History
Pre-Confederation (1841-1867)
Prior to introduction of responsible government in 1848, thePost-Confederation civil service reforms (1867-1908)
FollowingEliminating patronage in the civil service (1908-1918)
In 1908, the intensity of scandals and inefficiencies associated with the civil service prompted Prime MinisterCementing a professional civil service (1919-1951)
As the CSC solidified its role as a body responsible for curtailing patronage, and protecting the integrity of the merit-based appointment process, it sought to improve the rigour of its entrance examinations. However, the CSC also began to impose restrictions on employing married women beginning in 1921, with any women holding permanent positions being forced to resign upon marrying. These restrictions would remain in place until 1955. Nevertheless, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's government passed the ''Civil Service Superannuation Act'' in 1924, helping to establish a pension system for civil servants and to promote a career civil service. The''Financial Administration Act'' and push for collective bargaining (1951-1964)
In 1951, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent's government enacted the ''Financial Administration Act'', established the Treasury Board as a formal entity, consisting of the president of the Treasury Board and four other Cabinet members, and the creation of the position of Secretary of the Treasury Board, a senior civil servant who advises the members of the Treasury Board on their decisions. The FAA designated the Treasury Board as the final authority over all matters relating to the management and organization of the public service. This period also saw a substantial push among civil servants and emerging staff associations, such as the Civil Service Association of Ottawa, to secure a right toA new ''Civil Service Act'' and the Glassco Commission (1961-1967)
In 1961, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's government enacted a new ''Civil Service Act'', representing the first major update to the legislation since 1918. The new legislation enshrined into law the requirement for government to negotiate with labour unions regarding terms and conditions of employment. Furthermore, it expanded coverage of appeal mechanisms from civil servants from decisions relating to promotions, to other issues, such as transfers, demotions, suspensions, and dismissals. Earlier in 1960, the government convened the Royal Commission on Government Organization, colloquially referred to as the Glassco Commission, to investigate the current state of management practices within the federal government's workforce. The report found that the promotion and transfer processes imposed by the CSC were inefficient and time consuming enough that many qualified candidates were poached by other employers before the appointment process was complete. In 1962, the government adopted several of the commission's recommendations, among them, the transferring responsibility over promotions and appointment policy over to the Treasury Board, and allowing individual departments to handle day-to-day personnel management. The CSC's role was scaled back such that it was only responsible for conducting common recruitment programs, and ensuring the integrity of selection processes. In 1963, a desire to improve French language capabilities among civil servants prompted the creation of the Language Training Centre under the authority of the CSC. By 1966, French language skills were considered to be an element of merit for civil service recruitment for positions in Ottawa.Transition to the Public Service (1967-1979)
Cabinet's acceptance of recommendations from the PCCB to introduce collective bargaining rights for civil servants prompted a complete overhaul of the enabling legislation for the civil service. The ''Public Service Employment Act'' (PSEA) and ''Public Service Staff Relations Act'' (PSSRA) were introduced to grant more authority to the renamed Public Service Commission to enforce the merit principle, and established a framework for collective bargaining in the public service. The passage of PSEA and PSSRA also saw the repeal of the ''Civil Service Act'', 1961 and amendments to the ''FAA.'' With the emergence of new social programs, and Canada's growing populations, the public service grew from around 198,000 in 1970 to 274,000 by 1975. However, austerity-driven cutbacks beginning in 1978 would see around 7,000 public servants let go by 1979. In 1979, the bilingualism bonus was introduced for employees with proven capabilities to communicate in both English and French.Employment equity initiatives
In 1971, the Public Service Commission created the Office of Equal Opportunity for Women to boost women's participation in the public service, a result of the report Sex and the Public Service, and the Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, both issued in 1970. This built on anti-discrimination provisions woven into the PSEA, which listed sex as a prohibited ground of discrimination for public service hiring. This would be complemented by the inclusion of 'marital status' as such a ground later in 1974. In 1973, the Office of Native Employment was created to advance job opportunities forExpansion of employment equity and downsizing (1980-2003)
Throughout the 1980s, the federal government rapidly expanded a number of employment equity initiatives. In 1983, a dedicated Women's Career Counselling and Referral Service was created to help with career development for women, and prepare them for senior management roles. That same year, a National Indigenous Development Program was formed, and sought to build on previous efforts to recruit more Indigenous people to the public service. A year later, the ''Equality Now!'' report from the Special Committee on Visible Minorities established a dedicated recruitment program to encourage members of visible minority communities secure positions within the federal workforce. The 1980s and 1990s would see a transformation and renewal of various aspects of the public service, including new executive recruitment mechanisms, and updates to the operational systems across government. The ''Public Service Reform Act'' passed in 1992 under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government At the same time, this saw a downsizing of federal public service positions, particularly in 1986, which saw a loss of 20,000 positions, and 1995, which saw the elimination of 45,000 permanent positions over the next three years. The latter, which was a result of an austerity-focused budget under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's government, represented one of the most drastic reductions to the public service.Modernization of staffing processes (2003-2015)
In 2003, the ''Public Service Modernization Act'' was passed by the Chrétien government, becoming the first of several pieces of legislation to update the staffing and personnel management practices of the public service. This Act would fundamentally change how public servants were hired and managed. Complementary legislation, in the form of an updated ''Public Service Employment Act'' came in 2005. The new PSEA notably introduced a new definition of 'merit', pivoting away from a rules-based determination of 'best qualified', and enabling managers to hire employees on the basis of 'best fit' within their organization. Furthermore, the legislation transferred authority over recruitment from the Public Service Commission over the deputy heads of individual departments and agencies. Beginning in 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government began plans to modernize and consolidate the federal government's aging pay system. In 2011, it eventually awarded a contract to IBM to develop the Phoenix Pay System, which would become the locus of controversy in later years due to errors in disbursing paychecks to federal employees. In 2012, the federal budget by the Harper government sought to reduce the number of public service positions by around 19,000 over the next three fiscal years until 2015-16. Beginning in 2014, the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board, and other departments launched a new renewal initiative, Destination 2020, which focused on a five-pronged plan to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the public service by 2020, focusing on the adoption of innovative practices, process renewal, the deployment of new technology, and promoting the values of the public service.Contemporary developments (2015-present)
In January 2016, the Phoenix pay system began to be rolled out across the federal government, and ran into significant performance issues, leading to thousands of public servants being overpaid, underpaid, or not paid at all over the course of several months. This would prompt Public Services and Procurement Canada to rapidly launch dedicated telephone lines beginning in the summer of 2016 to assist public servants who were affected by issues brought on by the pay system. Even by early 2020, many public servants continued to encounter pay issues, with an estimated 98,000 public servants estimated to owe the federal government for overpayments. In June 2021, Prime MinisterCOVID-19 pandemic
The onset of thePurpose
The Public Service of Canada supports the Government of Canada in the development, implementation, and evaluation ofStructure
The Public Service of Canada is organized into 137 distinct organizations, including 23 ministerial departments, 3 service agencies, 17 departmental corporations, 50 departmental agencies, 12 special operating agencies, and 6 agents of Parliament. Although Crown corporations and other federal interests such as theManagement structure
In most ministerial departments and certain agencies, such as the Canada Revenue Agency, a Cabinet minister has overarching responsibility for the management and direction of the organization, and is ultimately responsible toOversight bodies
Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada
The Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS) is considered the 'employer' of the core public administration, and oversees the management of human, financial, and information resources within the federal government. It issues directives, guidance, and other policy instruments to federal organizations to set consistent managerial procedures and practices throughout the federal public service. It also monitors internal spending within federal departments and agencies, ensuring resources are used appropriately and align with government priorities.Privy Council Office
The Privy Council Office (PCO) assists the Prime Minister and Cabinet in setting priorities, developing policies, establishing ministerial mandates, and recommending candidates for appointment to Governor-in-Council positions or senior positions within the federal public service. While the PCO does not exercise any managerial authority over departments, their proximity to Cabinet decision-making means that federal organizations must consider their advice and guidance carefully when making decisions.Public Service Commission of Canada
The Public Service Commission (PSC) ensures that recruitment into the federal public service is merit-based and free from political influence. While the PSC historically had a more significant role in the overall management of the public service, this role has gradually shifted toward the Treasury Board Secretariat instead. The PSC runs several general and specialized competitions for candidates seeking employment with the federal government, and spearheads employment equity initiatives across the federal government. The PSC also ensures that federal public servants are non-partisan, overseeing investigations into political activities of public servants, and issuing punitive measures where necessary.Federal Public Service Labour and Employment Board
The Federal Public Service Labour and Employment Board (FPSLREB), formed in 2014 from the merger of the Public Service Labour Relations Board and the Public Service Staffing Tribunal oversees the collective bargaining system between the federal government and represented employees, as well as the grievance adjudication system. The FPSLEB hears and issues decisions on cases relating to appeals around personnel management decisions, such as termination, discrimination, or unacceptable behaviour.Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner
The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (PSIC), which is responsible directly to Parliament through the namesake Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, is responsible for the intake and investigation of disclosures of wrongdoing by public servants by other federal employees or members of the public in relation to the former's job duties. The OPSIC additionally works to prevent and address reprisal against whistleblowers from their supervisors or senior management for reporting wrongdoing.Personnel
Recruitment principles
Public servants are recruited through a variety of methods, depending on the needs of an organization. In general, recruitment processes are organized around core values of merit and non-partisanship. However, the Public Service Commission under the terms of the ''Public Service Employment Act,'' can establish priority groups for appointment, such as veterans, Canadian citizens, and permanent residents, or can create programs to promote the opportunities for equity-seeking groups (e.g. women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities) in the federal public service. Changes to the ''Public Service Employment Act'' in 2003 redefined 'merit' within recruitment processes to focus less on a rules-based concept of ''best-qualified'', and more on a values-based approach. This enables managers to hire qualified and competent individuals whose experience, skills and knowledge are the best fit for a position's current and future needs. Recruitment in organizations in the Core Public Administration is governed directly by the ''Public Service Employment Act'', while separate agencies hire according to authority granted to them by their enabling legislation. Federal public servants Canada are considered to be employed byTenure
Public servants can be appointed to one of four types of tenure, as defined under the ''Public Service Employment Act'', which come with different levels of job security, compensation, benefits, and responsibilities. * Indeterminate: Employees who are appointed on a continuous basis, and have no prescribed end date to their employment. Indeterminate employees are considered permanent, though may be laid off during workforce adjustment exercises within their organization. They are also entitled to all benefits, and must contribute to the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP). * Term: Employees who are appointed for a definite period of time, usually between 3 and 24 months in length. Depending on the length of their contract, they may receive benefits and contribute to the PSPP. Some classification groups within the federal government have a 'rollover' clause within their collective agreements, where employees on term contracts for more than a certain amount of years are converted into indeterminate employees. * Casual: Employees who are appointed for appointed for short contracts not exceeding 90 working days with a single organization over the course of a calendar year. Casual employees may obtain multiple contracts over the course of a year, but are ineligible to claim benefits or contribute to the PSPP, and are not represented by a union. * Student: Employees who are participating in a Government of Canada student employment program, such as the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) or a co-op program with a post-secondary institution. Under certain conditions, students may claim benefits and contribute to the PSPP if they are continuously employed for more than 6 months. However, students are not eligible for vacation leave, and are not represented by a union.Selection methods
Selection processes within the Public Service of Canada for substantive positions can be divided into external appointments, which candidates not currently employed in the federal public service can apply to, and internal appointments, which are limited to individuals currently employed as a federal public servant. These appointments are generally published through jobs.gc.ca, the portal maintained by the Public Service Commission to advertise job vacancies in the federal government. After candidates submit their initial application, they are screened by human resource personnel to ascertain their qualifications and determine if they qualify for inclusion within a pool, from which managers can draw from. Pools themselves are divided into 'fully assessed' pools, meaning that the candidates are verified to have met the merit criteria for a position, and 'partially-assessed' pools, where candidates may require additional testing before they can be hired. Appointments that occur from these selection processes can either be considered advertised, meaning that the appointment made from a pool aligns with the original job advertisement, or non-advertised, in which no clear connection between the position being filled and the information in the job advertisement exists. While external applicants can apply through general pools, the Public Service Commission runs a number of specialized competitions to recruit recent university graduates, such as the Post-Secondary Recruitment (PSR) program to staff entry-level. Other competitions seek to attract academics or individuals with extensive experience in policy work, such as the Recruitment of Policy Leaders (RPL) and Emerging Talent Pool (ETP) programs to the federal workforce, placing successful candidates in more senior, mid-career positions. In addition, managers can select candidates through a non-advertised appointment of former participants in Government of Canada student employment programs to an entry-level position. This process known as 'student bridging', and is responsible for about 16.6 per cent of all indeterminate hires, according to the Public Service Commission.Student employment
The Public Service of Canada recruits high school, undergraduate, and graduate students for full- and part-time paid internships, through various sources, including the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP), the Research Affiliate Program (RAP), and co-op programs at post-secondary institutions in Canada. As of March 2020, the Public Service of Canada employs around 8,852 students. Unlike most public servants, students do not occupy a 'substantive position' and therefore are unable to participate in internal recruitment processes. They are additionally are ineligible for vacation leave and are not represented by a union. Students are only eligible for these internships if they are registered as full-time students at a Canadian secondary or post-secondary institution. For summer or other work term positions, they must demonstrate they are registered for classes in the next semester to meet the requirements for employment.Job classifications
Positions within the public servants are organized into occupational groups, which are divided further into job classifications and sub-groups. As of 2020, the Core Public Administration has about 31 occupational groups, covering 56 job classifications. Occupational groups and job classifications are typically referred to by a two-letter code, such as FS, used for foreign service positions. The specific duties and expectations of each job classification is determined through different policy instruments. Before the reorganization of the public service during the latter half of the 20th century, public servants were organized into hundreds of different occupational groups, with one survey of civil service positions by American consultants identifying nearly 1,700 unique classifications within the federal government in 1921. The arrival of the ''Public Service Employment Act'', in preparation for establishing collective bargaining for public servants, saw a concerted effort to consolidate and reorganize position classifications to better facilitate negotiation. While some separate agencies incorporate occupational groups and job classifications used in the Core Public Administration, many retain their own classification systems to align with the particular workforce needs of their organization.Geographic distribution
As of 2020, the largest share of public servants is located in theLabour unions
Approximately 80 per cent of federal public service employees are represented by a bargaining agent, who negotiate contracts directly with the Treasury Board. The largest federal public service union by number of members is the Public Service Alliance of Canada.List of federal public service unions
Employment equity
Employment equity represents a number of positive actions taken within the federal public service to provide opportunities to disadvantaged groups within Canadian society. The legal and regulatory framework of employment equity within the federal public service relies on representation targets, set jointly by PSC, TBS, and other relevant bodies on a periodic basis, as opposed to specified quotas for these groups. The rejection of quotas was intended to preserve the merit-based nature of the selection process in the public service, while providing underrepresented groups with equal footing in applying for positions. Performance on employment equity obligations is benchmarked by comparing the representation of equity-seeking groups in the public service, with the group’s estimated availability within the Canadian workforce at large. Early efforts to promote employment equity in the public service began after the publication of the report ''Sex and the Public Service,'' which brought forward concerns around the lack of opportunities available for women in the public service, and recommendations from the Royal Commission on the Status of Women published in 1970. This resulted in the creation of the Office of Equal Opportunity for Women within the PSC, with the stated objective of enhancing representation of women within the ranks of the public service. Similar efforts were made with the establishment of the Office of Native Employment in 1973, which sought to encourage more participation of Indigenous peoples in the public service. The Office of Native Employment became a model for the rollout of a parallel program, the Black Employment Program, also in 1973, which looked to secure more positions for Afro-Canadians in the public service, primarily in Nova Scotia. Beginning in 1976, pilot hiring projects were initiated across ten federal departments to facilitate hiring for persons with disabilities, the success of which led to a TBS (1978) and later PSC (1980) policy for hiring persons with disabilities. These programs eventually evolved into a dedicated Affirmative Action Program, which saw the creation of new programs and resources for professional development and advancement for equity-seeking groups. In 1986, the ''Employment Equity Act'' was passed, and acts as the legislative bedrock for employment equity within the federal public service today. In particular, the EEA calls for the implementation of ‘positive measures’ to actively promote a more representative public service. Together with the ''Public Service Employment Ac''t, and other equity-focused legislation such as the '' Canadian Human Rights Act'', employment equity is a key consideration for deputy heads in federal organizations in all aspects of personnel management, including recruitment, professional development, and promotion. Recent efforts to advance employment equity have foregrounded increasing the representation of equity-seeking groups among executives within the public service, where significant gaps continue to persist. As of 2020, the EEA identifies four equity-seeking groups: * Women * Indigenous peoples * Persons with disabilities * Members of a visible minoritySee also
* Official bilingualism in the public service of Canada * Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism * Structure of the Canadian federal governmentReferences
Further reading
* Bourgault, Jacques, and Stéphane Dion. "Governments come and go, but what of senior civil servants? Canadian Deputy Ministers and transitions in power (1867–1987)". ''Governance'' 2.2 (1989): 124-151. * Bourgault, Jacques, and Stéphane Dion. "Canadian senior civil servants and transitions of government: the Whitehall model seen from Ottawa". ''International Review of Administrative Sciences'' 56.1 (1990): 149-169. * Banoub, David. "The Patronage Effect: Civil Service Reforms, Job-Seeking, and State Formation in Victorian Canada". PhD, Carleton University (2013)External links