Moving Forward with Enhanced Access to Job Opportunities for Canadians

Ottawa, April 3, 2006 --- The President of the Public Service Commission of Canada, Maria Barrados, released the following statement today regarding the implementation of the revised national area of selection policy for all officer-level jobs postings open to the public in the National Capital Region. The revised policy was announced on October 6, 2005 and was implemented, as promised, on April 1, 2006.

The Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) is the legislation governing the recruitment, appointment and other aspects of employment in the federal Public Service. The PSEA allows the Public Service Commission to set geographic limits on who can apply for jobs in the federal public service.

“Broadening access to federal public service jobs demonstrates our commitment to help ensure that Canada has a competent, non-partisan and representative public service, drawn from across the country, both now and in the future. Progress towards more equitable access to jobs is a result of investments made in technology and the flexibilities contained in the new PSEA, which came into effect in December 2005.

By expanding access to all Canadians, it is expected that the use of national area of selection in the National Capital Region will increase from the current 28% to about 60% of job postings.

During the brief transition period, we expect that there will be some jobs that will have been advertised before April 1st that are not covered by this revised policy. Federal organizations that are not covered by the Public Service Employment Act are also not bound by this policy, but are encouraged to adopt similar provisions.

Appointments will continue to be made on the basis of merit and impartiality. The PSC has the authority to investigate and revoke appointments when found not to be in compliance with the values of fairness, access and transparency.

This is an important first step that will allow us to evaluate and plan for increasing access across other regions as well as to other types of jobs over the coming years.”

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent agency reporting to Parliament, mandated to safeguard the integrity of the public service staffing system and the political neutrality of the public service. In addition, the PSC recruits qualified Canadians from across the country.

- 30 -

For more information:

Tom Kelly
Media Relations, Public Service Commission
(613) 947-7269
media@psc-cfp.gc.ca

Related link:

National Area of Selection Implementation - Overview