This class action was certified on October 17, 2022.

• Read the Order and Reasons: Bruyea v His Majesty the King, 2022 FC 1409.
• Read the News Release: Federal Court Certifies Class Action Against Canada on Behalf of Ill and Injured Veterans

The certification hearing took place in Ottawa on June 6-8, 2022.

The Statement of Claim was filed in the Federal Court on September 15, 2020.

• The CBC covered the story in October 2020: Lawsuit accuses Veterans Affairs of failing to tell eligible veterans about benefits.

Murphy Battista LLP has filed a class action against the Government of Canada and the Minister of Veterans Affairs concerning its administration of the Supplementary Retirement Benefit (the “SRB”) to former members of the Canadian Armed Forces (“Veterans”).

The SRB program was established by the Government of Canada to compensate for the lower pension earnings and retirement benefits payable to a Veteran who had been unable to engage in suitable gainful employment because of service-related injuries and disabilities. The Minister of Veterans Affairs is the sponsor and administrator of the SRB program. Eligibility for the SRB program commenced once a Veteran was approved for the Veterans Affairs Canada Rehabilitation Program (the “VAC Rehabilitation Program”) and the Earnings Loss Benefit; Veterans approved for the VAC Rehabilitation Benefit were eligible for and could concurrently apply for and receive the Earnings Loss Benefit.

The class action alleges that employees of the Government of Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada, who are assigned to help Veterans, lack sufficient training, expertise, and awareness of programs, such as the SRB program, to explain and communicate such programs to Veterans. The class action alleges that, as a result, Veterans were not properly informed of, unable to fully comprehend, and did not receive the benefits and services to which they are entitled. As an example, it is specifically alleged in the statement of claim that Veterans who were in receipt of Canadian Armed Forces Long Term Disability (“CAF-LTD”) benefits were advised by employees of Veterans Affairs Canada that there was no benefit in applying for the Veterans Affairs Canada Rehabilitation Program (the “VAC Rehabilitation Program”), or the “Earnings Loss Benefit” while in receipt of the CAF-LTD. Given these alleged misrepresentations, many Veterans did not apply for the Veterans Affairs Canada Rehabilitation Program or the Earnings Loss Benefit – and therefore were not eligible for the SRB, which they otherwise would have been eligible to receive.

The SRB was a lump-sum taxable benefit payable to eligible Veterans and their survivors at age 65 (or when Earnings Loss Benefit eligibility ceased). The SRB program was terminated, effective March 31, 2019, and all participants in the SRB program subsequently received a lump-sum payout of the SRB. This proposed class action alleges that, as a result of the Government of Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada’s failure to properly advise Veterans of the SRB program (including the eligibility requirements of the SRB program and the steps a Veteran needed to take in order to maximize benefit entitlements under the SRB program), and by failing to provide them with reasonable, accurate, timely, and reliable information about the SRB program, Veterans eligible for the SRB did not take the steps they needed to take in order to maximize their benefit entitlements under the SRB program, did not receive the full lump-sum payments to which they were otherwise eligible to receive, and suffered losses as a result.

This class action seeks to compensate Veterans who received or were eligible to receive the SRB for those losses.

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