GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REPORT TO THE MINISTERIAL COUNCIL ON SOCIAL POLICY RENEWAL
SUFA MOBILITY COMMITMENTS
June 2002
On February 4, 1999, Prime Minister Chrétien signed the Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA) with the First Ministers of all provinces and territories except Quebec. The Agreement commits governments to work better together, and with Canadians, to strengthen Canada's social safety net, involve Canadians in the development of social programs, and strengthen partnerships among governments.
Accountability to Canadians is a key element of the Social Union Framework Agreement. With respect to their SUFA mobility commitments, governments agreed in the SUFA to report annually to the federal/provincial/territorial Ministerial Council on Social Policy Renewal (Ministerial Council), identifying any residency-based mobility barriers to access to social programs, and providing action plans to eliminate them. All residency-based barriers are to have been eliminated within three years of the Agreement's signing (February 2002) unless justified as reasonable.
This is the third SUFA mobility report the Government of Canada has submitted to the Ministerial Council. It summarizes the cumulative results of an extensive review of federal programming over the three years since the signing of SUFA, and actions the Government of Canada has taken. It also reports on the co-operative efforts of the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories in promoting labour mobility and the mobility of students.
With this third report to the Ministerial Council, the Government of Canada has met all its SUFA mobility commitments. It remains fully committed to continue to meet the mobility goals agreed to by First Ministers. As agreed in the SUFA, the Government of Canada will continue to ensure that barriers to mobility are not created in any new federal social policy initiatives, and will continue to work to ensure that mobility barriers do not emerge in the delivery of existing federal programming.
The Social Union Framework Agreement represents the commitment of governments to strengthen their partnership with each other and with Canadians. This means respect for the Constitution, dialogue and collaboration among governments and, above all, a commitment to serve and engage Canadians.
A priority for the Government of Canada in the discussions that led to the Social Union Framework Agreement was to achieve a commitment by governments to the principle of freedom of movement for Canadians.
The freedom of movement of individuals is central to the notion of Canadian citizenship, and is important to succeeding in the knowledge-based economy. Governments must work together to ensure that Canadians are not denied access to economic opportunity or essential government services by virtue of residency.
Facilitating the mobility of Canadians is one of the priorities for governments under the SUFA. The Agreement states that:
"All governments believe that the freedom of movement of Canadians to pursue opportunities anywhere in Canada is an essential element of Canadian citizenship."
More specifically, Section 2 of the SUFA commits governments to:
SUFA requires that governments justify maintaining any residency based policy or practice that constrains access to social programs and services by demonstrating that it is reasonable and consistent with the principles of the Agreement.
The mobility commitments on residency-based barriers to access to social programs and services are subject to the dispute avoidance and resolution provisions outlined in Section 6 of the Agreement, providing governments with the means to challenge one another regarding compliance of the mobility provisions.
The Government of Canada believes that:
The Government of Canada has supported the mobility rights of Canadians in the context of many initiatives. Mobility rights are protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canada Health and Social Transfer, the Canada Health Act, Employment Insurance and Old Age Security benefits, and the Labour Market Development Agreements with provincial and territorial governments.
Most recently, the Government of Canada's Innovation Strategy focuses on what Canada must do to ensure equality of opportunity and economic innovation in a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians recognizes that people are a country's greatest resource in today's global knowledge-based economy. Mobility is essential. The knowledge-based economy means an ever-increasing demand for a well-educated and skilled workforce in all parts of the country.
Human Resources Development Canada co-ordinated the federal review process, under the direction of a steering committee involving Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Health Canada, Canadian Heritage, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Industry Canada, Justice Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Finance Canada, and the Privy Council Office.
Federal departments and agencies delivering programs in the four core sectors identified in the Agreement -- health, training, post-secondary education, and social services and social assistance -- as well as those delivering programs with a direct impact on these core sectors, rigorously examined all their programs and services. They looked specifically for situations in which a person's access to a program or service was conditional on how long the person had lived in a place, in the absence of any reciprocal agreement to address the situation. Their reviews were premised on the need to challenge and remove any barriers identified, rather than justify them as reasonable. (See Appendix 2 for methodology, including standard questions federal departments were asked to address in conducting assessments of their programs.)
New forms of governance (with a focus on communities) are evident in a number of social policy areas. Many federal programs, for example, are delivered by third parties (including Aboriginal organizations, volunteer groups, municipalities, non-governmental organizations, and private corporations) under numerous arrangements. Health Canada, for example, has more than 30 programs that are delivered by third party agents through thousands of agreements; similarly, Human Resources Development Canada has 26 programs that are delivered through over 40,000 agreements with third party agents. As citizens and local groups take a larger part in the decisions affecting their own lives, governments and their partners must guard against the establishment of any new barriers to mobility and ensure no residency restrictions are put in place.
In the first year of the Government of Canada's review, departments focussed mainly on the assessment of new and existing national programs directly delivered by federal departments. No residency-based barriers to mobility were found, but the practices of third party delivery agents of federal programming were identified as an area that would also need to be assessed in the interest of a thorough review.
The main focus of the federal review in the second year was therefore on an in-depth assessment of third party delivery of federal programming (see Appendix 3 for methodology of review of third-party delivery); federal departments also reexamined federally-delivered programming to confirm the findings of the previous year. Given the large number of arrangements with third parties to deliver federal programs, there is a risk that barriers can be created. In recognition of this risk, the Government of Canada indicated in its second report to Council that it would continue to be vigilant in monitoring the practices of its third party agents, and address any mobility issues as they may arise on a case-by-case basis.
For the third year of the federal SUFA mobility review process, federal departments continued to monitor third party delivery, reviewed new programs, and reaffirmed the results of the previous two years with respect to existing federal programs. In addition, in the spirit of SUFA, the Public Service Commission (PSC) reviewed its recruitment policies and practices with respect to the use of geographic eligibility restrictions for positions in the public service.
This report reflects the cumulative results of the federal mobility review over the last three years.
An extensive examination over a three-year period did not reveal any residency-based policies or practices which constrain access to federal policies and programs. Most of the federal government's activity is national in scope, and as such, eligibility to these programs is based on national criteria, which do not distinguish between provinces and territories of Canada.
A systematic, in-depth review of both the terms and conditions and the practices guiding third party delivery agents across the spectrum of federal programs revealed that, with the exception of a few inconsistencies that were addressed, third party delivery agents do not, in practice, make an individual's access to programs and services conditional on how long they had lived in a given place. Given the large number of arrangements with third parties, however, there is always a risk that residency-based barriers exist somewhere, or could emerge in the future. The Government of Canada will therefore continue to monitor the practices of its third-party agents, and deal with any mobility issues as they arise on a case-by-case basis.
The following section provides details on the results of the Government of Canada review, including the results of the Public Service Commission review of its recruitment policies and practices, and the assessment of federal programs in each of the key sectors identified in the Agreement.
Although the Public Service Commission's policy on Area of Selection is in compliance with the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), the mobility provisions of the Social Union Framework Agreement (SUFA), the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the current use of geographic limits to determine eligibility is perceived by some Canadians as inequitable and unfair. In response to these concerns, and in the spirit of SUFA and the Government of Canada's commitment to full labour mobility for Canadians, the PSC examined its recruitment policies and practices, in particular the operational and service issues to be addressed in moving away from the use of geographically-based areas of selection.
The Public Service Commission currently uses a national area of selection for all executive positions, as well as for post secondary recruitment programs for the federal Public Service, including the Management Trainee Program, the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and the Foreign Service Recruitment Program.
After extensive consultations with various stakeholders on extending the use of a national area of selection for recruitment, the PSC has developed a phased approach which seeks to find a balance between access for all Canadians to employment opportunities in the Public Service and the efficient use of public funds. The PSC has begun implementing the gradual use of national areas of selection starting with senior officer-level and scientific and professional positions. A number of pilot projects across Canada will test the feasibility of expanding national area of selection for external recruitment to other types of positions.
The results of the pilots will be evaluated during the 2002-2003 fiscal year with decisions later in the year on the feasibility of expanding national area of selection to other groups and levels.
The Government of Canada offers program support for post-secondary education primarily through a range of student assistance programs. Eligible students can access the Canada Student Loans Program, Canada Study Grants and Canada Millennium Scholarships (managed by the Millennium Scholarship Foundation) to attend any designated post-secondary institution in Canada. In addition, the Canada Education Savings Grant encourages Canadians to save for the post-secondary education of children through Registered Education Savings Plans.
These are national programs, designed to support equitable access to post-secondary education across the country, and are free of any residency-based barriers to mobility.
The Government of Canada mainly provides employment assistance and skills development through Employment Benefits and Support Measures under the Employment Insurance Act. At present, the programs are delivered by the provincial or territorial government in New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and by Human Resources Development Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, British Columbia and the Yukon.
Mobility rights for access to these Employment Benefits and Support Measures are explicitly protected under Labour Market Development Agreements between the Government of Canada and the governments of individual provinces and territories.
Federal programs offered under Canada's Youth Employment Strategy include Youth Service Canada, Youth Internship Canada and Student Summer Job Action. These programs are national in scope and are free of residency-based mobility barriers. Under skills development and employment programming, the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS) is an initiative that transfers the responsibility for designing and delivering labour market programs directly to Aboriginal organizations. Under this strategy, Aboriginal organizations design and deliver employment programs and services best suited to meet the unique needs of their communities. Under the AHRDS, five national Aboriginal organizations signed Accords with the Government of Canada. The Accords set out the terms for community level agreements with Aboriginal organizations throughout Canada. Seventy-nine of these Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreements (AHRDAs) have been signed: 50 with First Nations, 10 with Métis, 12 urban holders, 6 Inuit agreement holders, and 1 First Nation/Inuit Agreement holder. The agreements specify that the role of AHRDA holders is to provide services to all clients within their geographic area, and the Government of Canada has clarified with ARHDA holders that access to programs in their service areas should not be conditional on having lived in the area for a minimum period of time.
The Government of Canada offers a range of health-related programs and services through Health Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada. These programs and services are offered across Canada and contain no residency-based mobility barriers.
The Government of Canada is also responsible for working with provinces and territories to uphold the provisions of the Canada Health Act. Through the criterion on portability, the Act ensures that Canadians do not face any residency-based barriers. This criterion requires that people remain covered by a provincial health insurance plan if they move to another province or are travelling out-of-province, particularly within Canada. All signatories of SUFA have reciprocal agreements under which they reimburse one another for insured services provided to their residents at the rate that the host province authorizes for the service. Quebec also has reciprocal agreements in place for hospital services only.
The Canada Health and Social Transfer, which provides provinces and territories with financial support for social assistance and social services (along with health and post-secondary education), prohibits provincial and territorial governments from placing a minimum period of residency as a requirement of receiving social assistance benefits.
The Government of Canada primarily offers income support through the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), veteran's benefits, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and Part I of the Employment Insurance Act.
Both CPP and OAS are available to eligible Canadians in any province or territory (except in Quebec, where the Quebec Pension Plan is offered instead of CPP) and do not include any residency-based barriers to mobility.
Employment Insurance (EI) claims are fully portable once established and, therefore, do not present barriers to mobility. Since jobs are harder to find where unemployment is high, EI entrance requirements are lower and duration of benefits is longer in regions with high unemployment rates. Once a worker has established a claim, the benefit rate and duration of that claim does not change, regardless of relocation in Canada.
The main federal programs for persons with disabilities are: EI-Sickness Benefits, CPP-Disability, Employability Assistance for Persons with Disabilities (EAPD), the Opportunities Fund, enhanced assistance to post secondary students with disabilities through the Canada Study Grants, and various tax measures available to persons with disabilities.
Except for EAPD, these programs are national in scope and available to all eligible Canadians. Under bilateral EAPD agreements with the provinces, the Government of Canada shares the costs of many provincial disability programs and services. The EAPD Agreements specifically require that programs supported by federal funding under the Agreements be in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (and therefore are required to respect the mobility protections contained in the Charter).
The National Child Benefit (NCB) is a joint federal, provincial and territorial initiative, launched in July 1998, with the objectives of: reducing the depth of child poverty; promoting attachment to the labour force; and improving program harmonization across governments. Through its contribution to the NCB, the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the Government of Canada has built a national platform of child benefits for low-income families with children. These increased child benefits go to all low-income families across Canada irrespective of the province or territory, and regardless of how long they have lived there. In turn, most provinces, territories and First Nations are adjusting the income support they provide to children through social assistance programs, while ensuring total benefits to those families remain at least as high as they were before the NCB was introduced.
In December 1999, the federal government introduced the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI) through which the federal government is providing financial support to communities with significant homelessness problems. The initiative is designed to assist communities to work together, with various orders of governments and other stakeholders, to develop community plans and implement comprehensive local strategies that address the immediate needs of homeless people, and take steps to reduce and prevent homelessness. To date the program has not raised any concerns regarding mobility barriers, either at the federal, provincial/territorial or local level.
In November 2001 the federal, provincial and territorial governments agreed on a framework for a cost-shared affordable housing program. Bi-lateral agreements have been signed between the Government of Canada and some provinces, and are in the process of being developed with others. Under the terms of the framework, provinces and territories have primary responsibility for the design of the housing programs in their jurisdiction. While neither the Framework Agreement, nor the bi-lateral agreements explicitly prohibit mobility barriers, the provinces and territories (except Quebec) are signatories to the SUFA.
Through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Government of Canada offers a range of programs and services for immigrants and refugees, including the Resettlement Assistance Program. These programs are national in scope and contain no residency based barriers.
Labour mobility and student mobility are two key areas where federal, provincial and territorial governments are working together to facilitate the mobility of Canadians.
In 1994, all First Ministers signed the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). The AIT has a goal of reducing and eliminating barriers to the free movement of goods, services, people and investments in Canada.
Chapter 7 of the AIT on labour mobility sets three major obligations for governments and occupational regulatory bodies: eliminate residency requirements; non-discrimination; mutual recognition of workers' qualifications and reconciliation of differences in occupational standards.
These obligations are designed to overcome the three main types of interprovincial barriers that workers can face:
The Social Union Framework Agreement, building on the AIT commitments, set a July 1, 2001 date for full compliance with Chapter 7 provisions of the AIT, providing a renewed focus for the mobility efforts of the Government of Canada and all provinces and territories through the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM).
One of the major areas of attention for the FLMM involves co-ordinated efforts by all governments to get occupational regulatory bodies to comply with mobility goals. In the three years since the SUFA was signed, activities towards securing compliance have accelerated significantly. The most challenging aspect of compliance has been to reach agreement within each self-regulating occupation on the terms and conditions to recognize the qualifications of workers from other jurisdictions. As of July 1, 2001, 42 of the 51 self-regulating professions, representing 98% of the regulated professional workforce, have developed arrangements under which mobility will be facilitated.
In the government-regulated trades, the existing Red Seal program already provides for mobility for a majority of tradespersons, and most provinces have committed to extending some form of recognition for tradespersons who are not covered by the Red Seal program.
The Government of Canada is committed to continuing to work with provinces and territories, governing bodies and stakeholders to build on the significant success to date in achieving full compliance with Chapter 7 of the AIT. Governments have agreed on a strategy designed to consolidate gains and make further progress in areas such as monitoring the ongoing effectiveness of Chapter 7, and strengthening the ties among regulatory bodies.
In Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians, the federal government expresses its interest to work in collaboration with provinces and territories, regulatory bodies, employers and other stakeholders to develop fair, transparent and consistent processes to assess and recognize foreign qualifications before and after arrival. Part of this could involve building on the successful work done inter-jurisdictional labour mobility arrangements.
The Government of Canada and each provincial and territorial government have distinct student financial assistance programs. The Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP) is administered and delivered on behalf of the Government of Canada by participating provinces and territories. Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut deliver their own programs for which they receive funding from the Government of Canada.
Provincial and territorial governments, as well as student groups, educational organizations and financial institutions, have recommended harmonization of CSLP and provincial loan programs. The desired outcome would be to end the existing requirement that students be assessed against two sets of eligibility criteria, under two administrative processes.
The 1998 federal budget committed the Government of Canada to work with the provinces and territories to coordinate student loans programs better. The Government of Canada began directly financing the Canada Student Loans Program in August 2000, and in August 2001 signed Integrated Student Loan agreements with Ontario and Saskatchewan. Integrated student loans are fully portable to all designated institutions within Canada. Discussions are underway with a number of additional provinces to develop similar agreements.
There has been significant progress in facilitating the mobility of students across Canada. The 12 provinces and territories with loan programs now permit Canadian students to use their provincial-territorial loans for studies outside of their home province or territory. The federal government will continue to work with provinces and territories to further enhance the mobility of students.
The Government of Canada is committed to facilitating mobility and access to post secondary education for students and adult learners. In Canada's Innovation Strategy: Knowledge Matters, the Government of Canada expresses its commitment to "working with provinces and territories to explore how best to enhance the mobility of students and adult learners by facilitating the transfer of credits among institutions and the recognition of prior learning and experience".
The Government of Canada has met its mobility commitments in the SUFA, and remains fully committed to do its part in ensuring that the mobility goals agreed to by First Ministers continue to be met. The Government of Canada will continue to work to ensure that mobility barriers do not emerge in federal programs and services in the areas of post-secondary education, training, health and social services and social assistance.
In the spirit of SUFA, the Public Service Commission will continue to work through its phased approach to moving away from the use of geographic eligibility restrictions for positions in the federal Public Service, thereby enhancing access to employment in the Government of Canada.
Consistent with the commitments of governments in the Agreement, the Government of Canada will:
In addition, the Government of Canada will continue to work collaboratively with provincial and territorial governments to:
The Government of Canada encourages provinces and territories to submit their 2002 mobility reports to the federal-provincial-territorial Council on Social Policy Renewal, and for those jurisdictions that have not already done so, their reports for 2001.
The Government of Canada also urges the Ministerial Council on Social Policy Renewal to undertake an analysis of the key SUFA sectors to ensure that there are no remaining barriers to mobility that cannot be justified.
Canada's social union should reflect and give expression to the fundamental values of Canadians equality, respect for diversity, fairness, individual dignity and responsibility, and mutual aid and our responsibilities for one another.
Within their respective constitutional jurisdictions and powers, governments commit to the following principles:
All Canadians are equal
Meeting the needs of Canadians
Sustaining social programs and services
Aboriginal peoples of Canada
A residency-based mobility barrier exists if access to social programs and services in, for example, a province, territory or community, is made conditional on a minimum residency period unless reciprocal agreements (under which the province of origin covers the cost of the program or service) are in place.
Federal departments were asked to address the following standard questions in conducting their assessments of programs:
Federal departments were also asked to explain how compliance with the Agreement's mobility requirements would be documented; what targets could be set for complete elimination of unreasonable barriers within the three-year period established by SUFA; and what plans made to ensure the reporting provisions of the Agreement were being met.
Departments adopted a systematic phased approach to reviewing third party delivery of federal programs.
All departments undertook an initial review of their programming in order to determine whether there was any evidence of residency-based barriers in their programs and services delivered by third parties. While departments' procedures varied, they took the same general approach. They:
Although evidence of barriers was not found, departments undertook a survey of the delivery practices of the third party agents. Recognizing the impracticality of surveying the thousands of third party agreements, departments worked with audit officials to develop a methodological approach for a survey that would meaningfully represent the programs, regions, and types of delivery agents involved.
While departments' survey methodologies varied, they took the same general approach, starting with interviews of front line staff for evidence of barriers created in the practices of third party agents; progressively more detailed phases of the survey would be undertaken according to the results of the initial round of interviews.