Open for signatureElectronice-7846 · Parliament 45

Reform Education and Training Benefit

Sign on the House of Commons website

Petitioners ask the government to reform the Education and Training Benefit to create a flexible entitlement for approved programs, allow transfer to eligible family, make payments non-taxable, protect eligibility during adjudication and review service thresholds.

Why we would sign this petition

  • Creates usable flexibility so Veterans can combine approved courses to meet career goals, improving transition and labour-market competitiveness.
  • Transferability and non-taxable payments increase the benefit's practical value and reduce financial barriers for Veterans' families.
  • Protecting eligibility during adjudication or rehabilitation and reviewing service thresholds reduces risk of lost benefits and better recognizes Reserve or partial service.

Why we wouldn’t sign this petition

  • Allowing transfers and removing taxation could raise program costs and compete with other federal priorities.
  • Broader flexibility and transfer options may complicate eligibility checks and increase risk of misuse or fraud without stronger safeguards.
  • Implementing eligibility-preservation and graduated thresholds could be administratively complex and require legislative and IT changes that delay delivery.

The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled The Education and Training Benefit is intended to help Veterans transition successfully to post-service life, achieve education and employment goals, and compete in the civilian workforce; Veterans Affairs Canada's 2022 evaluation identified opportunities to improve ETB short-course funding and access to appropriate education and training; and The ETB's current structure can limit Veterans' practical ability to use the benefit for education and training suited to their post-service goals. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to reform the Education and Training Benefit to: 1. Establish one flexible entitlement allowing approved formal, technical, vocational, professional, certified and industry-recognized education and training, including multiple programs or courses, to draw from a Veteran's available ETB entitlement; 2. Permit Veterans to transfer unused ETB entitlement to an eligible spouse, common-law partner or child for approved education and training; 3. Make ETB education and training payments non-taxable and, where federally possible, exclude them from unrelated income-tested federal calculations; 4. Ensure a substantially complete application submitted before training begins preserves eligibility while VAC adjudicates it, with reasonable exceptions for circumstances outside the Veteran's control; 5. Protect usable ETB eligibility time where participation in VAC rehabilitation prevents reasonable use of the benefit; and 6. Review the ETB's existing service thresholds, particularly their application to Reserve Force service, and examine a graduated entitlement model that more proportionately recognizes qualifying service below and between the existing thresholds.

Government response

No government response is available yet.