The assistance veterans receive today in Canada is considered some of the best in the world. With assistance programs that provide support to veterans in the form of attentive health care, health insurance, health-related travel expenses, assisted living facilities, job training, rehabilitation, financial benefits and much more. But this has not always been the case for the Veterans' Assistance Commission of Canada. Very little was done before World War I for veterans. Although a big difference had been promised and greater commitments had been made by the Canadian government during and after the First World War, it was still far from enough. Pensions were denied to deserving applicants, much aid was provided in a form that was nowhere near sufficient to start a new life, and because of the Great Depression it was even more difficult for veterans to earn their life. Approximately 620,000 Canadians fought in the Second World War. First World War. Nearly 700,000 if we take into account the men and women who enlisted in Canadian units outside the Canadian Expeditionary Force and in the British forces. Of these, nearly 173,000 Canadians were wounded and approximately 67,000 Canadians lost their lives by November 11, 1918. These losses were devastating in number. Canada had to regain the good faith of its people, even though it was still a British colony. Canadians knew very little about why the war started or the significance of the events that started it. But Canadians have been called upon to fight this scourge. This is why it is now more necessary than ever to offer better compensation to our returning veterans. It was during this time that the foundations of today's veteran assistance programs were laid. In a bill ......0, Parliament provided for a veterans' allowance19 which, until 1987, was administered by the Veterans' Allowances Commission. This allowance, known among veterans as the "burnout pension," was a discretionary benefit available to veterans who had served overseas and were no longer able to earn a living. In 1936, there were approximately 35,000 unemployed veterans in Depression-era Canada. In response to the need implied by these statistics, the government created the Veterans' Aid Commission, which sought to prepare unemployed veterans and provide work for at least some of them. Canadian Corps of Commissionaires: - recruit 2,000 members. Today, the corps has seventeen divisions, employing more than 17,000 members. It has become the largest security company in Canada and is an important source of employment for former members of the Canadian Forces..