This study presents an examination of the situation of certain groups of Veterans after release from the military compared to when they were in the military. It uses administrative data from the Department of National Defence (DND) and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) which has been combined with personal income information by Statistics Canada (see text box “Statistics Canada’s commitment to data security”). Combining DND and VAC administrative data with income information provides an opportunity to examine the incomes of subgroups of the Veteran population. The data includes all Veterans released between 1998 and 2014, regardless of their VAC clientNote status.
Income declines initially after release
Average income in the year prior to release was $65,470 (in 2014 constant dollars), increased in the release year, largely due to severance pay, and then declined by 5.6% the following year to $62,040. Post-release income reached pre-release income after three years post-release and continued to increase. During this post-release period, the largest source of income was earnings, followed by pensions and government transfers. While some sources of government transfers (employment insurance, social assistance, guaranteed income supplement) increased post-release, receipt of such was generally temporary.
Changes in income vary across groups
The average decline in income from the pre-release year to the first three years post-release for the Regular Force cohort was 3%. Female Veterans had a 21% decline in income compared to less than 1% decrease among males. Female Veterans earned about 60% of what male Veterans earned regardless of their industry of employment (except for mining). Medically released Veterans (-19%) and those who served 2 to 9 years (-16%) also experienced greater declines in income.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Examining the incomes of veterans using tax data: Now and in the future
Job Market Monitor 
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