Public Service Commission concerned about the over-reliance on the temporary workforce

November 13, 2007

Ottawa – The Public Service Commission (PSC) of Canada has tabled today in Parliament its 2006-2007 Annual Report along with four audit reports. Two statistical studies were also released. The Annual Report presents the results of the PSC's oversight of the integrity of the staffing system and non-partisanship in the federal public service.

Fiscal year 2006-2007 was the first full year of operation under the modernized Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). Overall, the PSC continues to have confidence in the strength of the staffing system and is encouraged that departments and agencies have made progress in implementing new approaches to staffing. However, the PSC identified a number of issues that require attention.

"We are concerned about the over-reliance on the temporary workforce to fill permanent jobs," said Maria Barrados, President of the PSC.

This pattern of recruitment is not new. Over an eight-year period, more than 80% of the 86,000 new indeterminate employees hired for the permanent workforce had prior public service experience.

"Temporary hiring is not the way to build a permanent workforce," said Ms. Barrados. "The PSC expects departments and agencies to look at their balance of temporary and permanent hiring and to take steps to ensure that external recruitment better addresses the long-term needs of Canadians and their government."

Again this year, the PSC is concerned that there remains a gap between workforce availability and representation in the public service for members of visible minority groups. While overall recruitment rose, recruitment for members of visible minority groups has shown a marked drop from 9.8% in 2005-2006 to 8.7% in 2006-2007. If the recruitment rate of visible minority groups does not increase, the gap in representation will only be aggravated. The PSC will continue to do work in this area to examine the root causes of under-representation and will be working with departments and agencies to improve recruitment strategies.

Last year's Annual Report revealed that two individuals working in ministers' offices had been appointed to "phantom" positions within the public service. Responding to parliamentary interest in these cases, the PSC undertook an audit of the movement of public servants between the public service and ministers' offices. The PSC found there was a misuse of the staffing system and that actions were taken to move people into positions where they had no reasonable intention of fulfilling the duties of the job.

"These actions place political impartiality at risk," said Ms. Barrados. "We have made a recommendation to the employer, that Treasury Board Secretariat should develop and recommend to Treasury Board a policy governing the movement of public servants between the public service and ministers' offices to ensure that these moves are undertaken in a fair and transparent manner, upholding the principle of political impartiality, and are effectively monitored."

This year, the PSC received more than one million applications in response to almost 5,700 advertisements on the Commission's jobs.gc.ca Web site, indicating no shortage of interest in public service jobs. Permanent hiring from outside the public service grew by more than 50% from 2005-2006 to 2006-2007. While the public service workforce grew by only 1.7% last year, staffing activity increased by 11%, involving more than 110,000 staffing actions.

The PSC is an independent agency reporting to Parliament. Its mandate is to safeguard the integrity of the public service staffing system and the political neutrality of the public service. In addition, the PSC recruits qualified Canadians from across the country.

The PSC's 2006-2007 Annual Report, the four audit reports and the two statistical studies are available on the PSC's Web site at: www.psc-cfp.gc.ca.

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Related Documents

• 2006-2007 Annual Report
• Audit of the Canadian Forces Grievance Board
• Audit of the Movement of Public Servants between the Federal Public Service and Ministers' Offices
• Audit of the NAFTA Secretariat – Canadian Section
• Audit of the Office of the Correctional Investigator
• To what extent do casuals become employed under the Public Service Employment Act?
• New indeterminate employees: Who are they?

For more information, contact:

France Langlois
Media Relations
613-947-7269
media@psc-cfp.gc.ca