Programs & Services
Government agencies partner to create online transition tool for CAF personnel
Mishall RehmanThe Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) have partnered together for the first steps in responding to veterans and CAF members concerns about the transition process through the creation of MNET.
MNET, short for Military Occupational Structure ID (MOSID) to National Occupational Classification (NOC) Equivalency Tool, is an online career transition tool that was launched in mid-October.
“The purpose of MNET is to take a military occupation and translate it into a civilian occupation,” explained Maj. Jennifer Quesnel, part of the CAF Directorate of Casualty Support Management.
However, MNET isn’t just a translating tool, it also provides information about civilian counterpart jobs and realtime links to civilian job opportunities in the Job Bank.
MNET is currently up and running and is free to use for CAF members looking to transition, Veterans and even members of the public. MNET is also a great tool for employers to understand military skills and post job under the “veteran-friendly employer” banner.
MNET was created through a partnership between CAF’s Directorate of Casualty Support Management, the Military Personnel Generation Learning Support Centre, Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
“The reason it was created was clearly to provide the best services we can to our members and Veterans, and there was an opportunity based on the information that already existed,” said Quesnel.
Working together, the three departments were able to condense a number of different systems, upwards of nine, to create one program that can get military community members exactly what they need.
Faith McIntyre, Director General of Policy and Research with VAC, says MNET proves the need for various departments to work together.
“This reinforces the need for a whole of government approach when it comes to looking at veterans and their family members. It’s not just about VAC it’s not just about CAF,” said McIntyre.
McIntyre pointed out that involving ESDC made all the difference.
“We are really looking in a coordinated fashion into how best to ensure that our Veterans have the services they need for employment transition,” added McIntyre.
The hope is that MNET can help to professionalize the transition process, a note of emphasis in Canada’s new defence policy.
“It’s really important with the Strong, Secure and Engaged new defence policy that Canada has put out in the last year. We really are transforming and reworking and reinventing transition and ensuring CAF members and Veterans can receive that professional and customized, really personalized support that they need when they’re transitioning from military life to civilian life,” noted Quesnel.
According to the new defence policy, CAF is also currently in the process of creating a 1,200 person CAF transition group to further streamline the transition process.
Additionally, VAC has created the Veterans in the Public Service Unit to guide veterans who are looking into the federal public service hiring process.
