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Backgrounder

Canadian Forces Pay

BG-05.004 - February 25, 2005

The Government is committed to ensuring that members of the Canadian Forces receive pay and benefits comparable to members of the Public Service and reflective of the uniqueness of military service.

COMPARABILITY

Following unification of the Canadian Forces (CF) in the mid-60s, the Department of National Defence and the Treasury Board Secretariat adopted the principle of comparability between the CF and the Public Service (PS). The two major reasons for instituting comparability are to ensure that CF members would benefit from the results of collective bargaining and recognition that the federal government acts as the “employer” for both groups.

TEAM CONCEPT

As is the case in most militaries, the CF uses a rank-based “team concept” or institutional approach to determine pay. In this methodology, the average value of the work performed by all members of a specific rank level is considered in developing pay scales. This methodology is quite different from the more common PS method in which an individual is paid the evaluated worth for the specific position they are filling. In exceptional cases, market factors drive the CF to consider certain military occupations, such as doctors, dentists, lawyers and some high-tech trades, separate from the majority of CF members. However, even within these special occupations, the “team concept” (pay by rank not position) is applied.

Given the nature of the military's work, the “team concept” makes a lot of sense, and it is used to the maximum extent possible. However, the use of the “team concept” presents some challenges when comparing the CF to non-military organizations that use an occupational or job-specific approach because direct military - civilian trade comparisons are not possible.

TOTAL COMPENSATION METHODOLOGY

In the late 70s, Treasury Board directed that the Department adopt the Total Compensation (TC) analysis, which was being developed at the time for use in collective bargaining with the PS unions. Treasury Board wanted to ensure that the full value of the compensation and benefits made available to federal public servants was considered in negotiations. The methodology includes salary and evaluates benefits such as pensions, severance pay, acting pay, overtime and medical and dental services, as well as “time not worked”, including annual leave, sick leave and a number of other types of “time off”.

The objective of this form of analysis is to compare the compensation and benefits available to one group of employees to the compensation and benefits of another group. The end result provides a net value, expressed in terms of the dollars paid per hour actually worked, for the first group of employees, as compared to the net value of the dollars paid per hour actually worked for the second group. The warranted pay increase or decrease in a given year is the percentage difference between these two values. For the military, two TC analyses are conducted: one for general service officers and one for non-commissioned members. “Comparability” is considered to be achieved if the CF dollar per hour worked is equal to the PS dollar per hour worked.

The Military Factor

It is important to note that the TC analyses, as applied to the CF, also provides latitude to determine the dollar value of the unique aspects of CF service. The most obvious example is the Military Factor, which values the major characteristics unique to military service. Although the unique aspects of military service such as Code of Service Discipline, separation from family and posting turbulence are not easily quantified, the Military Factor allows 7.5% for non-commissioned members and 6.5% for general service officers, in recognition of these “disutilities”.

ENVIRONMENTAL ALLOWANCES

Environmental allowances provide financial recognition for CF members whose military duties involve sporadic or continuous exposure to adverse environmental conditions, including hazards which other members do not usually experience, such as sea duty, and field and aircrew operations.

The most recent pay and allowance increases can be viewed on DND/CF's internet website at http://www.dnd.ca/hr/dppd/engraph/home_e.asp

PAY GROUPS

Non-Commissioned Members

Non-commissioned members are paid rates of pay determined through TC analysis. Within each rank there are a number of Incentive Pay Categories (IPC), which represent automatic annual increases given in recognition of advancements in experience, skill and knowledge. As well, there are three sub-groups of pay into which non-commissioned member trade groups are slotted. These sub-groups are Standard, Specialist 1 and Specialist 2 and pay rates vary in each sub-group . The Specialist 1 and Specialist 2 sub-groups, which include military occupations such as Military Police, Fire Control Systems Technicians, Flight Engineers, Biomedical Electronics Technicians, and Marine Engineering Artificers, comprise jobs which are highly complex in nature and whose skills generally are in high demand in the private sector.

General Service Officers

General service officers include all officers below the rank of colonel in all occupation groups except for pilots and specialist officers (legal, medical and dental officers). General service officers pay rates are determined through TC analysis, and they receive incentive level increases similar to those of non-commissioned members. One significant difference is that there are often more incentive levels for officer ranks than there are for non-commissioned member ranks to recognize that it takes longer for officers to gather all the experience, skill and knowledge to reach the job rate (maximum) for their rank.

Pilots

Pilots are paid general service officer rates of pay plus a pilot differential to recognize private sector market factors.

Senior Officers (Colonels and above)

Colonels and general officers, other than legal, medical and dental officers, are paid based upon direct benchmark comparisons to the Public Service's Executive Group. Job analysis is used to establish the benchmarks.

Legal Officers

All CF legal officers (except military judges) are paid based on direct benchmarks to the Public Service's excluded Law Group. In addition, legal officers below the rank of colonel receive the same military factor as general service officers, as analysis has shown that they are subjected to similar military conditions as the general service officers. Legal officers receive performance pay.

Military Judges

Military judges are paid based upon the recommendations of the Military Judges' Compensation Committee and the subsequent approval of both the Minister of National Defence and the Treasury Board. To ensure the independence of the military judges, their performance is not assessed and, hence, they do not receive performance pay.

Medical And Dental Officers

As of April 1, 1999, medical and dental officers' total compensation is determined in relation to private practice practitioners. Medical and dental officers in the ranks of lieutenant-colonel and above also receive performance pay.

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