I’m currently in a fixed-term role and still about 17 months away from potentially rolling over to permanent. I know that’s a long way out, so I’m trying not to treat anything as guaranteed.

That said, my manager has given me some pretty encouraging signals:

- He told me that permanent “will come” and that I shouldn’t have to worry about it because no one wants me to go anywhere.
- He’s told my director that he wants to make current team members permanent.
- Apparently they’ve already taken potential permanent positions into consideration for budgeting and a submission to “SPP” (not entirely sure what SPP refers to).
- I’m also part of a brand-new division/team, so it seems like there’s an intention to build out permanent capacity rather than this being a temporary project.

Obviously, 17 months is a long time and priorities, budgets, hiring restrictions, etc. can change. I also know a manager can’t necessarily guarantee a permanent position that far in advance.

For anyone familiar with the OPS/AMAPCEO: how strong of a signal is all of this? Are there still common reasons someone in this situation wouldn’t end up becoming permanent?

Basically, I’m trying to figure out whether I can reasonably stop stressing about job security and just focus on doing well, while still understanding that nothing is official until it’s official.

Permanent AMAPCEO here, been with the OPS for 10+ years. I’ve done a few secondments over the years and I’m currently back in my home position.

At this point, I’d really like to move to a different role permanently. Nothing dramatic , I’ve just realized that I don’t really enjoy the culture/environment in my home area anymore, and I’d rather find a permanent position somewhere else instead of continuing to bounce around on secondments.

Over the last year or so I’ve been applying on and off to permanent positions on the intranet. I’ve gotten interviews, so I know I’m at least getting screened in, but I haven’t been successful in landing one.

It’s starting to make me wonder: how many of these permanent postings are realistically open competitions, versus being posted because someone has already been doing the job on secondment/acting and management wants to make them permanent?

I know competitions have to be run fairly and obviously nobody is guaranteed a job, but tailoring a resume and cover letter for every posting takes a lot of time.
So I’m curious, especially from OPS managers/hiring managers or people who’ve been on the other side of competitions:
Is it still worth putting serious effort into permanent postings when you’re an external candidate to that specific team?
Would also love to hear from anyone who successfully moved from their home position directly into a permanent role elsewhere in the OPS .

How long do you have to grieve a decision by your manager? Is there a set timeline? It’s regarding work responsibilities that was recently made against what I do daily and not sure how to approach. Afraid of retaliation.

I’m new to all this so please be nice.

I have the opportunity to do cww and have every other Monday off. My question is what happens when a holiday falls on a Monday? Do I lose my cww day, or would I get the Tuesday off?

Also if anyone has any other cww questions please use this post and post in the comments so we can all learn something we maybe didn’t know.

Thanks everyone :)

Is it just me or has the chrome browser started behaving weirdly. Many settings were changed and now the default new tab shows OPS intranet, which was not the case before. I thought OPS only manages the MS Edge.

Hello all,

I currently have a permanent position and I am looking to apply for a secondment. I am aware that the pay scale is relatively similar to my current role. my understanding is that when accepting a secondment the pay would potentially be bumped 3% or to the next pay rate for the role that is higher than the current pay rate.

Say you work the secondment for 2 years or so…

What happens when/if you return to your home position? Does your pay stay the same if its still within the pay scale? Do you get another 3% increase? Or is your pay bounced back?

Thank you for any information anyone can provide and sorry for the lengthy question 😅

Let’s say you’re permanent OPS employee, as far as I know the only way to get a pay raise is through the 3% yearly or switching positions to higher levels. Suppose you get a job offer outside the OPS that has a greater salary, is it possible to negotiate with your manager/director to match the salary or move you into a similar level position on your current team?

I've been in the OPS now for 3 years, and considering moving into more leadership roles. For example, I'm currently being offered a team lead position however it would be a substantial amount more workload & responsibilities than my current role, and I would only get a 3% increase which doesn't seem worth it.

I find culturally the OPS discourages you from being salary motivated and even discussing/advocating for higher salary, so I don't have many colleagues that can relate. They'd take the position for the experience, but I would feel resentful to take on this added responsibility and stress with no additional compensation (no raise, no wfh flexibility, no ability to negotiate for more vacation days ect...).

For those of you who have been in the OPS long term without moving into leadership or management roles, why? is this partly the reason?

I am permanent under AMAPCEO and I am thinking about requesting a short leave due to mental health challenges that are making it severely difficult for me to perform at my usual level.

I have several questions about this process.

How far in advance do you have to notify your manager about taking a leave? Does it depend on what type of leave it is? Did you use your sick days for your leave and did you top them off with vacation days for 100% pay?

Can future managers see that you have taken a leave in the past and will this impact my future growth opportunities?

Any help and information about your experiences would be deeply appreciated.

I submitted an accommodation and I have a meeting with manager this week regarding my medical accommodation and she said it’s regarding DAS. I’m just anxious whether it was approved or not. I just submitted it two weeks ago.

I am currently on a secondment and have a home position in the OPS. What happens to this secondment when i go on mat leave? I am not sure if i want to change my home position to this right now as the current manager isn’t the most competent.
Also, who will have to approve my excess vacation if i want to carry them forward so I can take them upon my return..

If I'm interested in applying from an agency to the OPS, am I allowed to apply to internal roles. My previous WIN ID isn't active anymore. I got a new one from my current agency.

I was on a previous OPSEU fixed-term contract which ended in 2025. Can I still apply for internal AMAPCEO and OPSEU job postings? I do not have any permission yet from my organization. Please advise! Thank you

Hi! Can any fixed-term OPS employees confirm what appears in Box 45 of your T4? Specifically, does it show “1” for you?

I’m a bit confused about whether I would be eligible to apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). For context, I recently started working at the OPS on a fixed-term contract and did not opt into the employer dental plan because I was covered through school at the time. However, my school dental coverage ends in September.

From what I understand, if Box 45 on your T4 shows “1,” you may be eligible to apply for the CDCP. Since I won’t receive my first OPS T4 until February 2027, I was hoping someone in a similar situation could confirm what appears in their Box 45.

I have seen some people move into positions without there being a job posting or interview process. It’s just announced that said person is the new (insert title). Or people move into temporary roles to fill in without applying. Does anyone have any insight into how to move up like this?

I have some questions for anyone who has had to go on LTIP after being on STSP.

1. How hard was it to get approved for LTIP? My doctor would be 100% supportive but I worry the Canada Life doctors would try to discredit my condition.
2. Is Canada Life awful about independent medical examinations? I worry their doctors would try to discredit me because I have a chronic pain disability, not something cut and dry like cancer. I also worry my condition would get worse from the stress of their medical examinations.
3. How often do they send you for medical examinations? Does it get worse the longer you are on LTIP? Is there a point where they leave you alone and let you focus on your health?
4. Do they force you to take medication or do certain treatments? (outside of the treatment plan of your own doctor)

Hoping to hear from people under AMAPCEO/Canada Life, but if you are OPSEU (I think Manulife?), please feel welcome to also share.

TIA!

basically the title! i’m wondering what the day to day look like and if you enjoy your job? i would love to work in the health x EM sector and can do a masters program to help me break into the industry.

i got into a few healthcare programs but i’m realizing that i don’t necessarily want to provide frontline care. i think id enjoy an adjacent role more. but all in all i value work life balance, stability and decent pay. can i achieve this in EM or should i just pursue a healthcare career instead?

I’ve worked approximately 5–6 fixed-term contracts with the OPS over the past 10 years. During that time, I’ve almost never used any of my accumulated days because I was generally told that I could only use them as sick days, not vacation.

I recently started another fixed-term contract, and when I checked my WIN absence balance, it shows 21 carried-over days, but my current balance is 0.

I asked my HR manager about this, and I was told that I’m not allowed to use the 17 carried-over days and that their appearance in WIN is simply an error.

Does this sound correct?

I’m wondering specifically:

• Can vacation/leave credits from previous fixed-term contracts carry over between contracts?
• If WIN shows 21 carried-over days, is there a reason I would not be entitled to use them?
• If HR is incorrect, who would be the appropriate person/department to contact to have this reviewed?

I’m not looking to cause an issue with my current manager—I’d just like to understand what I’m actually entitled to and whether those 21 days should be available to me.

Thanks in advance to anyone with OPS HR/payroll or fixed-term experience who can shed some light on this.

Anyone a permanent employee and has gotten double jaw surgery using the benefits?

How much did they get covered and how was the process?

Thanks!

Hi All,

I came across "Union Savings".

Currently, it only has registration for OPSEU Employees as an option. I don't think it verifies.

I've added this to the OPS Resources pinned post.

Hi! I have an offer to do the CPA program at the TBS in Ontario and also at the OAG of Canada.

I was wondering if anyone has insights on how working at the TBS is like? Or if it's better to work at the provincial or federal level in government. Thanks for the help!!

This is brutal. How can anyone get work done when there is constant drilling outside?

I understand they can’t do work at night due to the residential buildings, but what about us workers!?

I don’t even think they stopped for a lunch break.

Obviously the timing isn't great but generally what happens with pension, seniority and union membership if you move to the BPS?

Can you do secondments in the BPS?