Housing attainment

• Helping Veterans transition into safe and appropriate housing, such as:
  • Transitional housing
  • Supportive housing (place-based and scattered-site)
  • Market rent housing (independent units and shared accommodations)
  • Indigenous-led housing options that reflect Indigenous values, beliefs and practices
• Determining needs and preferences for housing and supports for Veterans.
• Securing housing for Veterans by working with private and public local real estate, landlord associations, and home communities (e.g., First Nation band, Inuit community, and Métis settlement).
• Helping Veterans apply for housing and support services (e.g., working to get participants on waitlists).
• Providing more intensive housing search support (e.g., accompaniment to viewings).
• Providing landlord-tenant services for Veterans that have moved into housing. This includes, for example, mediation and problem-solving when a Veteran is first housed (e.g., within the first three months).
• Re-housing (if required).
• Rental Support
• Emergency Rental and/or Utility arrears

Housing set-up

• Activities which cover costs associated with setting up a housing unit, including:
  • basic supplies at move-in (e.g., cookware, cleaning supplies)
  • basic groceries at move-in

Support Services 

• Connection to essential services related to the provision of emergency shelter beds, food and shelter (e.g., shower and laundry facilities, food banks, soup kitchens, community kitchens and drop-in centres).
• Connection to culturally appropriate services and supports for Indigenous Veterans (e.g., cultural ceremonies, traditional supports, and activities with the goal of increasing cultural connections and an individual’s sense of belonging in a community).
• Basic personal items, such as clothing, footwear, blankets and personal hygiene supplies.
• Cost to issue or replace personal identification, including a Veteran’s Service Card.
• Connection to access technology (e.g., community voicemail, safe apps, computers, etc.) in a community setting (e.g., in a resource or drop-in centre).
• Local transportation costs (e.g., bus, public transit tickets, taxi, rideshare) to support housing searches, job searches or other integration activities (e.g., appointments or reconnecting to family).
• Transportation to home community, with mileage eligibility to be determined by Recipient or Sub-Agreement holder.
• Connection to access oral care programs, if not covered by the federal government (e.g., Non-Insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations or Inuit), or a provincial or territorial government program.

Let us help connect you:

• Access to income assistance: services to connect Veterans to existing income benefits and financial assistance (e.g., provincial/territorial social assistance, child benefits, disability benefits, Veterans allowance, Old Age Security, or Employment Insurance).
• Employment assistance: pre- and post-employment services (e.g., job search assistance, interview preparation) that assist Veterans in finding and maintaining employment, and building self-sufficiency.
• Essential skills assistance: services to support essential skills development (e.g., budgeting, cooking, reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, computer use and continuous learning), and/or life skills (e.g., sessions on healthy relationships, parenting skills development, effective and positive communication, budgeting, cooking and healthy eating).
  • This includes connecting Veterans to education and training programs and providing services to support successful participation in these programs (e.g., bus passes, clothing or equipment, food and non-alcoholic beverages, childcare costs, internet access for the duration of the program).

Health and medical services

• Connect Veterans to clinical, health and treatment services through case management, including through an Intensive Case Management team.
• Hiring of healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses, mental health practitioners) to provide services directly to Veterans.
• Refer to harm reduction activities that seek to reduce risk and connect Veterans with key health and social services.
• Supports to access traditional or culturally relevant healing services, for example:
  • healing circles
  • sweat lodge ceremonies
  • access to traditional medicines and foods that are not offered through provincial programming

Financial assistance

Providing one-time or short-term financial assistance for housing related costs including, but not limited to:

• Funding to help cover housing costs in the short term (up to a maximum of six months) while people wait for longer-term rental assistance including the VHP rent supplement, Canada Housing Benefit or benefits from provincial, territorial, or municipal programs or Veteran Affairs Canada benefits
• Paying the cost of a maximum of one month of rent for a market rental unit to hold it for a Veteran exiting homelessness
• Rental deposits eligible under applicable provincial or territorial legislation (e.g., last month’s rent or security deposits, where permitted)
• utility bills (e.g., electricity, water, gas, internet)
• deposits to set up utilities
• tenant insurance
• rental and utility arrears
• Providing a VHP Rent Supplement to eligible Veterans that meet the criteria described in the directives, to help bridge the gap between what the household can afford to pay (including a Veteran’s municipal, provincial and federal benefits) and actual rental costs.