Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Veterans Affairs Canada
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1918-present
History
During World War I, it became clear that a coordinated approach was needed to deal with ill and injured soldiers. On February 21, 1918, the Department of Civil Re-establishment was created for that purpose. Subsequently, on June 11, 1928, the Government for Canada created the Department of Pensions and National Health, which took over responsibility for caring for ill and injured soldiers[2] Following World War II, the volume of soldiers returning home made it clear that the Government of Canada would require a department dedicated entirely to serving ill and injured veterans. Consequently, in 1944 Prime Minister Mackenzie King's government passed a motion that officially created the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Canada operated a benefits program similar to the American G.I. Bill for its World War II veterans, with a strong economic impact similar to the American case.[3] A war veteran's eligibility for certain benefits depended on the veteran's "overseas" status, defined by Veterans Affairs as having served at least two miles offshore from Canada. In the Second World War (1939–45) Canada did not yet include Newfoundland, which became a Canadian province in 1949. Thus, World War I and World War II veterans who served in Newfoundland (with Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve) are considered by Veterans Affairs to be "overseas veterans" (and as such may be referred to the British Service Personnel and Veterans Agency).
In the late 1970s, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau undertook an initiative to decentralize government away from Ottawa.[citation needed] He and his Minister of Veterans Affairs, Daniel J. MacDonald (Member of Parliament for Cardigan) devised the plan to move the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs from Ottawa to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The department's head office has been located in the Daniel J. MacDonald Building in PEI's capital since 1980. In the early 21st century, a second building two blocks from the DJM, the Jean Canfield Building, was constructed to house Veterans Affairs and other federal government offices. The department has become a major economic contributor to PEI, and has had an important impact on Charlottetown's cultural landscape. Veterans Affairs Canada is the only major federal department whose headquarters is located outside of Ottawa.