Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) fully funds a network of Operational Stress Injury (OSI) clinics across Canada, providing services to Veterans, Canadian Armed Forces members and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members, as well as their families. Specialized assessments and evidence-based interventions are offered to clients who are dealing with conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety related to their service. Teams of interdisciplinary clinicians offer individual and group treatment, both in-person and virtually. One of the biggest shifts related to e-Mental Health in the OSI clinics occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, telehealth technologies were being used but only accounted for 6% of all services in 2019-2020. OSI clinics adapted rapidly to continue providing services to clients, initially offering up to 90% of services virtually. Since then, virtual services remain an important option, accounting for 55% of all OSI clinic services in 2024-2025. Providing this option to clients can help to address some of the challenges they may experience related to travel, childcare, and chronic pain. Virtual services offered by OSI clinics include individual, group, and family interventions, as well as psychoeducational sessions. Technology also supports the use of measurement-based care in OSI clinics. The Client Reported Outcomes Monitoring Information System (CROMIS) is a secure web-based software system that facilitates session by session administration of outcomes measures. Since the launch of CROMIS in 2012, new advances in technology have supported an increase in CROMIS use through improvements such as allowing clients to receive customized links and complete measures from their smartphone. An innovative new treatment offered at some OSI clinics is Multi Modular Motion-Assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation (3MDR). This in-person service uses exposure through a virtual reality system to treat PTSD, and is offered in partnership with the Heroes in Mind, Advocacy & Research Consortium (HiMARC) who is currently conducting research on this treatment. Another e-Mental Health offering is the OSI Connect app, which provides information about OSIs and resources on self-care, relaxation, PTSD, depression, sleep, alcohol and drugs. OSI-related peer support groups are also offered virtually across Canada, in English and French. Sessions are designed to meet different service-related needs. Veterans also have access to the PTSD Coach Canada app which helps them learn about and manage symptoms that can occur after trauma. The app was recently assessed and met the standards of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's mental health app framework. VAC’s Directorate of Mental Health 2023-2028 Strategic Action Plan focuses on facilitating timely access to integrated, inclusive, evidence-based supports and services, including e-Mental Health. It includes updating existing e-Mental Health resources, establishing mechanisms to fund new e-Mental Health services, and using Gender-Based Analysis plus (GBA plus) as an analytical tool to ensure the inclusivity of mental health services from a diversity and equity perspective using an intersectional lens to understand and address the needs of all Veterans. Together with partners who share common interests, we look forward to collaborating in ways that will improve services through innovative, evidence-based treatment options.
