New Resource to Strength Community of Support for Military Families

A reference publication profiling organizations and professionals that support, study and serve the military and veteran community of Canada will be released on Thursday, May 26 by the Canadian Military and Veteran Families Leadership Circle. The “Military and Veteran Families in Canada: Collaborations and Partnerships Compendium 1.0,” is a digital publication expected to strengthen the community of support surrounding military families.

“Leaders from business, community, government and the Canadian Armed Forces have made a commitment to build awareness, capacity, competency and community to ensure that military and Veteran families in Canada have equitable access to evidence-based services in the communities in which they live,” said Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family, which co-created the compendium with Leadership Circle members.

The compendium is a result of an initiative from the second annual Leadership Circle meeting in January of this year. The publication will inform the public and other organizations about various initiatives, and will inspire engagement, reduce duplication of effort and leverage existing resources to enhance and strengthen the collective effort to support Canadian military and veteran families.

Contributions to the document have been made by companies and organizations like the Canadian Child Care Federation, Autism Speaks Canada, Environics Communications, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Accenture and many more. The document also features organizations not typically associated with the military.

The 2016 Leadership Circle meeting was attended by high-ranking officials including Karen McCrimmon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, and was co-chaired by Canadian Armed Forces Commander of Military Personnel Command, Lieutenant-General Christine Whitecross and the Board Chair of the Vanier Institute of the Family, Victor Duret.

“The Leadership Circle has shown us that we can accomplish more and extend our reach by working together. Leadership Circle members are passionate and diverse, and we will continue to facilitate partnerships and collaborations among stakeholders, service providers, and family members; it’s about relationships, and we look forward to helping these relationships grow,” said Spinks.

The Canadian Military and Veteran Families Leadership Circle brings together business, community, government and CAF leaders to build on and facilitate services and programs for military and veteran families. The Leadership Circle is part of the Military and Veteran Families in Canada Initiative, a five-year partnership between the Vanier Institute for the Family and the CAF. The goal of this initiative is to increase the awareness about military and veteran families and their experiences.

Access the Military and Veteran Families in Canada: Collaborations and Partnerships Compendium on The Vanier Institute of the Family website.