (2); and the quotient obtained from the ratio referred to in paragraph 19(1)(b) of the Act shall be expressed as a decimal fraction in accordance with subsection (3). Where a product referred to in paragraph (1)(a) contains a fractional part of a dollar, that fraction shall be expressed as a decimal fraction of three digits after the decimal point and the third digit after the decimal point shall be dropped if that digit is less than five; or the second digit after the decimal point shall be increased by one and the third digit dropped if the third digit is five or greater than five. Where a quotient referred to in paragraph (1)(b) contains a fraction that is less than one, that fraction shall be expressed as a decimal fraction of four digits after the decimal point and the fourth digit after the decimal point shall be dropped if that digit is less than five; or the third digit after the decimal point shall be increased by one and the fourth digit dropped if the fourth digit is five or greater than five. [Repealed, SOR/86-391, s. 6] Subject to subsection (2), where a veteran and the veteran’s spouse or common-law partner, or the veteran’s survivor or orphan, as the case may be, has applied for or is in receipt of an allowance and would also be eligible for an old age security benefit if they applied for one, the current monthly benefit deemed to be payable, for the purposes of subparagraph 4(3)(c)(i) of the Act, shall be the amount of the old age security benefit that they would be eligible to receive, starting in the fourth month after the old age security benefit became payable. Where a veteran and the veteran’s spouse or common-law partner, or the veteran’s survivor or orphan, as the case may be, has duly applied for an old age security benefit and receipt of it is delayed by circumstances beyond their control, the Minister shall assess the old age security benefit as a current monthly benefit payable for the purposes of subparagraph 4(3)(c)(i) of the Act effective the first day of the month in which payment of it is received. Where a veteran and the veteran’s spouse or common-law partner, or the veteran’s survivor or orphan, as the case may be, who would be eligible for an allowance if they were not receiving an old age security benefit, wishes to take up residence outside Canada for a period longer than six months and the old age security benefit, in whole or in part, would be discontinued following departure from Canada, they may, as of the first day of the month that is three months prior to the anticipated date of departure, elect in writing to forego the old age security benefit, in whole or in part, in order to be in receipt of an allowance prior to leaving Canada. The old age security benefit, or the part of it, that is foregone under subsection (3) shall not be regarded as a current monthly benefit deemed to be payable for the purposes of subparagraph 4(3)(c)(i) of the Act. For the purposes of subsection 4(8) of the Act, an applicant or recipient and their spouse or common-law partner are not residing together if as the result of a physical or emotional condition of the applicant or recipient or their spouse or common-law partner, or of a dependent child, the couple is unable to reside together; or the applicant or recipient and their spouse or common-law partner are unable to reside together as the result of circumstances beyond their control and the couple has been classified as recipients of any old age security benefit at the single rate. For the purposes of subparagraph 7(1)(b)(i) of the Act, the maximum amount of casual earnings is in the case of a person, $2,900; in the case of a person and the person’s spouse or common-law partner, a combined total of $4,200 for the couple; and in the case of a person and the person’s spouse or common-law partner who is a veteran, a combined total of $4,200 for the couple. For the purposes of subparagraph 7(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the maximum amount of net interest income in the year from any source is in the case of a person, $140; and in the case of a person and the person’s spouse or common-law partner, a combined total of $140 for the couple. Where an adjudication under the Act is made by the Minister, other than an adjudication under subsection 18(2) of the Act, the Minister shall record the adjudication and the reasons for it; inform the applicant or recipient whose interests are affected by the adjudication of the adjudication and the reasons for it, and the right to apply for a review of the adjudication under subsection 32(1) of the Act; and on request, forward a copy of the adjudication and reasons therefor to the applicant or recipient, [Repealed, SOR/87-520, s. 1] the Bureau of Pensions Advocates, and any veterans’ organization incorporated by or under an Act of Parliament or any other person if the organization or person acted on behalf of the applicant or recipient. Where an applicant or a recipient is dissatisfied with an adjudication affecting them that is made by the Minister under the Act, other than an adjudication under subsection 18(2) of the Act, the applicant or recipient, or a person acting on their behalf, may apply for a review of the adjudication by forwarding, within 60 days after the date the applicant or recipient was informed of the adjudication, a request for review to an officer or employee of the Department designated by the Minister under subsection 32(1) of the Act. Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a request for review of an adjudication is not forwarded within the 60 days referred to in that subsection, a designated officer or employee referred to in that subsection may review the adjudication if there are special reasons to justify the extension of the time limited for the request. Subject to subsection (4), the designated officer or employee shall, within 30 days after receipt of a request for review under subsection (1), review the adjudication referred to in the request and record their adjudication of the review and the reasons for it. Where a designated officer or employee cannot review an adjudication within the 30 days required under subsection (3), they shall notify the applicant or recipient whose interests are affected by the adjudication, or a person acting on behalf of the applicant or recipient, of the delay and the reason for it. Where a designated officer or employee referred to in subsection (1) confirms or alters an adjudication, the officer or employee shall notify, in writing, the applicant or recipient whose interests are affected by the adjudication, or the person acting on behalf of the applicant or recipient, of the adjudication and the reasons for it; and inform the applicant or recipient of the right to appeal to the Board and that, in pursuing the right to appeal, the applicant or recipient may have the assistance of and be represented by the Bureau of Pensions Advocates free of charge, be represented by a service bureau of a veterans’ organization or, at their own expense, be represented by any other representative. [Repealed, SOR/87-520, s. 3] [Repealed, SOR/2013-158, s. 1] For the purposes of section 8.1 of the Act, the prescribed loss or reduction of income is an amount equal to or greater than $12.50 per month or $150 per year.