Seamless Canada

by Terrarium Thu 31 Jan 2019, 8:23 am

National Defence advances the Seamless Canada initiative with provinces and territories

Department of National Defence (DND) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) representatives met for two days in Ottawa on December 5-6, 2018 with counterparts from all 13 provinces and territories to advance the Seamless Canada initiative, first initiated this past summer.

National Defence launched Seamless Canada on June 27 to improve the coordination of relocation services across the country when CAF members and their families move to a different province or territory. The Ottawa symposium focussed on finding ways to streamline and enhance services across governments on issues specific to military members and their families.

A Canadian Forces Ombudsman report released in 2013 found that relocation is a major cause of stress and strain for military families, who can expect to move three times more frequently than the average civilian over the course of a member’s career in the CAF. Specific stressors include access to healthcare, employment, child care and education, which all come under provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan H. Vance and Deputy Minister Jody Thomas set the tone for the December meetings with their opening remarks.

“Improving services across Canada for Canadian Armed Forces members and their families is a must,” General Vance said. “Moving is a challenging experience even in the best conditions, and I am committed to helping make things easier and less stressful when they relocate across the country.” Deputy Minister Thomas added, “With military families moving frequently in service of their country, relocation is absolutely one of the most difficult parts of military life.”

The Ottawa roundtable discussions centred on health care, spousal employment, and education and childcare. The participants also worked on shaping the governance of the Seamless Canada framework and deciding on a strategic, long-term path to improving how military families can better transition between the provinces and territories.

A number of military spouses have also featured prominently in shaping the Seamless Canada dialogue. They spoke to the assemblies in June, and again in Ottawa this month about their personal experiences with relocation.

The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, also emphasized his support for the Seamless Canada initiative during the two-day Ottawa symposium.

“The wellbeing of the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces and their families is my priority. Relocations can be a difficult experience for members and their families, and we are committed to resolving issues and easing that burden. We thank the provinces and the territories for working collaboratively to find solutions that will improve the lives of Canada’s military families,” said Sajjan.

Seamless Canada supports Canada’s Defence Policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE) by helping the CAF retain the talented people it recruits, while ensuring their wellbeing and looking after the best interests of their families. For additional information on how military members will be supported under Canada’s defence policy initiatives from when they join, throughout their careers, and after they become veterans, go to: Chapter One of Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE).

Seamless Canada builds on steps already taken by provincial ministries in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick that enhance services for military families. Other provinces have also worked hand in hand with Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) in the past and will continue to do so in order to streamline services in those jurisdictions.

https://ml-fd.caf-fac.ca/en/2018/12/23162

by Terrarium Thu 31 Jan 2019, 8:27 am

Military’s new initiative aims to ease moving stress for families

Andrea Gunn (agunn@herald.ca)
Published: Jan 31, 2019

Seamless Canada B97879487Z.1_20190130203939_000G88N8995.1-1_large

Nardine Kwasny and her children Jack and daughter Dylan pose for a photo in Zermatt, Switzerland, with the Matterhorn in the background.

In the 15 years since she met her husband, Nardine Kwasny and her family have moved six times — from coast to coast and even overseas.

For most families, having to pack up and move every few years would be a nightmare. But for military families like the Kwasnys, it’s just part of life.

Kwasny’s husband Corey is a lieutenant colonel and the commanding officer of 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron at 12 Wing Shearwater. They and their 11-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter arrived in Nova Scotia about six months ago, the latest posting on their journey.

“We ask our children so much,” Nardine Kwasny said. “Every three years, they’re the new kid in school, the new kid in ballet class, the new kid on the soccer team, and every three years they have to leave the best friends they’ve ever made and go and try and make some new ones.”

But despite the stress, Kwasny would tell you the experience is well worth it.

“We really enjoy it, we’re grateful,” she told The Chronicle Herald. “We’ve seen all parts of Canada. We’ve driven across the country.

“It allowed us to have a three-year posting in Belgium, which we just returned from last summer, and that was incredible. The languages, the food, the sights. ... It was just a great opportunity and that’s something we never would have had if my husband didn’t serve in the Canadian Forces.”

Shelley Hopkins is executive director of the Halifax region’s Military Family Resource Centre, a non-profit organization that is part of a network of centres across the country. She said although military families come in all shapes and sizes and from different experiences and backgrounds, one thing they share in common is their ability to adapt — a necessary trait for the some 18,000 families that are told they have to pack up and start over each year.

“The research is showing that military families are quite resilient,” Hopkins said. “Certainly there’s a stress period for families, but by the time they have actually moved and settled, the majority of families tend to just really bounce back from that.”

As resilient as military families may be, Hopkins said they still struggle with major gaps in service when hopping from province to province for postings — something the family resource centres across Canada aim to assist with.

For military families moving to Nova Scotia, getting a family doctor or specialist care is one of the most challenging, Hopkins said.

It’s no secret that wait-lists in the province are long, so much so that many military families won’t even be stationed long enough to make their way to the top.

Kwasny and her family have been relying on walk-in clinics and pharmacies for their medical needs since arriving in Nova Scotia.

“If we’re only here for two years, I don’t have high hopes of getting a family doctor,” she said.

In Belgium, Kwasny and her family were permitted to see the military doctor, something she said she wishes they could access in Canada too.

Kwasny realizes she’s lucky that her family doesn’t have any complex health concerns requiring specialized care, so relying on walk-ins is a trade-off she’s willing to accept for now. She said she personally knows other families that don’t have that kind of flexibility.

Annie St. Pierre moved to Halifax about a year and a half ago with her husband, who works in military intelligence, and she still doesn’t have a regular physician.

“It becomes very problematic because if something’s wrong, you have to go to the emergency (department), and sometimes nothing is that serious,” she said.

Hopkins said the Military Family Resource Centre tries to give advance warning about the family doctor shortage in Nova Scotia so families can get things like referrals for specialists in order before the move.

The organization also recently partnered with a virtual health app called Maple to give families moving to the area a free one-year subscription. Hopkins said the app, which allows individuals to see a doctor remotely for minor issues, provides a bit of a stop gap.

For families with complex needs — for example, a child with special needs or an elderly parent — connecting with specialized resources beyond medical care can also be a challenge.

Through government funding, the Halifax Military Family Resource Centre recently added a new position — a director of inclusion — to make those connections to resources in the community on behalf of the family.

Spousal employment is another major issue many military families face when dealing with frequent relocation, whether it’s not being able to find work, or dealing with a pay cut or different education or certification requirements.

St. Pierre said she had to absorb a significant salary drop when she moved from Montreal to Edmonton and later from Edmonton to Halifax.

“It becomes very discouraging,” she said. “And I’m lucky because I’m in marketing and communications so it’s not as if it’s not recognized from one province to another.”

Kwasny actually switched careers specifically so she could have one that meshed better with the military family lifestyle. She previously worked in special events and programming and now works as a school secretary.

“I quickly realized that I could move provinces, and gained a career that I enjoy because I liked being with kids, and I can have similar hours as my children,” she said.

Hopkins said similar to the position of director of inclusion, the Halifax resource centre also has an employee whose job it is to help military spouses with job searching, career development and navigating challenges that arise with job qualifications.

Maj.-Gen. Steve Whelan, chief of staff with the Military Personnel Command in the Canadian Armed Forces, said as much as relocation is an inevitable part of military life, different levels of government owe it to the men and women who serve to make that process as painless as possible.

“We move a significant number of families across the country,” Whelan said. “As you can well imagine, every family has a story and has its own unique requirements and needs. We face those challenges of waiting times, getting a new family doctor, spousal employment, education.”

As part of the government’s focus in its new defence policy, “Strong, Secure, Engaged,” on improving how it looks after its personnel, the Armed Forces have launched a new initiative called Seamless Canada.

Seamless Canada is a forum in which the Armed Forces, military spouses, stakeholder organizations like the family resource centres, and provincial and territorial governments work together to better align programs and services for military members and their families that are subject to change within different jurisdictions across the country — things like education, health, employment credentials, and licensing for drivers and vehicles.

The first ever Seamless Canada meeting was last summer and the second took place in December, so it’s still relatively early days for the project. Going forward, Whelan said representatives will meet twice a year, and those meetings will inform the goals the provinces and territories will work toward.

“It’s about trying to develop an informal set of policies and practices that are going to make the provinces more aware and sensitive,” he said. “When the Canadian Forces move a person, it’s because we have to, and we’re kind of hoping you give us a little bit of special treatment to help facilitate the move that the Government of Canada is asking of that family.”

Whelan said his vision for the next six months is to continue to engage with the provinces to determine the first priorities of Seamless Canada, and within the next few years develop concrete action plans and begin implementing changes in the system.

“It’s a perfect platform for us to institutionalize and formalize the work we’re going to do to try to help families,” Whelan said. “Seamless Canada is actually the tangible ... effort to say we’re going to try and do better.”

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/militarys-new-initiative-aims-to-ease-moving-stress-for-families-280308/

Seamless Canada

Seamless Canada

Re: Seamless Canada