Canada's military ombudsman says retiring members of the Canadian Armed Forces are still waiting months to receive their first pension cheque, and regular forces are being affected along with reservists.
The Globe and Mail reported in January that outdated computers and processes combined with an understaffed human-resources section had created a backlog of retired reservists who were waiting for their pension files to be processed. It was a problem highlighted by the Auditor-General back in 2011.
Gary Walbourne, the National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman, said Friday that soldiers, sailors and aviators must set aside months of savings to prepare for the wait, which averages between four and 36 weeks but sometimes runs much longer, for their first pension cheque to arrive.
And it's not just reservists, Mr. Walbourne told The Globe. Regular members of the Forces are also affected.
"I don't think the wait is as long," he said, but reservists' pensions and regular-force pensions are handled by the same people and "any backup in that system is going to cause a ripple effect back through the whole organization."
In addition, said Mr. Walbourne, a planned transfer of all Defence Department pension services in July to Public Services and Procurement Canada will require the entire system to be shut down for 30 days while the transfer is completed. "So I don't see it getting a whole lot better unless we get our [reservists'] backlog cleaned up prior to any transfer," he said.
The delays are causing real hardship, he said. "People have talked to me personally and said, 'Gary, I don't know where I'm going to live next month if I don't find some money to make my rent payment.' Those are heart-wrenching stories."
A Canadian Forces spokeswoman said Friday in an e-mail that the military acknowledges the pension process requires improvement and is aware that the process can be long for some members. The process is being streamlined, she said, and a special team will be established this spring to provide a "surge capacity" that will help address some of these issues.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, a former reservist, said the backlog is absolutely unacceptable. "I am committed to fixing this problem. It won't happen overnight, but I can assure you my office and this government take this issue very seriously."