Bureau of Pensions Advocates

BPA lawyers, also referred to as "advocates", and support staff assist clients with reviews, appeals, and applications for reconsideration before VRAB.

On some issues it was well ahead of the curve, putting forward interpretations that would later become accepted norms within Canadian society.

At this level, the client is entitled to appear personally (at the Department's expense) and provide oral evidence with the assistance of his/her BPA lawyer.

After the Board's Appeal decision, if the client is still not satisfied, a Reconsideration hearing may, under exceptional circumstances, be held.

At this point, the Bureau of Pensions Advocates may again represent the client (free of charge) before the Board as it reconsiders the matter.

The First World War, with its heavy casualties and the need to help over 400,000 returning veterans ease back into civilian life, required a greater degree of government involvement.

As a result of the lack of any public health system in Canada in the early 20th century, and in order to deal with the growing number of returning wounded Veterans, the Canadian government established the Military Hospitals Commission.

[3] In the century following the First World War, a growing list of programs and services have been added to the resources and benefits available to Veterans.

There is evidence that where the claim has been taken up intelligently and aggressively by an organization, the application which had previously failed finally succeeded ..."[5] As a result, the Commission recommended that "(a) ... officials should give to the applicant 'correct and clear statements as to the principles upon which pensions are granted, indicate the lines along which evidence is required, and, where possible, utilize any available staff in assisting the soldier in procuring and putting into shape this information'; (b) That wide publicity be given to the appointment of the Official Soldiers' Advisor so that applicants and their friends will automatically take up cases with him direct and regard him as the most effective channel of communication.

"[6] The Government of Canada's Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment accepted and implemented this recommendation in 1923, before the Royal Commission had even finished its work.

It will be the duty of the pension advocates to prepare on behalf of the applicant the material which should be submitted to the Tribunal in support of the application..."[7] The Committee's report identified the rationale for the establishment of the Veterans' Bureau: "The most vital and fundamental requirement in any plan for reorganization was that adequate provision should be made for thorough preparation of every case.

The Special Committee established in 1932 to investigate complaints made by veterans organizations stated that "... the Board of Pension Commissioners is seriously hampered in its work by having to consider cases, not prepared or insufficiently prepared... Up to August 31, 1931, ... more than 10 per cent had been referred back to the Tribunal for rehearing generally on the ground that the case had not been properly presented... nothing can be accomplished unless we make provision for extending and strengthening the Veterans' Bureau..."[10] Consequently, in 1933 the role of the Veterans' Bureau's pension advocates was enhanced with the following amendment (Bill 78): "Section 10(g)(2).

[11] By the time of World War II, five federal departments were involved in programs pertaining to veterans.

It included the following steps intended to increase the credibility and independence of the Bureau:[15] These recommendations and structural changes were implemented in 1971 and had a major impact on the role of the Bureau: "The role of the advocate is unique in that his responsibility is to assist the applicant for pension, and the only duty he owes to his employer (the Crown) is to do his utmost to assist this applicant.

"[16] Among the Woods Committee's recommendations not adopted by the government was that authority for the Bureau's existence be removed from the Pension Act and placed in separate legislation.

[17] The Pension Reform initiative of 1995 took place during a difficult financial period for the Government of Canada and was intended to reduce the number of organizations involved in the veterans' benefits process, thereby streamlining the entire structure and making it more efficient.

The Bureau of Pensions Advocates became a part of the department and was responsible solely for representing clients before the newly established Veterans Review and Appeal Board.

In October 2000, the federal government implemented a number of initiatives to deal with the perception that the average soldier's quality of life was not all it could be.

As a result, Bill C-41 allowing members of the Canadian Forces to collect a disability pension while still serving was adopted.

It moved from an organization of 15 separate law firms from coast to coast working in isolation, to a single national law firm with offices sharing standardized business processes, coordinating and equitably distributing client cases across the country.

When Veterans Affairs Canada employees were sent home on March 13, 2020 as a result of the pandemic, BPA’s operations were paralyzed due to its until then heavily paper-based business process.

In the weeks and months that followed, the Bureau completely transformed those processes into virtual ones, allowing employees to begin serving clients from their home offices.