Does Veterans Affairs pay for home care? The VIP, explained

What the Veterans Independence Program covers

VIP exists to keep veterans independent at home. Its home-care side funds five services: housekeeping, grounds maintenance, access to nutrition, health and support services, and personal care. Beyond the home-care five, VIP also has allowances for ambulatory health care, transportation, and home adaptations.

For most families the personal care and housekeeping pieces do the heavy lifting: the bathing, dressing, meals, and household help that keep the house livable and the veteran in it.

The 2026 rates

From VAC's VIP maximum rates table, effective January 1, 2026. VAC adjusts the rates every year, so check the current table (linked below) or ask us; we track it.

Who qualifies

Eligibility is determined by VAC based on the veteran's service, health needs, and assessment; the program serves veterans, and it extends in narrower form to two other groups. Survivors of VIP recipients can continue receiving housekeeping and grounds maintenance, up to the survivor maximum. Primary caregivers may qualify for housekeeping and grounds maintenance benefits only.

If you're not sure where your family lands, VAC's VIP pages linked below set out each group's path, and applying starts with VAC directly. We're glad to talk it through on the 15-minute call first; we've walked many families through the sequence.

How the money flows

Housekeeping and grounds maintenance are paid as grants to the veteran. The other services, including personal care, are paid by reimbursement or advance payment under a benefit arrangement, with claims administered through Medavie Blue Cross, VAC's claims processor.

Here's the part that matters day to day: a registered provider bills VAC for the covered portion directly, so the family isn't fronting the cost and mailing receipts. Where VIP covers part of a care plan rather than all of it, the remainder is billed to the family separately, and we spell out that split before care starts.

Where Salve fits

Salve is a registered Veterans Affairs Canada provider, approved for the Veterans Independence Program, serving BC's Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. VIP most often covers our personal care and post-hospital recovery work. The paperwork side, authorization, direct billing, the annual rate changes, is ours to carry; the family's job is the 15-minute call and the door.

What families ask.

• Does VAC pay for home care?

  Yes, through the Veterans Independence Program: up to $13,779.63 per year combined across five home-care services at the 2026 rates, covering personal care, housekeeping, grounds maintenance, nutrition, and health and support services for eligible veterans.

• How much does the VIP pay per year?

  The 2026 combined maximum for the five home-care services is $13,779.63 per year, with grounds maintenance capped at $1,922.72 inside it. VAC adjusts the rates annually.

• Can my spouse keep VIP after the veteran passes away?

  Survivors of VIP recipients can receive housekeeping and grounds maintenance, up to $3,722.07 per year at the 2026 rate. It doesn't extend to the other home-care services.

• Do primary caregivers qualify for anything?

  Primary caregivers may be eligible for VIP's housekeeping and grounds maintenance benefits only. VAC determines eligibility; their primary-caregiver page linked below is the place to start.

• Does Salve bill VAC directly?

  Yes. As a registered VAC provider we bill VAC for the covered portion of the care plan; where coverage is partial, the remainder is billed to you separately, and you'll know the split before care starts.

• Does VIP cover nursing care at home?

  VIP's home-care services centre on personal care and household support. Where a plan also needs clinical nursing (wounds, IVs, tubes), Salve provides it under our BC HCP licence and we're plain about which parts VIP covers and which are private pay or covered elsewhere.

Sources.

Figures checked against these sources on July 27, 2026. VAC adjusts VIP rates each January; the rate-table link below always carries the current year.

• § VAC: VIP maximum rates table (effective January 1, 2026)
• § VAC: rates for programs and services
• § VAC: Veterans Independence Program, benefits at home policy
• § VAC: VIP for primary caregivers

Read next

• § Personal care at home
• § Costs and coverage at Salve
• § Does ICBC pay for home care?

If the funding picture still feels murky for your situation, that's what the 15-minute call is for: we'll tell you what applies, what it pays, and what the remainder would actually cost.

Fifteen minutes on the phone. By the end, you'll know whether Salve fits.

Or by phone: 778-953-3134