The Ombudsman's report On the Homefront: Assessing the Well-being of Canada’s Military Families in the New Millennium has identified a number of significant hardships presently experienced by CAF families.
Many of these issues are considered long-standing and create such distress that they lead to the release of CAF members from service.
Canadian Military Family Advocacy has highlighted some key family challenges as our primary areas of focus and advocacy:
Canadian Military Family Advocacy has highlighted some key family challenges as our primary areas of focus and advocacy:
Frequent relocation
The relentless upheaval of frequent relocation creates additional stress and is highly disruptive to the entire Military family. Canadian military families relocate at a rate of three times greater than the civilian average, with many families having to relocate every 2 to 4 years.
Spousal Under-Employment and Unemployment
Chronic under-employment and unemployment of military spouses has been identified as one of the key factors in the early release of Canadian Armed Forces service members. Frequent moves create job loss for spouses, an inability to port pensions, a decreased career consistency and upward mobility in one's chosen field, inter-provincial or international licensing challenges, or an inability to access EI.
Children's Education
Challenges for children with regards to education is another key factor in early release. Issues such as frequent changes to curriculum between provinces or countries, a lack of continuity of support for IEPs and an inability to access tutoring services while on out-of-Canada posting or on a return to Canada all negatively affect a child's ability to academically succeed.
Health Care
The lack of continuity of care and the inability to secure a family doctor or specialists remains a persistent challenge for military families. Canadian military families rarely make it to the top of extensive waiting lists for basic care before having to relocate and start again at the bottom of the list.
Support Following Separation or Divorce
The lack of spousal support following separation or divorce from a CAF member needs to be highlighted. As a direct result of the military lifestyle many spouses find themselves with a decreased ability to financially support themselves, or have no family support nearby in the event of separation or divorce. Additional support systems for spouses who have sacrificed their careers and independence for the CAF need to be developed.
Child Care
Accessibility to childcare which accommodates the shifting needs of a military family that most civilian providers will not tolerate. The ability to find good continuity of care, sometimes in areas with lengthy wait-lists, has been identified by our group as an additional family stress which leads to a further decrease in spouse employment and more financial hardship.
Present Family Support Programs
A lack of program consistency from one posting to the next, a decreased ability to provide meaningful feedback and a lack of priority hiring for military spouses at MFRCs have been highlighted by our group as an additional area of concern.
Our ultimate goal in highlighting these issues is to improve the lives of military family members. By addressing some of these key retention issues, the CAF is ensuring not only that families are treated more equitably, but that the money invested into their members' training and education pays off in the form of service members who continue to stay in the Forces for long, dedicated careers.