Public Service of Canada
The Public Service of Canada (known as the Civil Service of Canada prior to 1967) is the civilian workforce of the Government of Canada's departments, agencies, and other public bodies.
Organization overview
1867
Ottawa, Ontario
319,601 (2021)
- John Hannaford, Clerk of the Privy Council
- Peter Wallace, Secretary of the Treasury Board
While the Government of Canada has employed civil servants to support its functions since Confederation in 1867, positions were initially filled through patronage until 1908, when the Laurier government enacted the Public Service Amendment Act, which established the merit-based appointment system which governs hiring within the federal public service today. As of 2020, the Public Service employs 319,601 people,[1] and is Canada's largest single employer.
There are 137 distinct organizations within the Public Service, including 23 ministerial (line) departments, 3 service agencies, 17 departmental corporations, 50 departmental agencies, 12 special operating agencies, and 6 agents of Parliament.[2] While Crown corporations are owned by the federal government, employees are generally not considered to be public servants and are instead employed by the corporation itself. Over 40 per cent of the Public Service of Canada is located in the National Capital Region, many public servants are situated at approximately 1,600 locations throughout Canada.
Public service organizations are divided into the Core Public Administration (CPA), defined as organizations listed under schedules I and IV in the Financial Administration Act (FAA),[3] primarily consisting of ministerial departments and departmental agencies such as Global Affairs Canada and the Correctional Service of Canada, and Separate Agencies, which are listed under schedule V of the FAA, which includes organizations such as the Canada Revenue Agency and Parks Canada.
The Clerk of the Privy Council is the head of the Public Service, and is the most senior public servant within the Canadian federal government. John Hannaford has served as the clerk since June 24, 2023, replacing Janice Charette who had retired.[4]
History[edit]
Pre-Confederation (1841-1867)[edit]
Prior to introduction of responsible government in 1848, the Province of Canada, then a British colonial possession lacked an organized civil service.[5] Positions in the colonial administration were then largely filled through patronage, with appointments almost exclusively controlled by the sitting governor, often under the advisement of members of the ruling Family Compact, who would recommend the selection of candidates who were supportive of the ruling elite.[6] As such, government officials would be appointed for life, often leading to instances where members of the same family would occupy a position for several generations.
While the introduction of responsible government, which conferred more authority toward the popularly-elected Assembly to oversee appointments to the civil services, successive governments continued the practice of drawing appointees to non-political (civil) positions. Unlike the American spoils system, political appointees did not typically resign when a new government was sworn in, which created friction between Cabinet and civil servants as governments changed.[5]
To address the persistence of patronage appointments, Parliament enacted legislation in 1857 to establish a Board of Examiners for the Civil Service. The role of the board would be to examine "candidates for employment in the Civil Service" and "to grant certificates of qualification to those found to possess the moral character and fitness required for service".[7]
Purpose[edit]
The Public Service of Canada supports the Government of Canada in the development, implementation, and evaluation of policy, and in carrying out key bureaucratic functions at the federal level.[21] The duties of individual public servants vary widely, ranging from issuing policy recommendations to ministers, processing applications or forms, to interacting directly with members of the public.
While public servants aim to convert the political priorities of the elected government and Cabinet from concept into action, public servants are loyal to the Crown, rather than the sitting government. As such, public servants remain employed even as governments and political priorities change, requiring them to exercise a degree of political neutrality, which restricts their ability to participate in overtly partisan activities. Unlike political staff, who are often hired through patronage, public servants are appointed on the basis of the merit, often through a competitive examination.
The duties of public servants and their relationship to the political executive is often captured by scholars and public servants in the epigram "fearless advice and loyal implementation",[22] which denotes the ability for public servants to provide honest, evidence-based advice to the Ministers without fear of losing their employment, while also dutifully carrying out the will of the sitting government, even if it runs counter to their own advice or personal values.
Employment equity represents a number of positive actions taken within the federal public service to provide opportunities to disadvantaged groups within Canadian society.[60] 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.[61] 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.[61] 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.[61]
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 Act, 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.[62]
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: