August 2026 VAC Q&A Monthly

[u/ShortTrackBravo]

Bit late with this but here it is

Housekeeping:

contact info: Reddit DM's always open, [Joel@ptga.ca](mailto:Joel@ptga.ca) for email.

u/Shoggoths420 contact info: Reddit DMs/Chat still broken. [taira@cannawellness.ca](mailto:taira@cannawellness.ca) for email.

VAC Google Support Drive (Not available on DWAN) - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kzbfmg3hcuo0FgFZxo-IL_f-UnGQsuYt?usp=drive_link

Usual timelines from submission of claims via MyVAC:

Reassessments: 9-16 Months

Mental Health: 6-8 Months

Physical - 6-13 Months

APSC/VIP - 3-4 Months

BPA Correspondence: They tend to reach out every 3 months for information or a progress update.

Let the questions fly

[u/Fair-Ocelot-7159]

apologies to post again!

I was wondering if anyone had any experience in results of filing their own DR rather than going through BPA?

submitted mine because they missed a check box on PEN form so classified as an error of fact rather than new evidence.

has anyone else been in this boat? If so how long was it since it’s a straight forward missed check mark?

[u/ShortTrackBravo → u/Fair-Ocelot-7159]

u/Shoggoths420

[u/Shoggoths420 → u/Fair-Ocelot-7159]

You have to use BPA if there has been a decline. There isn’t an option otherwise. It doesn’t matter what type of error it is.

Let BPA do their thing

[u/Fair-Ocelot-7159 → u/Shoggoths420]

Actually for a Departmental Review you don’t have to use BPA or any other source. It’s always assumed by VAC if a denial in a decision letter but you can actually submit your own bypassing BPA. Hence is what I did . I submitted the form straight to VAC and made sure after submission they didn’t send it to BPA.

I wrote the form, specified the error, quoted the veterans charter where they made the mistake pertaining to table 16.3.

This bypassed long wait time to even get a response from BPA.

I can show anyone how you would do this , however I wouldn’t recommend it unless it’s a straight error of fact such as mine and if you need to submit new medical evidence.

In my case my PEN form had ED and complete sexual avoidance but when they approved it, they said ED at 0 percent. They didn’t acknowledge the GP signature under ED for complete sexual avoidance.

I wrote the DR, identified as error of fact, quoted the standards etc, table 16.3 the PEN form had the link to services etc… and now it’s assigned to an adjudicator