Bridging Mechanisms

Students! Did you know you that if you are hired under the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP), Research Affiliate Program (RAP) or the Post-Secondary Co-Operative Education and Internship Program (CO-OP), you may be directly appointed to the Public Service upon completion of your studies?

Recognizing the importance of student employment to Public Service renewal, two merit-based bridging mechanisms exist to allow the appointment of students who have been hired into the Public Service under the FSWEP, RAP, or CO-OP programs.

The first mechanism (Competitive) permits students to apply in internally advertised appointment processes when the following conditions apply:

• persons appointed within Student Employment Programs are specifically included in the area of selection determined for the internal advertised appointment process being held;
• he/she meets the other criteria of the area of selection; and
• he/she is able to demonstrate that he/she is capable of completing the post-secondary program or vocational training program in which he/she was registered at the time of his/her most recent appointment within the Student Employment Programs, within the time frame indicated on the advertisement.

For the competitive mechanism, students must be currently employed at the time of the competition. This mechanism does not apply for students who have completed their work terms within the department/agency.

With the second mechanism (Non-competitive), Deputy Heads may integrate this provision within their non-advertised appointment frameworks.

To be eligible for bridging, students must first have successfully completed their post-secondary education program or vocational training program. From the date of their completion of studies, students can be appointed without competition within the 18-month eligibility period. As a general rule, students should be bridged to jobs requiring similar competencies to those acquired or displayed in their work assignments.

The bridging mechanism is one tool available to managers to appoint their FSWEP or CO-OP students into a temporary or permanent job once they have completed their studies. It must be noted that managers are not obligated to bridge their students.

For more information, please consult the Staffing Manual, Chapter 6.10.4; 6.A.1 and 6.A.2

Please note: Federal departments and agencies within the broad Public Service, including those not governed by the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), referred to as separate employers can use the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) to hire students. The student bridging mechanism is only available to students hired by those departments and agencies governed by the PSEA or federal organizations (including separate employers), such as Parks Canada, with signed reciprocity agreements. Student Bridging is not currently available to either the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

If you are interested in learning about employment opportunities with CRA and/or CFIA (both of which are separate employers), please visit the following links:

Canada Revenue Agency

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

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