War Service Grants Act (R.S.C. 1970, c. W-4)

Marginal note:Deductions from gratuity

• 6 (1) Pursuant to regulations of the Governor in Council in that behalf there may be deducted from the war service gratuity

  • (a) overpayments of pay and allowances, other than dependants’ allowance but including assigned pay, as follows:

    • (i) pay and allowances issued to or on account of a member at rates in excess of those authorized by the appropriate naval, army or air force financial regulations,

    • (ii) pay or allowances issued to or on account of a member that, having regard to his naval, army or air force status at the date of issue, were not authorized by the appropriate naval, army or air force financial regulations, and

    • (iii) advances of travel allowances not accounted for by a member at the time of payment of the gratuity, or any portion thereof, to or in respect of such member;

  • (b) overpayments of dependants’ allowances as follows:

    • (i) any overpayment which the Minister has ordered to be recovered from a member upon a finding, concurred in by the Judge Advocate General, that such member was guilty of wilful misrepresentation or fraud, and

    • (ii) where the gratuity, by reason of the death of the member to whom it was payable, becomes payable in whole or in part to a dependant, any overpayment that the Minister has found, with the concurrence of the Judge Advocate General, to have been made to such dependant as a result of wilful misrepresentation or fraud by the member or the dependant; and

  • (c) such other payments of pay and allowances made to or on account of a member, or to his dependants, as the Governor in Council may authorize.

• Marginal note:Reimbursement

  (2) Any amount deducted from the gratuity pursuant to subsection (1) shall, to the extent that His Majesty has previously been reimbursed in respect of the overpayment by any person other than the member to or on account of whom the overpayment was made, be paid over to that person.

• Marginal note:Exemption from Financial Administration Act

  (3) Section 157 of the Financial Administration Act does not apply to a gratuity.

Marginal note:Manner of payment

• 7 (1) Payment of war service gratuity to a member of the forces shall be made in monthly instalments payable in arrears not exceeding the amount of pay and allowances, including dependants’ allowance, paid to or in respect of such member for the thirty days immediately preceding his discharge, unless as a result of a posting from an establishment, unit or ship for discharge purposes, his pay and allowances are reduced, in which case no instalment shall exceed the pay and allowances including dependants’ allowance in issue to such member for the thirty days immediately preceding such posting and including also, in the case of a member of the naval forces, lodging and provision allowance, and in the case of a member of the army or air force, subsistence allowance at the standard rates payable in Canada, notwithstanding that at the date of discharge he was not receiving such allowances.

• Marginal note:Pay and allowances

  (2) For the purposes of this section the pay and allowances, including dependants’ allowance, in issue for the thirty days immediately preceding discharge or for the thirty days immediately preceding the posting of the member from an establishment, unit or ship for discharge purposes, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the equivalent of the daily rate in issue for the last day of either of such thirty day periods multiplied by thirty.

PART IIRe-establishment Credit

Marginal note:Entitlement to re-establishment credit by veteran

8 Subject to this Act, every member of the forces who does not elect to take benefits under Part I of the Veterans’ Land Act, except section 17 thereof, or any educational, vocational or technical training benefits under the Veterans Rehabilitation Act is, in order to assist in his re-establishment, eligible, in addition to the war service gratuity, for a re-establishment credit in an amount equal to the total amount payable to him under subsection 3(1).

Marginal note:Other persons to whom credit may be made available

• 9 (1) Where a member dies without having used all of the re-establishment credit for which he is eligible under this Act, any unused portion thereof may, in the discretion of the Minister, be made available to

  • (a) the widow of the member, in the case of a male member;

  • (b) any dependent children of the member, in the case of a male or female member, if the member dies without leaving any widow or widower or if the widow or widower is dead or cannot be found or it appears to the Minister that she or he has abandoned the children; or

  • (c) the dependent mother of the member, in the case of a male or female member, if there is no person described in paragraph (a) or (b) to whom the said credit may be made available.

• Marginal note:Child or mother presumed dependent

  (2) For the purposes of this section a child or mother of a member shall be presumed to be a dependent child or mother if, in the opinion of the Minister, such child or mother was, at the time of the member’s death, wholly or substantially dependent upon such member for support.

• Marginal note:Credit available to person designated by Minister

  (3) Any credit made available to the widow, child or mother of a member pursuant to subsection (1) may, with the approval of the Minister, be made available to such other person for the benefit of the widow, child or mother as the Minister designates, in such manner and, in any case where there is more than one child, in such shares as the Minister may determine.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (4) No credit shall be made available pursuant to subsection (1)

  • (a) to the widow of a member after her remarriage, or

  • (b) to the widow, child or mother of a member, unless he or she is resident in Canada and the Minister is satisfied that the credit will be used for one or more of the purposes specified in section 14.

• Marginal note:Child

  (5) In this section and section 10, the expression child means a child, including a natural child, stepchild or adopted child, who is under twenty-one years of age, or who is twenty-one or more years of age and is in receipt of a pension under the Pension Act.

Marginal note:Where member is mentally infirm

• 10 (1) Subject to subsection (2), where the Minister is satisfied that a member who has not used all the re-establishment credit for which he is eligible under this Act is mentally infirm to such a degree that he is unable to manage his affairs and is unlikely to be able to do so before the expiration of the period within which his re-establishment credit may be made available to him, the Minister may make available to

  • (a) the member’s wife,

  • (b) the children of the member that are wholly or substantially dependent upon the member for support, or

  • (c) such other person as the Minister may designate,

  any unused portion of the member’s re-establishment credit.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (2) No re-establishment credit shall be made available to the wife or child of a member unless the wife or child is resident in Canada and the Minister is satisfied that the re-establishment credit will be used for one or more of the purposes specified in section 14.

Marginal note:Saving

11 Notwithstanding anything in this Act, where a member of the forces who is unmarried has, because of a mental infirmity that confined him to a hospital, been unable to use all the re-establishment credit for which he is eligible under this Act before the expiration of the period within which that credit may be made available to him, the Minister may, on application by that member within one year of the date of his discharge from hospital, make available to him any unused portion of his re-establishment credit.

Marginal note:Provisions of Act to apply

12 Sections 14, 16, 23, and 30 to 35 mutatis mutandis apply to and in respect of the credit provided for by sections 9 and 10.

Marginal note:Conditions of availability of re-establishment credit

• 13 (1) No credit shall be made available to a member unless the member is resident in Canada and the Minister is satisfied that the credit will be used for one or more of the purposes specified in section 14 and for the re-establishment of the member in Canada.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (2) This section does not apply in the case of a member who desires to use re-establishment credit for the payment of premiums under the Veterans Insurance Act or the Returned Soldiers’ Insurance Act, or for the payment of the purchase price of an annuity purchased by him under the Government Annuities Act, and the Governor in Council may by regulation order such further exceptions to this section as may be deemed advisable.

Marginal note:Purposes for and time within which available

• 14 (1) All or any part of the re-establishment credit may, on or before the 31st day of October 1968, be made available to or for the member of the forces eligible therefor when it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that such credit is to be used for

  • (a) the acquisition of a home

    • (i) under the National Housing Act, in an amount not exceeding two-thirds of the difference between the total cost of the home and the amount of the loan made under that Act, or

    • (ii) not under the National Housing Act, in an amount not exceeding two-thirds of the difference between the appraised value of the home as approved by the Minister or the purchase price, whichever is the lower, and the amount of the encumbrance thereon, assumed or created by the member;

  • (b) the repair or modernization of his home;

  • (c) the reduction or discharge of indebtedness under any agreement for sale, mortgage or other encumbrance on his home, in an amount not exceeding twice the amount that the member himself contributes or has contributed to such purpose;

  • (d) the purchase of furniture and household equipment for his domestic use in an amount not exceeding ninety per cent of the purchase price of the furniture or household equipment or the payment of the full cost of repair of such articles;

  • (e) the provision of working capital for his business;

  • (f) the purchase of tools, instruments or equipment for his business or the cost of repair of such articles;

  • (g) the purchase of a business by him in an amount not exceeding two-thirds of the difference between the purchase price and any indebtedness incurred for the purpose of the purchase of such business, if the payment of such difference entitles the purchaser to immediate possession;

  • (h) the payment of premiums under any insurance scheme established by the Government of Canada including

    • (i) payment of premiums pursuant to any contract of insurance to which he is a party under the Returned Soldiers’ Insurance Act, the Veterans Insurance Act or the Civil Service Insurance Act,

    • (ii) payment under subsection 16(2) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act of a deficiency in deduction from his pay as an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

    • (iii) payment of contributions in respect of his service as a constable of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under section 36, 47, 50 or 51 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act,

    • (iv) payment of contributions under the Public Service Superannuation Act, in respect of his service in the Public Service prior to becoming a contributor under that Act,

    • (v) payment under subsection 9(2) of the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act of a deficiency in deduction from his pay as an officer as defined in that Act, and

    • (vi) payment of the purchase price of an annuity purchased by him under the Government Annuities Act;

  • (i) payment of fees and the purchase of special equipment including instruments, books, tools and other equipment required for educational and vocational training other than educational and vocational training provided by the laws of Canada for members of the forces; and

  • (j) any other purpose authorized by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Ownership and possession of furniture or household equipment

  (2) No credit shall be made available for the purchase of furniture or household equipment or for the payment of any debts incurred by the purchase of furniture or household equipment if the actual possession of the furniture or household equipment does not pass to the buyer when the contract is made or if it is agreed, provided or conditioned in the contract that the right of property in or right of possession to the furniture or household equipment in whole or in part shall remain in the seller notwithstanding that the actual possession of the furniture or household equipment passes to the buyer.

• Marginal note:Amount applied to be held in trust

  (3) Any amount applied pursuant to subsection 12(3) of chapter 289 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1952, as that subsection was before the 15th day of February 1962, against a member’s re-establishment credit or the unused portion thereof or any amount made available to a member under subsection (1) for the payment of premiums pursuant to any contract of insurance under the Veterans Insurance Act or the Returned Soldiers’ Insurance Act to which that member is a party shall be held in trust for that member and shall be used for the payment of the premiums referred to in the said subsection (3) or the premiums referred to in this subsection, as the case may be, as and when they fall due, except that

  • (a) if the member requests, in writing to the Minister, that any unused portion specified by him of the amount so held in trust be withdrawn from such use, or

  • (b) if the member dies or his contract is surrendered as a result of which any portion of the amount so held in trust remains unused,

  such unused portion may, subject to this Act, again be made available as though it formed part of his unused re-establishment credit.