Preface

I am pleased to make the Public Service Commission's new Guidelines for Assessing Persons with Disabilities available to you. These Guidelines replace those published in 1994. Those of you familiar with the previous version will see many enhancements. The sections treating general principles and procedures have been greatly augmented, a section on legal background has been added in response to questions frequently asked of the Commission's Personnel Psychology Centre, and a number of new sections on specific types of disabilities have been added.

The Guidelines are intended primarily for managers and human resource officers involved in assessing persons for positions in the federal Public Service (PS). However, they will also be of interest to a wider audience, including candidates applying for positions in the PS (including those with disabilities), and to others interested in ensuring the equitable assessment of persons with disabilities within and outside of the federal PS.

A great deal of consultation was undertaken in producing these Guidelines. We thank the many people inside and outside the Public Service who were involved, especially those from national associations representing communities of persons with disabilities (the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Canadian Association of the Deaf, the Canadian Hearing Society, the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, and the Canadian Paraplegic Association). In addition, we are especially interested in knowing what you think of the document. Is it useful, informative, and easy to use? To this end, you will find a feedback sheet at the end of the document that I encourage you to use for your comments and suggestions. I thank you in advance for your help in making future versions of the document better.