(Ottawa) New data from the latest census counts 97,625 people serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, in addition to 461,240 veterans.
The figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada are primarily aimed at filling gaps in existing data on the country’s veterans.
The agency says there was a lack of comprehensive data on veterans to ensure proper allocation of money by the federal government to former members of the Armed Forces, their families and other program recipients.
Over the past few years, Statistics Canada has worked with federal agencies and other partners to paint a more complete picture of veterans, examining their overall health and well-being.
However, the scope has often been limited to contemporary veterans who were released from military service after 1998.
The statistics agency hopes the new figures will provide much-needed information on veterans who served in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the Korean War and World War II.
