ACVA meeting 19 · 2026-02-02 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

This House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs meeting, held on February 2, 2026, was part of its study on barriers to entrepreneurship among veterans. The committee heard from David Morrow, Chief Performance Officer of Morrow Consulting & Training Inc., and Basil Ryan, Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations.

David Morrow, a veteran entrepreneur, argued that Canada lacks a national picture of veteran-owned businesses, leaving policymakers "flying blind" compared to the United States, where 1.6 million veteran businesses contribute one trillion dollars annually. He identified key barriers including a lack of data and visibility, a "benefits cliff" where starting a business can jeopardize Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) benefits, fragmented support programs, and a culture that penalizes veterans for being entrepreneurs. Morrow recommended creating a VAC office for new businesses, giving veteran-owned businesses preferred status in government procurement, and treating veteran entrepreneurship as economic policy rather than charity, specifically asking that VAC not threaten benefit suspension for entrepreneurial income and that self-employed veterans be eligible for workplace accommodations like ergonomic chairs.

Basil Ryan, drawing on his network of 41 community business development corporations in Atlantic Canada, outlined six barriers for veteran entrepreneurs: challenges in military-to-civilian transition, access to capital, translating military skills to business, limited professional networks, psychological health issues, and navigating fragmented support systems. He noted that veterans share many struggles with other entrepreneurs but may have a higher risk tolerance and resilience. Ryan recommended replicating a risk mitigation fund model—similar to one that leveraged $8 million into $197 million for women and youth—to support veteran entrepreneurs, and suggested that VAC include entrepreneurship as a career option in transition toolkits, pointing veterans to existing resources like Community Futures. He agreed with Morrow that government procurement targets for veteran-owned businesses could be beneficial.

The committee briefly discussed procedural matters, including adopting a witness list for the study and agreeing to submit additional names. Blake Richards gave notice of a motion expressing disappointment in the government's failure to offer an apology regarding the "Presence in Absence" monument scandal, as previously called for by the committee.

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Witnesses · 2

David Morrow

Chief Performance Officer, Morrow Consulting & Training Inc.

Opening remarks

Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of the committee. My name is Dave Morrow. I'm a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, founder of Morrow Consulting and Training Inc. and creator of the Hard to Kill project at hardtokill.org. This includes an internationally awarded podcast, the Hard to Kill podcast, a bestselling book on Amazon, Harden the F*ck Up and an online “Veterans Getting Fit AF” community, which is the first to offer frontline medical coverage and plant medicine consulting through the A-Vet protocol and to receive Veterans Affairs Canada funding to improve the health and fitness of our female warriors with our world-class A.T.H.E.N.A. program. I'm also the only Canadian veteran, as far as I know, who has co-organized an international entrepreneur conference at the largest military entrepreneurship conference in the world, the Military Influencer Conference. I've spent the last six years talking shop with some of the biggest American and Canadian veteran business leaders. I'll also slip in here that if it were not for the Hard to Kill podcast and my team, there wouldn't be nearly as many Afghan interpreters and their families here in Canada. Let me start the way any…

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Basil Ryan

Chief Operating Officer, Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations

Opening remarks

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the invitation to appear before your committee. I'm the chief operating officer of the Atlantic Association of Community Business Development Corporations. We're a network of 41 non-profit corporations governed by volunteers from our local communities. Our work is primarily in community business development, with an emphasis on access to capital and business support. We form part of a larger network of 267 Community Futures corporations from coast to coast to coast. With reference to the specific question on barriers to entrepreneurship, I'd suggest that my response is more anecdotal than based on any empirical evidence. In my office, I recently had a veteran on staff. My chief financial officer has a son who is a recently retired member, and his wife also recently retired from the military. Lastly, my son-in-law is currently stationed in Edmonton, Alberta, and is getting close to retirement, so the subject matter is relevant to me. I'd like to break my comments into two sections: first, the barriers, and second, possible solutions for consideration by the committee. I recognize that some of your previous witnesses have already provided…