Eligibility of Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces Regulations: SOR/2025-25

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 5

Registration
SOR/2025-25 February 14, 2025

PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT ACT

P.C. 2025-95 February 14, 2025

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission and the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, makes the annexed Eligibility of Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces Regulations under section 21 of the Public Service Employment Act.footnote a

Eligibility of Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces Regulations

Definitions

Definitions

1 The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

Act
means the Public Service Employment Act. (Loi)
eligible person
means a person who
  • (a) is not employed in the public service for an indeterminate period;
  • (b) during the period beginning on November 13, 2020 and ending on January 18, 2024,
    • (i) completed their third year of service in the Canadian Forces, and
    • (ii) was honourably released within the meaning of regulations made under the National Defence Act; and
  • (c) created an account in the Public Service Resourcing System on or before January 18, 2024. (personne admissible)

General

Entitlement

2 Until April 1, 2029, an eligible person may

Criterion in relation to designated groups

3 Until April 1, 2029, if a criterion in relation to belonging to any of the designated groups, as defined in section 3 of the Employment Equity Act, is established under section 34 of the Act in respect of an advertised internal appointment process, the eligible person must meet that criterion.

Coming into Force

Registration

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

The Public Service Commission (PSC) discovered a technical issue with a data transfer process in the Public Service Resourcing System (GC Jobs) from November 13, 2020, to January 18, 2024. This issue may have led to a number of eligible former members of the Canadian Forces not being properly identified for mobility entitlements. If they were eligible for the mobility entitlement during the outage period, they may not have been able to view and apply to advertised internal appointment processes (job opportunities open only to public servants), resulting in them not benefiting from the full five-year mobility entitlement period provided for in the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA).

Background

The PSEA provides the framework for the federal public service staffing system. It includes mechanisms to support eligible veterans as well as former and active members of the Canadian Forces in finding employment in the federal public service.

One of the mechanisms is a mobility entitlement, valid for a period of five years. Upon meeting the conditions prescribed in section 35.11footnote 1 of the PSEA, former members of the Canadian Forces can participate in advertised internal appointment processes as though they were persons employed in the public service. If they apply to an advertised internal appointment process, at every step of the process, they are treated the same way a public servant in the area of selection (“Who can apply” section on a job posting) is treated. For example, they must apply within the period allowed, provide a complete application and participate fully in the assessment.

The mobility entitlement is identified in GC Jobs based on a match of their name and service number against eligibility data provided by the Department of National Defence (DND).

Objective

The objective of the proposal is to provide eligible former members of the Canadian Forces who may have been affected by the data transfer issue an additional period to participate in advertised internal appointment processes.

Description

The Eligibility of Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces Regulations (the Regulations) prescribe a similar scheme as the one provided in section 35.11 of the PSEA. It allows former members of the Canadian Forces who completed their third year of service and were honourably released within the meaning of the regulations made under the National Defence Act during the period of November 13, 2020, to January 18, 2024, and who had created a GC Jobs account before January 19, 2024, to participate in advertised internal appointment processes until April 1, 2029.

Note: April 1, 2029, was chosen as it is no less than five years after

Regulatory development

Consultation

Focused consultations occurred with subject matter experts on the data transfer process, the mobility entitlement and potential solutions internally at the PSC as well as with DND and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

In addition, departments and agencies subject to the PSEA, including DND and VAC, bargaining agents (unions), potentially affected former members of the Canadian Forces and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat were consulted on the policy intent of the proposal. Overall, stakeholders were supportive of the proposal.

For the reasons outlined below, there was no added benefit to prepublish the Regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette; therefore, a request for exemption was sought.

Modern treaty obligations and Indigenous engagement and consultation

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Federal Approach to Modern Treaty Implementation, a preliminary assessment has been conducted for this proposal and there do not appear to be any implications on Canada’s modern treaty obligations.

Instrument choice

During the policy development phase of the initiative, the PSC considered multiple options to rectify the situation caused by the data transfer issue. It was determined that providing an extension to the mobility entitlement period prescribed in the PSEA, which may have been reduced for some eligible former members of the Canadian Forces due to the data transfer issue, would be the most appropriate remedy.

Regulatory analysis

Benefits and costs

Baseline scenario

In the absence of these Regulations, eligible former members of the Canadian Forces whose mobility entitlement was potentially affected due to the data transfer issue would not benefit from the full five-year entitlement period with a fully functional system. The potential impacted period differs for each eligible former member as it depends on when they met the conditions of the entitlement prescribed in the PSEA.

Regulatory scenario

The Regulations provide those potentially affected by the data transfer issue an additional mobility entitlement period, ensuring they benefit from a full five-year entitlement period with a fully functional system.

Benefits

Over the past five years, with the exception of one year, the numberfootnote 2 of advertised internal appointment processes has remained higher than the number of advertised external appointment processes (open to the public and public servants). In addition, the numberfootnote 3 of appointments resulting from advertised internal appointment processes is higher than those resulting from advertised external appointment processes. Consequently, providing eligible former members of the Canadian Forces with access to advertised internal appointment processes through these Regulations increases their chances of securing employment in the federal public service. Without the mobility entitlement, they would only have access to advertised external appointment processes.

Costs

The cost to operationalize the additional mobility entitlement period in GC Jobs will be minimal given the fulfillment of the mobility entitlement is already possible through the system with the data received from DND. There are no anticipated costs for departments and agencies subject to the PSEA.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply, since the Regulations do not impact small businesses.

One-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule does not apply, as there is no impact on business.

Regulatory cooperation and alignment

The Regulations do not have a regulatory cooperation component.

Effects on the environment

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment, a preliminary scan concluded that a strategic environmental assessment is not required.

Gender-based analysis plus

These Regulations ensure that eligible former members of the Canadian Forces who may have been affected by the data transfer issue are provided an additional mobility entitlement period, ensuring they benefit from a full five-year entitlement period with a fully functional system.

A gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) assessment was conducted to determine if the proposal has any impact on diverse groups. Based on the datafootnote 4 available with respect to the affected group, the make-up is comprised of 19.6% of women, 4.1% of Indigenous Peoples,footnote 5 5.1% of persons with disabilities and 24.1% of members of visible minorities. Within that population, 8.3% have self-declared as belonging to at least two of the designated groups. The data also reveals that 77.6% of the affected population identified their first official language as English, while the rest identified it as French. Regional representation of the affected population reveals Ontario (except the National Capital Region [NCR]) as having the highest share of the population at 27.9%, followed by Québec at 15.4%, then British Columbia at 10.9%, and then the NCR at 10%.

It is anticipated that the Regulations will benefit the affected group proportionately.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

Implementation

The Regulations come into force on the day they are registered.

To support the implementation of the Regulations, the Exclusion Approval Order for Certain Former Members of the Canadian Forces is made concurrently to exclude eligible former members of the Canadian Forces potentially affected by the data transfer issue from the application of section 35.11 of the PSEA in order to provide them an additional mobility entitlement period under the Regulations.

Compliance and enforcement

Deputy heads are accountable to the PSC for the application of all appointment and appointment-related authorities delegated to them, including those that they have subdelegated. Among their authorities, they must respect the requirements of the PSEA and the Regulations.

In addition, in accordance with the PSC’s Appointment Policy, as a component of their ongoing monitoring of their staffing systems, deputy heads of regulated departments and agencies must assess, on a cyclical basis, adherence to the requirements established in the PSEA and other applicable regulations, which includes these Regulations. Deputy heads are responsible for ensuring that appropriate remedial action is taken to address any deficiencies, and to report to the PSC the results of their organizational cyclical assessment.

Lastly, through its oversight activities, the PSC may monitor, audit and investigate the practices followed by departments and agencies in applying the Regulations.

Contact

Sandrine Diotte-Chénier
Manager
Regulations and Staffing Complaints Section
Policy and Communications Sector
Public Service Commission of Canada
Email: cfp.reglements-regulations.psc@cfp-psc.gc.ca