Political Activity

Provisions under the old Public Service Employment Act

Requesting Leave to be a Candidate

• Procedure for Requesting Leave
• The Commission's Approval
• The Commission's Power of Inquiry
• Contact Information

Procedure for Requesting Leave

Pursuant to section 33 of the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), the Public Service Commission (PSC) has the responsibility and discretion for granting leave without pay to public servants who wish to seek nomination as candidates and be candidates in federal, provincial or territorial elections.  In order to request leave without pay from the PSC pursuant to subsection 33 (3) of the PSEA, an employee must:

• provide notice of intention to request leave from the Public Service Commission to his or her supervisor and deputy head;
• fax at (613) 992-5430 or send the written request or application for leave to:
  
  Director General, Delegation Directorate
  Public Service Commission
  L'Esplanade Laurier, West Tower
  300 Laurier Ave. West,
  Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M7

• provide the following information :
  • position title;
  • group and level;
  • work location;
  • type of election (federal, provincial or territorial);
  • electoral district within which nomination is being sought;
  • date on which leave would commence, if approved

The Commission's Approval

As leave must be approved by the Commission prior to the employee becoming a candidate, and a notice published in the Canada Gazette, the application for leave should be received by the Director General, Delegation Directorate at least twenty working days before the date on which leave would commence, if approved.

The Commission must determine whether or not to grant leave by assessing whether the employee's usefulness to the Public Service would be impaired by reason of having been a candidate. In making this decision, the Commission takes into account factors such as the following:

• the relative role, level or importance in the hierarchy of the employee's position;
• the visibility of the employee's position; and
• the type of responsibility inherent in the employee's position, such as the provision of policy advice or the "exercise of discretion that could be in any matter affected by political considerations" (Osborne, Millar, Supreme Court of Canada).

The Commission's Power of Inquiry

As required by section 34 of the PSEA, should another candidate complain to the PSC that an employee has not met the legal requirements for becoming a candidate, the Commission will inquire into the case and may dismiss the employee if the complaint is founded.

Contact Information

For further information on applications for leave to be a candidate or to obtain an alternate format of this fact sheet, contact a PSC Political Activities Advisor at 1-866-707-7152 or by email at pa-ap@psc-cfp.gc.ca.

Links

Judgement of the Supreme Court of Canada
Public Service Commission v. Millar, Osborne and others
Section 33 of the Public Service Employment Act
Political Activities of Public Servants, June 1991

Link to Treasury Board Secretariat
For information on your rights and obligations at the time of an election, please consult Rights and responsibilities of federal public service employees with respect to political activities at the time of federal, provincial or territorial elections.