Response from Minister of National Defence: IPR Benefits

Mr. Gary Walbourne
Ombudsman
Office of the Ombudsman
Department of National Defence
100 Metcalfe Street 12th Floor
Ottawa ON KIP 5M1

 

Dear Mr. Walbourne,

Thank you for your correspondences of January 8, 2016, regarding the sudden elimination in September 2014 of the unrestricted local moves from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Intended Place of Residence (IPR) relocation policy. I especially thank you for bringing the concerns and opinions of the CAF members to my attention.

As you are aware, those IPR benefit changes were directed by the previous government. I agree that most CAF members- who are required to move for service reasons- choose a replacement home that is proximal to their new CAF duty location. I would add that their family composition at the time of their posting is another major consideration at the time of their move. Given the frequency of relocations during their career, the CAF member selects a replacement residence- from the available inventory during their short five-day house hunting trip- with the view that it will serve their family needs over the short- to medium-term (until their next posting), rather than it being their long-term residence that they will occupy into retirement.

The CAF is currently developing a renewed relocation policy which will be negotiated with Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) staff in the near future. Your recommendation to reinstate unrestricted local moves will be given careful consideration during this review.

I appreciate your genuine concern for the welfare of our CAF members.

Yours sincerely,

 

The Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan, Pc, OMM, MSM, CD, MP

c.c. General J.H. Vamce 
       Chief of the Defence Staff 
       John Forster 
       Deputy Minister