Skip to content
This is NOT an official site of the Government of Canada. Click here for the official AI registry.

Helpful Places

Government of Canada – DTPR AI Register

Back to your search

AI-Assisted Mental Health Benefits Eligibility for Veterans

Eligibility & Public Benefits · Healthcare

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Personal information about veterans submitted as part of their disability benefits application, classified at Protected B/C security level and collected by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Health-related personal information pertaining to veterans' mental health conditions, used to determine eligibility for mental health treatment coverage. Data is at Protected B/C classification and verified as used consistently with existing Personal Information Banks and Privacy Impact Assessments.

Also collects operational data, which is anonymized data.

Run by
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Retained Not specified; governed by Veterans Affairs Canada retention schedules and applicable Personal Information Banks
Shared with
Accountable organization
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Eligibility & Public BenefitsHealthcare

This system automates eligibility decisions for Veterans Affairs Canada's Mental Health Benefit, which grants veterans immediate access to mental health treatment coverage while their disability benefit application is being adjudicated. The system uses personal information collected by the department to render eligibility decisions that may be made without direct human involvement. Veterans affected by an adverse decision can seek review, and a plain-language notice about the automated process is required across all service delivery channels.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Personal information about veterans submitted as part of their disability benefits application, classified at Protected B/C security level and collected by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Health-related personal information pertaining to veterans' mental health conditions, used to determine eligibility for mental health treatment coverage. Data is at Protected B/C classification and verified as used consistently with existing Personal Information Banks and Privacy Impact Assessments.
Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Application data and records from multiple institutional data sources interfaced via connected IT systems, including disability benefit application status and program eligibility records held by Veterans Affairs Canada.

Processing

Classification & Prediction
  • The system analyzes application data and personal information to classify veterans as eligible or ineligible for Mental Health Benefits coverage, applying process optimization and workflow automation across structured datasets.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human executes
  • The system processes structured personal information and application data to render an eligibility determination. Decisions may be made without direct human involvement, though human override is enabled and override instances are logged.

Outputs

A decision about you
Identifiable data
  • An eligibility determination granting or denying the veteran access to Mental Health Benefits coverage. Decisions may be rendered without direct human involvement. A meaningful explanation must accompany any decision resulting in denial of the benefit.

Run by

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
  • Federal department responsible for deploying and operating the Mental Health Benefit automated decision system, housed within the Corporate Services branch.

AIA — Project Details

Built by

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Kept for

Retained Not specified; governed by Veterans Affairs Canada retention schedules and applicable Personal Information Banks
  • The AIA confirms a Privacy Impact Assessment has been completed and that personal information use is consistent with existing PIBs. Specific retention duration is not disclosed in the AIA document.
  • Duration: Not specified; governed by Veterans Affairs Canada retention schedules and applicable Personal Information Banks

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Eligibility decisions and audit trail records are available to Veterans Affairs Canada. The audit trail records all decisions, key decision points, the version of the system used, and instances of human override.
Not available to me
  • Individual veterans do not have direct access to the system's internal decision logic or audit trail. No mechanism to capture feedback from clients and no recourse process for challenging decisions is currently established per the AIA.

Stored

Stored locally
  • Data is controlled by the federal government and collected by Veterans Affairs Canada. The system does not use Internet- or telephony-connected input devices. Storage jurisdiction is Canada.
  • Duration: Not specified; subject to Government of Canada records management requirements
How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseVeterans must be informed that an automated decision system is being used to determine their Mental Health Benefit eligibility. A plain language notice is required to be posted through all service delivery channels in use, including Internet, in-person, mail, and telephone.
  • Right to an Explanation of a DecisionVeterans are entitled to a meaningful explanation for any decision that resulted in the denial of the Mental Health Benefit. This requirement applies in addition to any applicable legal obligations under the Directive on Automated Decision-Making.
  • Right to a Human ReviewThe system enables human override of automated decisions, and all override instances are logged. A human decision-maker can intervene in any decision rendered by the system. Contact Veterans Affairs Canada directly to request human review of an eligibility determination.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyVeterans have a right to understand in plain language that an automated system is determining their Mental Health Benefit eligibility. The algorithmic process is documented and described as interpretable and explainable. The system operates under the Government of Canada's Directive on Automated Decision-Making.

Risks and safeguards

  • Psychological harmAutomated denial of mental health benefits may cause distress or delayed treatment access for vulnerable veterans already managing mental health conditions.Safeguard: Decisions may be reversed (impacts are noted as reversible); the system supports human override with logging; a meaningful explanation must accompany any denial; and a plain-language notice must be posted across all service delivery channels informing veterans of the automated process.
  • Civil liberties harmThe system does not yet have documented processes to test datasets against biases, and no Gender Based Analysis Plus of the data has been undertaken, creating risk of discriminatory or disparate-impact outcomes for protected groups among veterans. No recourse process for clients wishing to challenge decisions is currently established.Safeguard: A Privacy Impact Assessment has been completed; personal information use is verified as limited to program delivery; internal and external stakeholders including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and civil society have been consulted; and accountability for the system's design and maintenance has been assigned.