DATE: September 15, 2006
TO: Functional Heads of Administration, Human Resources and Financial Services
CC : Federal Regional Council for NWT
SUBJECT: Yellowknife - Special Accommodation Allowance
Revised Dollar Amounts
Please distribute this notice to people at your headquarters and/or regional offices who are involved in the
administration of the isolated post allowances.
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide details on the next steps in the Special Accommodation Allowance (SAA)
phase-out that began in August 2004.
Background
The Isolated Posts and Government Housing Directive (IPGHD) provides for a housing allowance, known as the Shelter
Cost Differential (SCD). The SCD represents the difference between the average market rent paid for a three
bedroom bungalow at a post and the "national average" (currently at $1050/mo.) market rent paid for a similar
unit in "southern" Canada. The revised SCD rates for Yellowknife are $6480/year for employees with
dependants and $3888/year for employees without dependants. The maximum a household of two federal employees can
receive is $6480/year.
In keeping with the decision by the President of the Treasury Board to gradually phase-out the SAA and phase-in the
SCD, please note the following dollar amounts payable to employees who were working in Yellowknife before August 1, 2003.
Effective August 1, 2006, employees in private accommodation will receive:
|
Employee Couple – per household
|
$6600/year ($6480 SCD + $120 SAA)
|
|
Employee with Dependants
|
$6480/year (SCD, no SAA)
|
|
Employee without Dependants
|
$3910/year ($3888 SCD, + $22 SAA)
|
Effective August 1, 2006, employees in government housing will receive:
|
Employee Couple – per household
|
$7,220/per year ($961 SCD + $6,259 SAA)
|
|
Employee with dependants
|
$5,400/per year ($961 SCD + $4,439 SAA)
|
|
Employee without dependants
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$4,092/per year ($577 SCD + $3,515 SAA)
|
It should be noted that employees who have been assigned to Yellowknife after August 1, 2003 are to be treated
as follows:
Employee couples living in private accommodation will receive the SCD of $6480 per household. They
will not receive the SAA.
Employee couples living in government housing will receive an amount equal to $5,400/year ($961 SCD + $4,439
SAA) per household.
All other employees who are living in government housing, i.e., those with or without dependants, will be
treated in the same manner as their counterparts who have been assigned in Yellowknife prior to August 1, 2003.
Employees with dependants will receive an amount equal to $5,400/year ($961 SCD + $4,439 SAA) per household and
employees without dependants will receive an amount equal to $4,092/year ($577 SCD + $3,515 SAA) per household.
You may use the existing pay code for the Special Accommodation Allowance to process these transactions.
Should you require further information on the above, please contact Jo-Anne Tremblay at (613) 952-3202.
Claudia Zovatto
Acting Senior Director
Excluded Groups and Administrative Policies
Labour Relations and Compensation Operations
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