e-4403 (National defence and military operations)

Petition to the Minister of Finance

• The Canadian military family is the "strength behind the uniform";
• Civilian spouses/partners of military members are enlisted through their relationship to support combat operations and are the strength behind the uniformed family;
• Approximately 85% of civilian spouses/partners of Regular Forces members are female;
• Relationship difficulties is the most common reason to seek assistance at a Military Family Resource Centre;
• Intimate partner violence is higher within military populations than among non-military;
• Separation and divorce are higher among ill and injured military members;
• On average, military members experience between one to more than 10 relocation postings, every one to four years, during their career;
• Military relocations are paid for at government expense, which includes the cost of relocating civilian dependents of the military members;
• An estimated 18,500 military members are relocated in annual postings, impacting 10,000 families, resulting in civilian spouses/partners experiencing social, occupational, and spiritual consequences;
• At government expense, a military member is entitled to a final move upon retirement/release from service and upon the dissolution of civilian-military marriage/common-law relationships, when the couple is posted outside of Canada, the civilian spouse/partner is returned to Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Canada; and
• There is currently no government support to relocated the civilian spouse/partner to their desired residence upon the dissolution of civilian-military marriage/common-law relationships.