Making it Easier for CAF Personnel and Families to Stay Connected and Informed

CAFconnection.ca is a new website that brings the contents of the FamilyForce and CF Community Gateway websites under one URL, connecting CAF members and families to their local Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) and PSP organizations through one single site.  It improves and modernizes the way military members and their families’ access information and resources about their local Canadian Armed Forces morale and welfare services.

“CAFconnection was developed with continuous extensive input from a working group, including former CAF members and military spouses, MFS and PSP staff and content administrators,” said Commodore Sean Cantalon, Director General Morale & Welfare Services. Information from PSP and MFS/MFRCs is combined and complementary.  “There are currently more than 200 local PSP and MFS/MFRC content administrators and editors who input information directly onto the site.  It is an excellent example of good collaboration and teamwork that will ultimately benefit our serving members and their families.”

Without having to know who provides which services and where to find the information, families who used to go to CF Community Gateway to access local recreation schedules, mess hours and registration for programs, and then had to go to FamilyForce to find their local MFRC programming, can now go to a single destination. The site is aesthetically pleasing to navigate, full of images of Canadian Armed Forces members and their families, with lots of room to highlight news and events. It uses a platform that lends itself to mobile technology, allowing for additional development of the site with new functionality and options. The site automatically adjusts to whatever size screen you are looking at, including smart phones, tablets, laptops and PCs.

Web content is organized in two ways – by large audience groups (i.e. For Military Personnel, For Veterans & Families, For Parents & Caregivers, For Families of the Fallen) and by programming areas (i.e. Deployment, Child Care, Health Care, Housing, Recreation). In some cases, people know specifically what they are looking for so they may navigate by program area and in other cases, users want to know the suite of services and programs available to them so they might self-identify as part of a group and search for information that way.

CAFconnection.ca is now live and constantly evolving as more useful and relevant content is regularly uploaded on the site for users.  MFS and PSP look forward to hearing what users have to say and making the site the very best to benefit military personnel and their families.

To provide your thoughts on the new site, drop us a line at [email protected]

**This article was provided by Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services**