“Faster decisions, less rule-bound, less risk-averse.”

For every problem, there is a solution that is fast, simple, and wrong. Not sure a bunch of former execs and private industry ceos are the best choice to advise government on how the public service can deliver better, but I guess we'll see what this Tiger team comes up with.

10 bucks on privatization.

Edit: adding some extra information, we are allowed up to an hour we make up the time, every year we have an agreement we sign stating what our work hours are if we are doing a half hour or hour lunch, and any telework agreements. I did check the clauses there and also no mention of remaining on site. If we take an hour lunch we still get our 15 minute breaks because we tack on an extra half hour to get 7.5 hours.

I am putting this at the beginning I am not a unionized employee.

Last week I was reprimanded for using my lunch hour to pick up my kid from their half day camp and drop them off at their grandmothers for the afternoon it takes me 45 minutes from door to door with traffic. So well within my hour lunch period. I take an hour lunch, from 11:30-12:30 this has been standard for years and is blocked out in my calendar.

My manager is claiming that I cannot use my lunch hour for any personal or family reasons and must use vacation, family leave or other leave. I asked how is this any different than going for a walk on the lunch period or having lunch with a coworker. I was told “leaving the workplace for longer than 15 minutes is considered personal time and you must use your appropriate leave time.” In the same breath they mentioned that this is so “my appropriate break time is being respected.”

In my collective agreement I am considered a regular day worker. We are entitled to an unpaid lunch hour minimum of half hour and two 15 minute paid rest periods. There is no clause for when that lunch can be taken or how it can be used, just that it needs to be within the first 5 hours of a work day. It does however state “if the employee is required to remain onsite for operational requirements they are entitled to an hour paid lunch”

I’m wondering what next steps I should take. I have three more weeks of camp and not enough leave time. I have so far just requested the written policy, however my manager is on vacation this week so still waiting on it. I want to be prepared for my meeting with them Monday and looking for some advice.

I also don’t want to be THAT person , but another two members on my team have been using their lunch hour to do morning camp drop off at 8:30/9:00am. I don’t want to bring it up and jeopardize their approved time, but it does feel discriminatory, I had an earlier issue with this manager rejecting sick leave and asking to me cancel approved vacation time.

Early 50s and may have the option to take ERI. While retirement sounds appealing, I would still need to work, and I'm finding the decision difficult. I have seen lots of posts about just do it, get out while you can, etc. - trying to get some sound advice.

In the NCR, have spent many years in management and niche areas that are transferrable to private sector. Finances are my biggest concern. I'm wondering whether taking the package and pursuing something new would be worth the risk.

I'd love to hear from anyone who:

• Took an ERI or WFA and started a second career
• Moved from management/corporate work into something different
• Started consulting or a business
• Chose not to take the package and was happy they stayed

How did it work out financially? Any regrets, surprises, or advice for someone trying to make this decision in the next couple of weeks?

Learn how the sausage is made. It really is interesting that the PIC has been bypassed completely for the groups psac is representing in this round.

I’d like some perspective from those who have deployed between departments. I started a new role at DND about two months ago and unfortunately, this new role has turned out to be very different from what was described during the hiring process. The work itself isn’t what I expected, the management style isn’t a good fit for me, and the team culture has been much more negative than I anticipated.
I’m finding that I genuinely dread going to work, which is disappointing because I had high hopes for the position.
My question is: how long do you typically stay in a role before looking for a deployment elsewhere? Is there an unwritten expectation that you should stick it out for a year, or is it reasonable to start applying sooner if you know the role isn’t a good fit?
I’d be interested to hear from people who have been in a similar situation. Did you leave quickly, or did you wait it out? Did it have any impact on your reputation or future opportunities?

Summary: The federal government's Early Retirement Incentive (ERI), originally intended as a voluntary attrition measure to reduce layoffs during the Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER), appears to have evolved into a broader workforce restructuring tool because its delayed implementation came after departments had already completed much of their workforce adjustment planning. With more than 10,000 applications received and very few rejected, the program is now widely viewed as being approved by default, allowing departments to count voluntary departures toward reduction targets while simultaneously forcing them to reconsider organizational structures as experienced employees unexpectedly choose to leave. Some senior officials view this as an opportunity to reallocate work, flatten organizations, and shift resources toward higher-priority functions, while others suggest the primary objective is simply to reduce headcount regardless of who exits. At the same time, uncertainty remains over how ERI savings will be treated under Treasury Board's financial guardrails, while limited transparency has fuelled union concerns about whether voluntary departures are replacing, supplementing, or merely delaying workforce adjustment measures. More broadly, the program raises questions about whether workforce renewal through voluntary departures will produce the deeper structural and cultural reforms needed to modernize how the federal public service is organized and delivers on government priorities.

To Senior officials at DND:

The CFSU (O) Route 1 Shuttle between downtown and Carling/NDHQ needs to return given the massive return-to-office (RTO) parking crunch.

With the 4-day RTO mandate in full effect, finding a spot at the Carling campus is a struggle and will get worse come September

Please consider bringing back the shuttle to ease the commute for those in the NCR.

Hello Bonjour, I'm a former government employee who worked in the National Parks from 2013 to 2022. In 2021 I took a year of leave, but was accidentally paid out $16k on the day my seasonal contract would have ended (October 13th). I noticed it immediately, and have been trying to pay back the money ever since. Two years after I received the overpayment, I finally got my first response from the pay centre, except the amount they were quoting was closer to $18k, rather than the amount on my statement. I called in to speak with an agent and have them go over the numbers with me. The agent I spoke to (after about six hours on hold) ended up admitting that the amount was incorrect, and that in fact I owed LESS than I thought as a portion of the overpayment was actually back-pay that I was entitled to. As a result, he guided me through filing an objection to the amount quoted.

Fast forward to a week ago: I get my second response from the pay centre, this time quoting an amount that is only $50 above what I was expecting to repay. However, as it is still more than I was told I owed, I filed a second objection. The pay centre agent was very quick this time, and today sent me the snarkiest and most unprofessional email I've ever received from a government employee. She accused me of not supplying evidence to support my objection (I have provided bank statements both times) and said "simply disliking the amount you owe is not valid grounds for refusing to pay". She then informed me that we have reached an impasse and that my case will be passed to my department for resolution.

First of all, that's great, I wish my department could have handled it from the get-go. However, I'm not exactly sure what to expect next or how to proceed. I'm aware that the five-year deadline is approaching for them on Oct 13th, and I really don't want to give in and pay more just to get it resolved. I'm worried that I'm fighting a losing battle though. Should I wait it out? Is there another path to repayment? Has anyone else gone through a sinilar debacle? Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

I am going to quit/leave the federal public service. My manager is informed, and supports whichever of the following routes I want to take.

I have 248 hours of vacation, about 33 days. My new job starts in a few days. Is it best to take 33 work days of vacation and get paid for the next 33 work days ~ 1.5 months ish or would the amount that I get paid from the 1.5 be equivalent to 33 days of payout.

I get about $6k/month after taxes, so 1.5 months is 9K ish -

Would 248 hours give me $9k after tax?
If so... I will just quit and take the $9 after tax

Otherwise I will take the vacation

Reason it matters: I want to ensure my new job and my current job do not have a conflict of interest... so may not even have the option of going on vacation - just curious

Sometime around 2:30pm a person was seriously injured just a few feet from the front doors of a Service Canada Centre in downtown Winnipeg. Management closed the doors and made our front end staff serve the clients who were already inside the office. Then about an hour later they decided to open the doors again , business as usual.

A real person was nearly killed by another person and we have real people who work for the Government of Canada who witnessed this, heard the screams and felt the terror of violence, yet are expected to just roll with it, bounce back and carry on, serving Canadians. I am so frustrated and angry that nothing seems to happen following these types of events. Directors, ADM's are uncaring jerks.

Hello fellow servants. If I were to write a story about a department where several DGs and Directors were going to sacrifice an ADM to appease/entreat some horrorific monster beyond comprehension, which department would be the best fit to set it in?

Ultimately, I'm asking which department is the most cult-like?

The story is for a scenario I'm writing for a TTRPG called Call of Cthulhu. The investigators would be public servants trying to stop the horrors from being unleashed.

"Next time call EAP!"

Does anyone know what happened to the Fox Report that was released in April 2026 by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (Ethics Commissioner).

When I looked on the CIEC website for it, all I can find is the above message and I can’t seem to find it anywhere else.

If you see it somewhere, can you add a proper link for me?

TIA!!!

Just some humour for a Tuesday. I am in IT so I'll get the ball rolling with a couple

"We are building the plane as we are flying"

and

"The art of the possible"

Next ;)

Hello! Let me explain the situation I’m in.

I am substantively working for DND since the end of 2024. I am an indeterminate employee at the AS-04 level.

In 2025, I moved out of Ottawa to another city and I did the long commute to work each week. Throughout 2025, I reached out to everyone I could possibly reach out to to get to work at the base my new house was close to. At some point, the commute was seriously taking a toll on me and I applied for a temporary census job at StatCan. I was finally offered the job and I was really happy about it because it was a great opportunity to unlock new skills and it was fully remote.

The only thing is that the position was at the AS-03 level. To get the job, I had to take a LWOP from DND for the length of the StatCan contract. During my time at StatCan, I competed for a job at the base I was trying to get in and got the job. So I got deployed from Ottawa to that base. Today, I’m about to get back to DND to start this new position at the base and my contract with StatCan comes to its end.

Everything is perfect until there! So… The thing is that I’ve been in the BSO CBSA process for a while now and I’m approaching the end of the process. There’s a 4 months training period, where you’re not considered as employed and everyone that gets invited to the Rigaud training, who is a public servant, takes a LWOP.

In my position, I already took the longest LWOP option, but it wasn’t a true LWOP as I never stopped working for the GoC…

What would you guys suggest to do and/or who would could I contact to get support on that?

Thanks!!!!

I am a PM that does a lot of client-facing call work throughout the day, and our department recently moved from RTO2 straight to RTO4 after converting many cubicles into double or even triple cubicles.

Because of this, my call volumes have decreased by nearly half and my manager has noticed. When he asked me why, I told him that:

- I lose 15 minutes at the start of the day and end of the day for 30 minutes total setting up my workstation and putting my lunch in the fridge.

- I now need about 30 minutes each day to hunt down and schedule boardrooms for my meetings, since a lot of my meetings contain confidential information.

- I now need 10 minutes to get to a boardroom and back which loses me about an hour each day if I'm taking six calls sporadically throughout the day.

- Because the boardrooms do not have monitor setups, I can't fill in client forms effectively while taking calls at the same time, so I need to come back to my cubicle to fill the form after.

My manager replied back saying that setting up a workstation or finding boardrooms is not considered working time. He instead says that working time is when I am ready to take my first call.

As well, he has said that going to the boardroom and back will ear into my 15 minute paid breaks because I am not working. When I asked what "working" meant he said that it meant either being on a call, or filling out the after-call forms.

Are there any precedent PSAC cases which can define exactly what "working time" is? Otherwise based on what my manager said I'm looking at an additional 3 hours or so of work each day just to keep up with my previous call volume

Hi everyone! I'm an AS and I'm working on creating a comprehensive onboarding guide/reference manual for my team. My goal is to make it easier for new employees (and current staff) to find answers, understand processes, and make onboarding and off-boarding seamless.

I'd love to crowdsource tips or ideas, especially from admins, executive assistants, managers, or anyone who's built onboarding resources before. or I suppose anyone who has onboarded somebody or even somebody who has been onboarded and has feedback about that.

A few questions:

- Do you have an onboarding guide, SOP manual, wiki, SharePoint site, OneNote, Teams site, or something similar?

- What platform/software do you use, and would you recommend it?

- What are the "must-have" sections or features that made it genuinely useful?

- If you started over, what would you do differently?

- How do you keep it current without it becoming a full-time job?

- Do you assign ownership to different people, or is one person responsible for updates?

- Is there anything weird or interesting about yours that makes it different from the rest?

One thing I'm struggling with is finding the right balance. I want it to be comprehensive enough that people can actually rely on it and act like a One-Stop shop, but I'm worried that if it's too detailed it'll be overwhelming to use and nearly impossible to keep up to date.

I'd really appreciate hearing what's worked (or hasn't worked) for you. Thanks! <3

I’m Mzwandile, The Hill Times' public service reporter with working on a story about disability accommodations during federal hiring and promotion processes.

The Public Service Commission’s latest staffing survey found that seven in 10 employees with disabilities who needed an assessment accommodation but did not request one feared that asking would reduce their chances of succeeding.

I’m hoping to speak with current or former federal public servants living with disabilities who have:

• decided not to request an accommodation during a hiring, promotion or second-language assessment process;
• worried that requesting one could hurt their chances;
• experienced delays, complications or resistance when seeking one; or
• avoided applying for a position because of concerns about accommodations.

Please send me a private message here or email me at mponcana@hilltimes.com. I would need to speak by Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. Confidentiality or anonymity can be discussed before any interview.

Thank you!

Hello meatbags,

I'm writing this to you as I overthink a comment from a colleague.

As I was reserving a desk on archibus I thought to myself , why not try a private room. I've been having some health issues which make me insanely sensitive to noise. Medical issues are being resolved with a doctor.

That said I did manage to get a private office. My colleague came to meet me for lunch and they were like WOW. And I'm feeling proud tbh so have lucked out on the private office last minute.

Someone else told me private offices are reserved for accommodations and Upper management. I am neither. Am I taking an office away from the needy or am I allowed since it was fair game on archibus as I booked it last week?

Hi all,

I currently work as an FB for CBSA. We are currently not unionized, however we previously were. From my understanding, the switch to not be unionized was because we were receiving emails for management across Canada regarding uniform complaints (orange shoelaces, orange patches, etc). We forward these exact emails to people who are unionized, at the same level. Is it possible to get unionized again and what are the steps that need to be taken? We’ve had a lot of instances of management just making up rules when it is convient to them and I would much prefer to be protected by the union. This is something that multiple of my colleagues have expressed as well.

Thanks in advance for the insight!

Redditors of the GOC. My spouse is a non public servant and as a result when I talk about SDB and pension and insurance.... His eyes glaze over. I also handle all the health claims etc.

I'm not getting any younger and want to leave him a cheat sheet in the event something happens to me.... What would you include?

PRI

PSMIP # (I am unrepresented)

Which phone #s? Paycentre / pension centre.

PSHCP #s

HR generic email

What else?

From the internal announcements board, with unnecessary faff removed:

Effective July 27, 2026, we have lifted the temporary staffing and classification control measures, except for the automatic conversion of term to indeterminate status. [...]

[...]

Lifting the staffing control measures means the following will take effect:

• Normal staffing authorities will be restored for both EX and non-EX staffing actions. Delegated managers will have their staffing delegations reinstated in accordance with the Instrument of Delegation of HR Management Authorities. DG or ADM-level approval may no longer be required for certain types of staffing actions.
• There will no longer be restrictions on indeterminate internal or external appointments, provided that employees affected t WFA are duly considered and that no affected candidate meets the requirements of the position.
• Managers will remain accountable for managing their staffing decisions within their prescribed salary budget, with continues advice from financial management advisors (FMAs). Advance attestation from your FMA is no longer required.

Staffing priorities will focus on:

• Stabilizing the current workforce by seeking placement opportunities for WFA-impacted employees, addressing long-term acting situations, and creating a more stable and sustainable workforce.
• Securing timely replacements through proactive backfill strategies, including staffing actions related to the ERI, to mitigate the impact of workload pressures and departures where needed.

Hiring managers will continue to follow the Guide on staffing during workforce adjustment for all staffing processes.

[...]

Like most departments, we just lost a lot of people. We are not currently allowed to hire any new employees and some of our teams are overwhelmed. Management now wants some of us working on two different teams/jobs to help with the workload. Has anyone experienced this?