HALIFAX - Construction will soon begin on a $4.2-million military support centre at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Saturday.
The new Integrated Personnel Support Centre at Windsor Park will replace a smaller, temporary facility set up after MacKay announced the creation of a network of similar centres across Canada in March 2009.
"This new facility illustrates how our government is delivering on its promise to improve and standardize the care offered to injured and ill Canadian Forces personnel, veterans and their families," MacKay told a news conference at CFB Halifax.
More than two dozen workers will be moved to the new, 7,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to open in January 2012.
There are 24 support centres across Canada.
They offer a wide range of services for sick and injured members and veterans of the Armed Forces, including those with mental illnesses and post traumatic stress disorder.
The centres also offer community outreach for military families, services to help ill or injured members return to work, financial planning and fitness services for those with special needs.
When MacKay first rolled out a $21-million plan for eight centres two years ago, the military was under fire for doing a poor job caring for its sick and injured.
In December 2008, by the military's ombudsman, Mary McFadyen, found that some Afghan war veterans who suffer from operational stress injuries were undiagnosed and weren't getting the care they needed.
Meanwhile, a 2008 report produced by a Senate committee found there were glaring inadequacies once injured troops return home.
The Canadian military has poured more resources into mental-health programs and counselling since the Afghan war became more intense in 2006.
The main idea behind the centres is to ensure that all soldiers, sailors and aircrew with life-altering injuries or illnesses receive the same level of care, regardless of where they are stationed.
