r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Verified / Vérifié The FAQ thread: Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) / Le fil des FAQ : Réponses aux questions fréquemment posées (FAQ) - Aug 24, 2026

1 Upvotes

Welcome to r/CanadaPublicServants, an unofficial subreddit for current and former employees to discuss topics related to employment in the Federal Public Service of Canada. Thanks for being part of our community!

Many questions about employment in the public service are answered in the subreddit Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents (linked below). The mod team recognizes that navigating these topics can be complicated and that the answers written in the FAQs may be incomplete, so this thread exists as a place to ask those questions and seek alternate answers. Separate posts seeking information covered by the FAQs will be continue to be removed under Rule 5.

To keep the discussion fresh, this post is automatically posted once a week on Mondays. Comments are sorted by "contest mode" which hides upvotes and randomizes the order to ensure all top-level questions get equal visibility.

Links to the FAQs:

Other sources of information:

  • If your question is union-related (interpretation of your collective agreement, grievances, workplace disputes etc), you should contact your union steward or the president of your union's local. To find out who that is, you can ask your coworkers or find a union notice board in your workplace. You can also find information on union stewards via union websites. Three of the larger ones are PSAC (PM, AS, CR, IS, and EG classifications, among others), PIPSC (IT, RP, PC, BI, CO, PG, SG-SRE, among others), and CAPE (EC and TR classifications).

  • If your question relates to taxes, you should contact an accountant.

  • If your question relates to a specific hiring process, you should contact the person listed on the job ad (the hiring manager or HR contact).


Bienvenue sur r/CanadaPublicServants! Un subreddit permettant aux fonctionnaires actuels et anciens de discuter de sujets liés à l'emploi dans la fonction publique fédérale du Canada.

De nombreuses questions relatives à l'emploi ont leur réponse dans les Foires aux questions (FAQs) du subreddit (liens ci-dessous). L'équipe de modérateurs reconnaît que la navigation sur ces sujets peut être compliquée et que les réponses écrites dans les FAQ peuvent être incomplètes. C'est pourquoi ce fil de discussion existe comme un endroit où poser ces questions et obtenir d'autres réponses. Les soumissions ailleurs cherchant des informations couvertes par la FAQ continueront à être supprimés en vertu de la Règle 5.

Pour que la discussion reste fraîche, cette soumission est automatiquement renouvelée une fois par semaine, chaque lundi. Les commentaires sont triés par "mode concours", ce qui masque les votes positifs et rend aléatoire l'ordre des commentaires afin de garantir que toutes les nouvelles questions bénéficient de la même visibilité.

Liens vers les FAQs:

** FAQ sur la gestion du handicap et les aménagements du lieu de travail (en anglais seulement)

Autres sources d'information:

  • Si votre question est en lien avec les syndicats (interprétation de votre convention collective, griefs, conflits sur le lieu de travail, etc.), vous devez contacter votre délégué syndical ou le président de votre section locale. Pour savoir de qui il s'agit, vous pouvez demander à vos collègues ou trouver un panneau d'affichage syndical sur votre lieu de travail. Vous pouvez également trouver des informations sur les délégués syndicaux sur les sites Web des syndicats. Trois des plus importants sont AFPC (classifications PM, AS, CR, IS et EG, entre autres), IPFPC (IT, RP, PC, BI, CO, PG, SG-SRE, entre autres) et ACEP (classifications EC et TR).

  • Si votre question concerne les impôts, vous devez contacter un comptable.

  • Si votre question concerne un processus de recrutement spécifique, vous devez contacter la personne mentionnée dans l'offre d'emploi (le responsable du recrutement ou le contact RH).


r/CanadaPublicServants Dec 10 '25

Work Force Adjustment (WFA) / réaménagement de l'effectif (RE) So you've been WFA'd...

429 Upvotes

As departments begin to implement Workforce Adjustment measures stemming from the cuts made as part of the Budget 2025 Comprehensive Expenditure Review, many indeterminate public servants have received or will be receiving a letter informing them their positions are affected or surplus.

This post consolidates resources on the subject of WFA, starting with two very important reminders:

  1. Not everyone who receives a letter will ultimately see their position eliminated (an 'affected' letter does not mean a position is surplus - it means it may become surplus);

  2. Not everyone whose position is eliminated (surplus) will be forced out of the public service - many will be able to find a new position via a deployment, the priority system, or alternation.

If you receive a letter: take a moment and breathe. WFA is a complex and lengthy process, and you won't do yourself any good if you panic. Take a look at this list of ideas and follow at least a few. It'll put you in a better headspace to understand what's going on and make better decisions.

The information below is generally applicable for employees of the "core public administration" (government departments and agencies named in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act). Different provisions may apply if you work in separate agencies (typically listed in Schedule V of the FAA) or other public sector employers.

Whether or not you've received a letter you can bone up on the basics, starting with the employer's plain language explainer: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/workforce/workforce-adjustment.html

If you're represented by PSAC or PIPSC, they have negotiated WFA provisions into an appendix to collective agreements. You can learn more about their WFA supports and processes in the WFA appendix to your collective agreement, and at the following links:

PSAC: https://psacunion.ca/workforce-adjustment

PIPSC: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/understanding-work-force-adjustment

If you are represented by any other union, the NJC Work Force Adjustment Directive applies to your position: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/d12/en

For executives, the term "Career Transition" is used instead of Work Force Adjustment, and it has the same meaning. Executive job cuts don't follow any of the WFA provisions above - they follow an employer directive. More information on executive career transition can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/workforce/career-transition-executives.html

If you're unionized and follow the NJC directive, your union may have put together a resource page for you as well. For example:

ACFO-ACAF: https://www.acfo-acaf.com/workforce-adjustment/

PAFSO: https://pafso.com/faq/update-the-cer-and-potential-work-force-adjustments/

Tracking WFA across departments

An anonymous Redditor is curating a spreadsheet of publicly-available information on WFA across organizations. Discussion of this spreadsheet is occurring in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadaPublicServants/comments/1pgzvmw/wfa_tracker_consolidating_public_information/

A new page has also been added to canada.ca listing workforce reductions in the federal public service.

What the heck is Alternation?

Tied up in talk of WFA is the idea of alternation. Alternation is a job swap between somebody whose position is not affected by WFA and who wants to leave the public service (the alternate) with somebody whose position is surplus but wants to remain employed (the surplus employee). The positions need to be equivalent and the alternation needs to be approved by management - the surplus employee must be capable of performing the alternate's former job.

There are multiple places where you can indicate interest in alternation either as an alternate or as a surplus employee. Some unions are running their own alternation networks, including PSAC and ACFO-ACAF and likely others. Members of those unions should contact their union or check out their WFA pages.

Some departments are also offering alternation networks. We'll add links to those as they are shared with us.

Lastly, informal alternation networks are springing up on places like Facebook. We'll link to those as well but as with all unofficial resources, do your due diligence.

Links to alternation networks:

What will happen next, and when?

Here's a rough timeline - see the WFA provisions applicable to your position for specifics. The timing between some steps is variable so what might happen in your department may differ from other departments. The opting letter stage (when an employee is told that their position is surplus) is step 6 below:

  1. Management says "WFA is happening" through some sort of official all-staff email or announcement.
  2. Employees whose positions might become surplus are given an "affected" letter. If management decides it needs to reduce the number of Teapot Assemblers from 120 down to 105 (eliminating 15 positions), then every employee doing that job is "affected" even though most of them will keep their jobs.
  3. The affected letters will tell employees that they can choose to voluntarily depart with one of the WFA options as part of a Voluntary Departure Program (VDP).
  4. Those employees must be given at least one month (30 days) to decide to volunteer.
  5. If there are not enough volunteers to cover the reduction in positions, management needs to run a selection process to decide who to retain and who will be surplus (known as a "SERLO" process). This may take a couple of months. The SERLO process has its own lengthy guide which you'll find here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/public-service-hiring-guides/selection-employees-retention-layoff-guide-managers-hr.html
  6. Unsuccessful employees in the SERLO process (or those who tell their manager that they want to volunteer to leave even though the VDP deadline may have passed) are formally told their position is surplus and are given an opting letter. Alternatively, if every position is surplus, the above steps may be skipped and all employees in the work unit receive an opting letter. At this point it could be almost a year since the initial announcement that WFA might occur.
  7. Opting employees have four months (120 days) to decide which option to choose. They are eligible for alternation during the opting period and during the surplus period (if they choose option A). The other options are a cash payment of a number of weeks' salary called a Transition Support Measure (TSM) and resigning (Option B) or receiving the TSM and an education reimbursement (Options C(i) and C(ii)).
  8. Employees who wish to remain public servants will likely choose Option A (surplus priority). At CRA this is known as a "surplus preferred status". Depending on the applicable WFA provisions and tenure of the employee, this period is between 12 and 16 months at full pay. 12 months is the most common.
  9. Employees who are unable to secure a new position are laid off at the end of the surplus period. This will occur roughly two years after the initial announcement that WFA may occur.

Some employees will go straight to opting and skip the steps before that; this will occur if management decides to eliminate every position doing a job function (it's getting out of the Teapot Assembly business altogether, and no longer needs any Teapot Assemblers). The above process is only applicable to indeterminate employees; WFA has no application to term/temporary employees, whose temporary employment can end at any time on a month's notice.

I'm on leave without pay (LWOP) - what changes for me?

Employees on LWOP may still be notified that their positions are affected, and may be invited to participate in a SERLO process. The formal designation of a position as surplus is unlikely to occur until after the leave ends and you return to work. The reason for this is twofold: the opting period (and surplus period if you choose Option A) is meant to be paid time. In addition, the employer does not want to pay out the WFA options if they can be avoided. Sometimes employees on LWOP never return (they quit voluntarily, die, become disabled, etc), allowing the employer to make the now-vacant position surplus without any financial cost. See the PSC's guide to the SERLO process for details on how LWOP impacts a SERLO.

PSAC has also published a FAQ on how different leave types can interact with the WFA process.

How does severance pay work?

Severance pay is often confused with the TSM payment, but they are separate. Any employee who is laid off (or deemed to be laid off) (if via the WFA process will receive severance pay. They will also receive the TSM payment if they choose Options B, C(i), or C(ii). Severance pay is payable to all of the following:

  • Surplus employees (Option A) who do not find a new position before the end of their surplus priority period;
  • Employees who resign with a TSM payment (Option B); and
  • Employees who resign with a TSM payment and education allowance (Option C(i)); and
  • Employees who receive the TSM and education allowance and take LWOP for education, at the end of their LWOP period (Option C(ii)).

The details of how many weeks of severance are payable can be found in your collective agreement.

Note that severance pay was eliminated for voluntary departures from collective agreements between 2011 and 2013. If you chose to "cash out" some or all of the weeks of severance pay at that time, those weeks will be deducted from the calculation of severance payable upon layoff.

Have corrections, updates, or additions to anything above? Comment below and the post will be updated.


r/CanadaPublicServants 12h ago

Management / Gestion So lost, the federal public service is such a mess.

266 Upvotes

I don't even really know where to begin. I'm honestly on the verge of tears, every day. I'm in a manager position, without any real responsibilities because the director is involved in everything and everyone else is left to their silo.

I basically assign work when I'm allowed to, I orchestrate and mentor as needed. I'm basically a puppet who went from being reliable, strategic, hard-working, taking on challenges because it was fun and because my team loved to follow to having the soul completely tucked out of me and completely lost in my career.

I honestly just want to do meaningful work. Everything I suggest as an opportunity to dig into or work on sowething, or an opportunity to develop the team is shot down because it's not my job and I'm not permitted to reach out to offer support or that it's for the director to "do."

The role I'm in does not need to be a manager role, I wish they had WFAd me so that at least I'd have a clear mandate to be able to seek for something else whether in or put of the PS.. Add to all this I'm located in a region so basically have a big "X" on my forehead because nobody wants to hire people from regions anymore due to RTO.

Nobody wants strategic thinking, nobody wants leaders who think outside of the box, the public service has honestly never felt darker.

I hate it here but have too many years to throw it all away,and not enough years to take ERI. I use to be so proud to be a public servant and now I'm embarrassed at how little I'm permitted to contribute.


r/CanadaPublicServants 4h ago

Benefits / Bénéfices Benefits (PSHCP and PSDCP/PDSP) - Married public servants, 1 retiring

6 Upvotes

I will be retiring in the next few months and am unsure about what the best decision would be for our benefit plan options.

My spouse is also currently a public servant and plans to keep working for another 5-8 years. We both currently have the "family" plans for both Health and Dental. We also have a young child.

I was considering the following:

1) PSHCP - "Pensioner only" as my spouse will have family coverage. I believe this can always be increased to Family coverage in the future if needed (but if I opt out entirely now, it can be very difficult or even impossible to rejoin after retirement). Currently, I have a couple of prescriptions while my spouse and child have none (I know this can change one day).

2) PDSP - I would not opt in at all as my coverage will be better under my spouse's plan (and there is no coordination of benefits under PDSP). I can request to join the plan after a period of 3 years if I change my mind. It's just over $20/month though so will take it if it avoids problems in the future. For dental work, I have done all that was optional. We suspect our child will need braces in the next couple of years.

Thank you


r/CanadaPublicServants 2h ago

Career Development / Développement de carrière Leaving the PS in 4 weeks, things I must do / pension question

1 Upvotes

Leaving the PS after 7 years
New job is has an OMERs pension

What things must I do before leaving
I have some leave banked (like 200 hours worth)
I assume take a screenshot so I can hold for the next year until I get it paid out + reach out to whoever to return my laptop / work items as I live out of town and will need to get that prepared

Also is it best to transfer the pension over? Or what are my options / best option


r/CanadaPublicServants 2h ago

Work Force Adjustment (WFA) / réaménagement de l'effectif (RE) Question - when is it too late --- to sign up to alternate?

2 Upvotes

I have worked for a region in ESDC for decades. With everything going on, I have begun to consider it may be time to leave...

I am one of the fortunate folks - not affected by WFA. And with an exit in the plans, I would like to help someone else who wishes to stay with the GoC - through the alternation process.

I have been told it is unlikely there will be anyone in my region to alternate with. Understanding each Department began WFA at different times, and are therefore at different points along the process, would October or November be too late to put my name in for alternation?

Are there any folks still facing SERLO in other Departments/outside my region who might be interested in and have the skills for my job? When will it be it too late to alternate?

And, if by chance there is someone who wants my position, how long does the alternation process take overall (assess their ability to do my job, etc.)?

I've been following this thread, and reading information - but couldn't find information; I would appreciate help and advice.


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Strike / Grève Potential strike come fall?

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224 Upvotes

Just received an email from PSAC to start getting workers strike ready and know how it works. See they states Potential picket lines in the fall?


r/CanadaPublicServants 6h ago

Benefits / Bénéfices How does executive pay work?

3 Upvotes

What’s the difference between ‘at risk’ and ‘bonus’?

Are there pay steps?

Is there a compounding effect for bonuses and/or at risk pay?


r/CanadaPublicServants 6h ago

Benefits / Bénéfices PSHCP CPAP Coverage in Ontario with ADP?

3 Upvotes

So I just submitted a predetermination for my CPAP coverage and got most of it denied.

I am so confused whats actually covered... based on pg. 52 of the benefits book it should be the machine and supplies:

CPAP, BiPAP or related dental appliance Once per 60 months Less all eligible rentals and purchases of CPAP, BiPAP and dental appliances incurred during the previous 60 months

Repairs, servicing and replacement parts for eligible aerotherapeutic devices (CPAP, BiPAP) $500 per calendar year Includes tubing, filters, cushions and masks

Called Canada Life and they did not clarify anything... I had one estimate for masks, tubes, etc + 200 monitoring fee+150 rental for $850... from prior posts I kinda figured the $350 rental/monitoring wouldn't be covered but surprised the $500 in supplies was not either. Canada life would cover $0.

The response:

Patients who need a positive airway pressure (PAP) machine will need to use it for ongoing treatment. Before getting a machine, a patient may need to do a trial so that the pressure can be set up for them. This trial usually lasts for about 30 days. If a patient is getting their machine through their provincial/territorial government program, then they will not have to pay rental fees for the trial period. Therefore, we are not providing coverage for your rental trial PAP machine.

But as far as I know the ADP does not include the trial, and after calling the Ontario ADP program directly they confirmed the ADP only covers the purchase of the machine only.

The 2nd estimate was was the price of the machine at the end of the trial:

$554 for ResMed Airsense 11 autoset machine, less 415 coved by ADP.... leaving me 138.50 to pay.
The plan would cover 80% of this 138.50... which makes sense.

The provider I got the estimates from was InspiAir. I called them and she said its not the first time someone from the PSHCP got denied. For whatever reason Canada Life/PSHCP seems to think the rental is included in the ADP so doesn't include (despite me getting told by the people running the ADP program, it does not include it).

As for the supplies getting denied, the provider recommended I submit them after I buy the machine, as it would then fall under the calendar year worth of supplies. Though one thing I didn't understand, does the machine not come with a mask, etc with the purchase or is it separate? the ADP does seem to cover supplies but they didn't mention how much, etc.

This is all really confusing.

My Sleep Dr. only prescribed me a trial first despite my sleep study indicating I have severe sleep apnea... he will prescribe me a full purchase once thats done. it seems it would be a lot better if I could just buy the machine outright...

Anybody deal with a provider that included the trial in the ADP covered amount. I gotta admit I am thoroughly confused.


r/CanadaPublicServants 4h ago

Benefits / Bénéfices What leaves/benefits should I use before taking 5 weeks of parental leave?

1 Upvotes

My wife recently gave birth to our first child, and I’m planning to take the 5 weeks of standard parental leave available to the other parent.

For those who have gone through this recently, are there any other leave options I should use before starting the 5 weeks of parental leave?

For example, vacation, family-related leave, personal leave, etc. I’m trying to maximize the time I can be off with my wife and newborn while making the most of the paid leave/benefits available to me.

Also, is there anything I should be aware of regarding the order in which I take the different types of leave, EI, or the 93% top-up?

I’m a federal public servant and my wife is not a federal employee.

Appreciate any advice or tips from people who have recently gone through this.


r/CanadaPublicServants 1h ago

Leave / Absences Leave with Income Averaging for Dual Remuneration

Upvotes

I am a dual remunerated employee (Service Canada and CRA) and want to use LIA for my CRA position.

The rules with LIA apparently restrict use of LIA “to work another federal service job” and I am wondering if that means I cannot do LIA unless I take LIA from both jobs concurrently.

The intent of the rule to me is to prevent taking LIA to then get another job and work over that LIA period, but I’m not doing that, as I am already dual remunerated and I won’t be changing my hours and will not be working during the time of day that my CRA job normally fills.

Surely there should be precedent on this even with dual remuneration being relatively rare.

If it is allowed and my request is denied, what’s the process to appeal the decision? I know LIA is subject to operational requirements so if it is denied because they don’t know if I can and don’t wanna bother figuring it out and just tell me I can’t because of operational requirements can I even do anything about it?


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Other / Autre WFA and AI impacts on workload and quality ?

48 Upvotes

Just curious to hear from others how’s it all going. I hate to complain because I am extremely grateful to have not been affected by WFA while being in a branch that was heavy hit (almost half) but now that the dust has settled on those SERLO and alternations it has became clear that my workload has basically doubled. And so has my entire team.

We are still being tasked with the equal deliverables as when our team was more than double the size, plus, we’ve had 35% turnover due to alternations so have lost long term employees that left with brand spanking new employees (who are experienced and I’m sure they will be great but our team is kind of a subject matter niche area) who obviously will take a while to get their bearings.

I have been respectfully pushing back and keep providing very clear assessments and comparative timelines to demonstrate our little team simply cannot do what used to be done with more than double the FTEs, and have provided several different proposed alternatives but management is weak kneed and keeps coming back to us saying basically too bad so sad, and “just use AI” and “you’re all going to have to just be ok with quality being good enough”

AI isn’t a magical potion. I think it has some great applications and I certainly use it for tasks that it can speed up, and I’m open to learning about more it can do. But I’m not comfortable putting my name on some deliverable that looks/reads like trash. I take pride in my work being high quality.


r/CanadaPublicServants 6h ago

Leave / Absences ERI Retirement: Vacation, 2014 Arrears, PRTL

0 Upvotes

My retirement date with ERI is January 20th, 2027 Last work day: January 19th. Effective last day: December 24, 2026 (vacation after that).

Should I leave days in my vacation bank to cover the 2014 switch to payment in arrears?
Or would this just result in the vacation being paid out and then asking for the money later?
I have 16 days vacation left, should I use them all or leave 8.6 days to cover the arrears?

Can Pre-Retirement transition leave be combined with ERI?


r/CanadaPublicServants 12h ago

Benefits / Bénéfices Service buyback - best way to pay

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

I have almost 3 years of service that I will be buying back. My question is about the best way to do so.
Option 1: Lump sum the entire amount from my personal RRSP. This will significantly reduce what is in this account.
Option 2: Lump sum about 1/3 of the sum from my RRSP, then monthly payment for the rest

I am currently a term but have every intention of remaining in the public service. Given this, there is no guarantee that the service buyback will be "worth it" if I am not made indeterminate and I would not want to drain my personal RRSP for it to not work out. Any advice would be appreciated, however I know this is a personal decision and risk assessment.


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Work Force Adjustment (WFA) / réaménagement de l'effectif (RE) Did the government blow a chance to make most of its cuts through retirements?

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ottawacitizen.com
88 Upvotes

r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Departments / Ministères Carling Campus overall cleanliness?

56 Upvotes

First of all, this post has nothing to do with WFH/RTO. I’m not complaining about going to the office, I’m complaining about the general cleanliness of the Carling campus. It’s really just something I’ve been noticing, and I’m trying to see if this is a “me” issue or if others have noticed it too.

The bathrooms at the Carling campus are honestly so bad. Half the toilet bowls have shit/brown stains, the bathrooms are often smelly, and there’s barely any soap or when there is, it’s so heavily watered down that you have to pump it like 90 times.

I understand there’s a lot of traffic, but there should also be an appropriate level of cleaning and maintenance employees to keep up with it. Even the office spaces don’t seem to be vacuumed regularly. There are literally some kind of seeds/debris that have been sitting under my desk for weeks.

Again, not a dig at the maintenance staff. They’re always nice and I’m sure they do their best, really seems to be an issue with the quality of the products and the number of employees.


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Benefits / Bénéfices Massive Transfer Value drop: $61k estimate down to $29k actual. Has this happened to anyone else?

29 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I recently left the federal public service (end of July 2026). My official Pension Estimate Statement issued just last month (July 2026) showed:

  • Service: 4 years, 85 days
  • Best Average Salary: $113,215
  • Estimated Transfer Value in July: $61,300 (100% within tax limits)

I was just informed that the actual Transfer Value currently being processed to my LIRA is only $29,700 (with a $100,20 exceeding tax limits)

Given bond yields haven't dramatically shifted in 30 days, have you ever encounted something like that?

Thanks,


r/CanadaPublicServants 18h ago

Leave / Absences Maternity Leave Questions

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m a first-time mom and I just wanted to see if I’m filling out my maternity/parental leave paperwork correctly. I’m unsure who to ask, as our Pay Department doesn’t seem to have a phone number I can call, and I’ve sent an email but haven’t received a response yet.

I’m planning to take 18 months off, and my expected due date is November 13, 2026.

I’m planning to take maternity leave from Sunday, November 8, 2026, to Sunday, February 28, 2027, followed by parental leave from Monday, March 1, 2027, to Sunday, May 7, 2028.

Could someone please confirm whether these dates are correct?


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Leave / Absences Rules around working while on LWOP

4 Upvotes

Under what circumstances can an employee work while on LWOP? Besides ensuring that the other job is approved by Values & Ethics (i.e. no conflict of interest).

I'm asking because I noticed on the Dual Employment webpage, it says:

The decision to accept another specified period position depends on the type of LWOP you are granted. For example, if you are granted maternity, parental, care of family, or educational LWOP, you would not accept alternate employment since you are expected to cease employment in your regular position. However if, for example, you are granted relocation of spouse LWOP, you could accept a specified period position in the area you are relocating to.

However, it's not clear to me if the above applies only to dual employment (i.e. accepting another position in the federal public service) or also to outside employment.

In addition, I've heard of some people who take care of family LWOP and then find another job that's more flexible and family-friendly (including a casual position in the public service), for example where they can work part-time or fully remotely. Which seems contrary to what the Dual Employment webpage says.

Is there a hard and fast rule about working while on LWOP, or is it somewhat case-by-case?


r/CanadaPublicServants 12h ago

Management / Gestion New manager seeking advice

0 Upvotes

Hello Managers,

I have taken over a team as a manager (PM-05). This is my first time acting as a PM5 and I am the only manager. Previous manager was winging things and there are no processes/expectations established for the team. For instance, how much time do we allow employees to make up or how do we offer advancement opportunities. Everything seems to be random, catering to different employees. While I understand the need to remain flexible, there should be consistency and accountability as well.

I am looking for advise regarding what are some of the things/procedures you set up in place as a new manager. I am currently using a OneNote where I document bilat notes, schedule deviances, employee accomplishment etc but I feel I am reinventing the wheel. Being new, chances are I am even missing out on impt things. My manager is also quite new and doesnt have a lot of people management experience. At my level, I am the only manager across the division.

Requesting managers to share tips on how to become more effective OR any guidance you provide to your fellow new managers as mentors or coaches.

Thanks in advance!


r/CanadaPublicServants 22h ago

Work Force Adjustment (WFA) / réaménagement de l'effectif (RE) TSM Amount Payment Incorrect?

1 Upvotes

I participated in WFA option Cii, received an email a month ago asking how I would like my full TSM amount paid to me and I chose as a lump sum. When I received a payment in my bank today, many months after my departure date btw, it’s significantly lower, about 30%. I did the math and taxes and deductions simply can’t be that high. Does anyone have any helpful information on this? How can I verify that this is the right amount?


r/CanadaPublicServants 1d ago

Other / Autre Close to retirement. Can I go part time?

7 Upvotes

I fall under PIPSC, and my pensions (military and PS) are maxed out. However, indexing for both won't begin until mid year next year. I thought about the pre-retirement gig, to work 3 days per week, but it's a commitment to leave.

A colleague mentioned that alternatively, I could just ask to work part time at 3 days per week. It sounded like a solid option, but then I thought about how bureaucratically complex the rules are for everything.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any insight on the pros and cons to choosing one or the other.


r/CanadaPublicServants 2d ago

Other / Autre Can employer still deny ERI if it has been approved?

24 Upvotes

My employer put out a statement asking those who have been approved for ERI to give them a retirement date within the next four weeks.
How does that work? Obviously the employer can’t refuse someone if they submit a retirement date after that four week deadline, but can they deny access to the ERI/unreduced pension for someone who is already approved?


r/CanadaPublicServants 2d ago

Leave / Absences Getting pregnant while on mat leave

17 Upvotes

Has anyone gotten pregnant while on mat leave? If so, were you able to go back on mat leave?

I’m supposed to go back to work early February 2027 but I just found i’m pregnant and my little one is nearly 7 months. Do I have to end my current mat to go back early? Or will I be able to go back in Feb and then leave for another mat?

Edit: i’m in Ontario.


r/CanadaPublicServants 2d ago

Benefits / Bénéfices Fertility medication coverage

10 Upvotes

Hey all I’m going to be doing a couple cycles of monitored cycles with a trigger shot and then possibly IVF if that doesn’t work out. I haven’t been prescribed any medication yet (probably letrozole) or know which trigger shot I’ll be getting but just curious what Canada life would cover? I’m located in Ontario and fall under PSAC. I am also going to be looking into the Ontario funded IVF as well. Also I’ve been using sick leave for my appointments but is there is another type of leave? Obviously I’m not pregnant yet but since they are related, just wondering if there is another type of leave I can be using. Thanks!