More than 6,800 former Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members have applied for a Veteran’s Service Card (VSC) in the first month after the launch of a new online portal.

The portal, which was launched in late September 2019, provides CAF veterans with a secure and more convenient way to apply for the card. With the new portal, everything is submitted securely online, and applicants do not have to send copies of their service records in the mail.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Chief of Staff Strategy (CoS Strat) organization at Military Personnel Command (MPC) took the lead for the coordination of the functional requirements for the new portal.  It was developed by ADM(IM)’s Director Enterprise Information Management Services (DEIMS) for Chief Military Personnel (CMP) in cooperation with other government departments.

“There was much cooperation between the Department of National Defence (DND), Shared Services Canada (SSC), Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC),” said Dan Durocher from DEIMS.

“The secure online portal meets federal privacy and security requirements and allows veterans to request their card online and receive a confirmation message that their application has been received,” said Colonel Stephane Boucher, Director Personnel Strategy at MPC .

“The secure online portal is also linked to LAC where former CAF members’ service files are kept,” he added. “This allows for ease of verification and fulfilment of VSC requests.”

There are approximately 475,000 veterans who are eligible for the card. Eligibility is based on the 2008 Government of Canada (GoC) definition of “veteran”, which is “any former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who completed basic training and has been honourably released”. This includes veterans whose military service dates back to the Second World War.

LAC, which has a vast collection of historical military records in storage and online, is a close partner in the verification process.

“DND and LAC use the back end of this application to move a request through the validation process and once it is approved, a card is printed and mailed to the applicant,” Durocher said.

To date, 450 cards have been issued through the portal. The card serves as a symbol to recognize an individual’s former military service and the enduring affiliation with the CAF.

More information about the card and how to apply can be found on the VSC information page.