Vol. 151, No. 25 — December 13, 2017

Registration

SOR/2017-252 November 24, 2017

PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT ACT

P.C. 2017-1432 November 23, 2017

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and the Public Service Commission, pursuant to section 21 of the Public Service Employment Act (see footnote a), makes the annexed Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Public Service Employment Act.

Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Public Service Employment Act

Statistics Canada Census and Survey Related Term Employment Regulations

1 (1) The portion of section 2 of the Statistics Canada Census and Survey Related Term Employment Regulations (see footnote 1) before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

2 These Regulations apply to those positions in Statistics Canada that are excluded from the application of the definitions deployment and internal appointment process in subsection 2(1) and of paragraphs 22(2)(a) to (c) and sections 39.1 to 41, 48, 51 to 53, 57, 59 and 62 of the Public Service Employment Act and to the persons appointed or deployed to those positions on a specified term basis, except for those persons mentioned in subsection 5(1) of the Statistics Act, whose function is solely to provide administrative or management support or to perform data processing duties for the purpose of conducting

(2) Paragraph 2(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Appointment or Deployment of Alternates Regulations

2 Section 2 of the Appointment or Deployment of Alternates Regulations (see footnote 2) is replaced by the following:

2 These Regulations apply to an alternate who is excluded from the application of section 16, paragraph 22(2)(a), subsection 29(3), sections 30, 31 and 39.1 to 48, subsection 51(4) and section 77 of the Public Service Employment Act.

Repeals

3 The following Regulations are repealed:

Coming into Force

4 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

On July 1, 2015, the Veterans Hiring Act came into force and amended the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) by creating a new statutory priority entitlement (section 39.1), which is granted to Canadian Forces members who are released for medical reasons that are attributable to service.

The primary objective of the Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Public Service Employment Act (the Regulations) is to ensure that the Alternates program and the Statistics Canada (SC) Census Program remain as effective and efficient as originally approved. Updating their governing regulations and issuing new exclusion approval orders (the Appointment or Deployment of Alternates Exclusion Approval Order and the Statistics Canada Census and Survey Related Term Employment Exclusion Approval Order) ensures that the initial intent, which was to exclude appointments made under these programs from the consideration of persons with a priority entitlement, is retained.

Background

SC Census Program

In the past, the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission, made time-limited census exclusion approval orders and regulations to enable SC to hire and retain employees to prepare and conduct the two censuses required by the Statistics Act: the Population census — every five years — and the Agriculture census — every 10 years. These time-limited instruments are now obsolete but have never been repealed.

In 2010, the Public Service Commission and SC agreed to make ongoing instruments: the Statistics Canada Census and Survey Related Term Employment Exclusion Approval Order (the SC Order) and the Statistics Canada Census and Survey Related Term Employment Regulations (the SC Regulations).

The SC Regulations pertain to the appointment, deployment and termination of employment for census-related positions. Census work must be performed within tight and immovable deadlines and within an overall approved budget. The 2010 SC Order limits the mobility rights of persons appointed to census-related positions by excluding them and the position they occupy from the application of certain provisions of the PSEA, including sections 40 and 41 (persons with a priority entitlement), thereby preventing staff turnover and its associated recruitment/training delays and costs, and is referenced in the SC Regulations.

The SC Order and Regulations allow the Department to recruit and retain approximately 2 800 census employees, including data collectors and data processors. Retention in particular is an issue: if census employees were to apply to internal appointment processes and be appointed or deployed elsewhere in the public service, SC would be required to recruit and train their replacements. This would increase costs and extend timeframes, an impossibility when dealing with the censuses, projects with unmovable deliverables. Consequently, the SC Order and Regulations prescribe that

The new SC Order, made by Order in Council, will add section 39.1 of the PSEA to the list of exclusions. This addition must be reflected in the SC Regulations, in order for the change to take effect.

In addition, in 2011, the Government of Canada had replaced the survey component of the census — a component that had traditionally been known as “the long-form census” — with a shorter, voluntary “national household survey.” In May 2016, the Government of Canada reinstated the mandatory long-form census. For the sake of clarity and to ensure continued validity regardless of the name the survey is given in the future, the word “household,” in reference to the national survey, needs to be deleted.

Alternates program

The Appointment or Deployment of Alternates Exclusion Approval Order (the Alternates Order) and the Appointment or Deployment of Alternates Regulations (the Alternates Regulations) were made during the downsizing that occurred following Budget 2012, to facilitate departures from the public service.

An alternation allows an indeterminate employee whose position is abolished (the “opting employee”) to remain in the public service by exchanging positions with that of an employee who wishes to leave the public service (the “alternate”). There is no vacant position to be filled in an alternation process.

The alternate never performs the duties of the position of the opting employee. Consequently, their appointment is excluded from having to meet certain conditions that usually govern appointments, such as the consideration of persons with a priority entitlement.

The Alternates Order will be amended by an Order in Council adding section 39.1 of the PSEA to the list of exclusions. This change must also be reflected in the Alternates Regulations in order to take effect.

Objectives

The Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Public Service Employment Act have three objectives:

  1. To update the SC Regulations and the Alternates Regulations by adding the statutory priority entitlement of Canadian Forces members to the list of exclusions;
  2. to delete the word “household” in reference to the national survey, when the survey is conducted for the purposes of the census; and
  3. to repeal the obsolete census regulations.

Description

  1. The SC Regulations contain an application provision which makes reference to a list of excluded priority entitlements. The amendments to the SC Regulations add to that list section 39.1 of the PSEA, being the statutory priority entitlement of Canadian Forces members who are medically released.
  2. The amended SC Regulations omit the word “household” in reference to the national survey, when the survey is conducted for the purposes of the census.
  3. Similarly, the Alternates Regulations contain an application provision which makes reference to a list of excluded priority entitlements. The amendments to the Alternates Regulations add to that list section 39.1 of the PSEA, being the statutory priority entitlement of Canadian Forces members who are medically released.
  4. The amendments also provide that the obsolete census regulations are repealed.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as it does not impose any burden on small business.

Consultation

Since this proposal has no negative impact on stakeholders, consultations were conducted only within the Public Service Commission and with SC.

Rationale

Statistics Canada Census Program

The SC Order excludes the consideration of persons with a priority entitlement from the process to appoint persons to census-related positions. The SC Regulations prescribe that a person can only be appointed for a specified period, and that once appointed, they are eligible only for appointment processes within the program.

Appointments to positions that relate to census operations were excluded from the requirement to consider priority persons in order to ensure business continuity in an environment bound by tight deadlines. Because it takes three years to prepare and conduct each census, employees are hired exclusively on a specified term basis.

A priority entitlement allows its holder to be appointed to an indeterminate position. Should a person with a priority entitlement accept a specified term appointment, they would continue to actively search for indeterminate appointment elsewhere. The loss of census employees to indeterminate positions elsewhere would translate into additional costs for SC to hire and train their replacement, which could ultimately threaten the project timeline and budget.

The regulatory amendments will allow SC to continue to appoint persons to census-related positions as currently takes place, i.e. without the consideration of persons who have a priority entitlement, including one under section 39.1 of the PSEA.

In addition, in 2011, the Government of Canada had replaced the survey component of the census — a component that had traditionally been known as “the long-form census” — with a shorter, voluntary “national household survey.” In May 2016, the Government of Canada reinstated the mandatory long form census. For the sake of clarity and to ensure continued validity regardless of the name the survey is given in the future, the new Order refers simply to the “national survey.”

The deletion of the word “household” allows the Regulations to remain valid, regardless of the name the national survey is given in the future.

Alternates program

With alternation, there is no true vacancy; at the end of the process, a position will be eliminated and an employee will be laid off. The regulatory amendments will allow departments to continue to conduct alternations without considering persons who have a priority entitlement, including one under section 39.1 of the PSEA.

Repeal of SC obsolete instruments

The obsolete regulations are being repealed as a matter of regulatory housekeeping.

Contact

Lydie Dancausse
Senior Policy Advisor
Public Service Commission
22 Eddy Street
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0M7
Telephone: 819-420-6487
Fax: 819-420-6460
Email: Lydie.Dancausse@cfp-psc.gc.ca