MORE STAFF BEING HIRED TO TACKLE DISABILITY CASES

The federal government is hiring hundreds more temporary staff to tackle the growing backlog of applications from disabled veterans asking for help. The plan was unveiled Monday as new figures from Veterans Affairs Canada show nearly 50,000 disability-benefits claims were sitting in the queue at the end of March. That represented an increase of more than 3,000 requests for financial assistance from only three months earlier. Veterans Affairs officials say they plan to hire 300 more temporary staff between now and next January as part of a broader plan to dramatically cut the number of outstanding files by March 2022. Advocates have been pressing the government to automatically approve requests for assistance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.