A report from the Veterans ombudsman finds not all veterans are being treated equitably.
The report by Guy Parent shows 70% of younger veterans are waiting far longer than the 16 week timeline promised by Veterans Affairs Canada to find out if they are eligible for financial assistance and medical treatment.
More than a quarter of the applications included in the report took 32 weeks or longer to process.
In the report titled Meeting Expectations: Timely and Transparent Decisions for Canada's Ill and Injured Veterans, Parent notes, "What is especially worrisome to me is that our review suggests that not all groups of Veterans are treated equitably. Women wait longer than men; Francophone applicants wait longer than Anglophone applicants. Any differences in wait times for decisions should be based on need. All Veterans deserve timely decisions, regardless of factors such as language and gender."
Parent also suggests the problem is being aggravated by a growing backlog of applications.