C-417 – The Assistance Animals Framework for Veterans Act – creates a framework for the Department of Veterans Affairs to make it easier for veterans to get support animals.

To create this framework the Minister of Veterans Affairs will need to consult relevant stakeholders, such as assistance animal service providers, and the appropriate advisory groups. During these consultations the Minister will need to consider:

  • The Minister’s mandate on providing care and services to veterans to help them return to civilian life
  • Recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs regarding service animals
  • Gaps in healthcare coverage and programs preventing veterans from getting support animals
  • The benefits of having a unified approach to animal-assisted support services to veterans across Canada

The framework itself will need to include measures to:

  • Provide structured processes and standards for animal-assisted services provided to veterans, including standards for the documentation the Department of Veterans Affairs might need to support a request for a service animal
  • Include the requirements set out by the Development of a Management System for Animal-Assisted Human Services when it comes to third-party accreditation requirements for providing animal-assisted support services
  • Find ways to track service providers’ compliance with these standards
  • Create clear objectives and timelines for implementing this framework

The Minister will have one year to create the framework and progress on it will be reviewed five years after that.

Your Opinion Please

C-417

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Progress of C-417

C-417 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.


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