Help

The Government menu...

The Government menu is located on the upper right side of the Web page. The Government menu contains the following four links:

• “Canada.gc.ca” (“Government of Canada” Web site)
• “Services” (“Service Canada” Web site)
• “Departments” (“Departments and Agencies” page of the Government of Canada Web site)
• “Français” (French language version of the Service Canada Web site)

Site Menu...

The site menu is located at the top of every page on our Web site. Its horizontal menu bar persistently displays just six (6) links:

• “Services for you” (service links grouped by audience and by life event)
• “Subjects” (service links grouped by subject), “Online Services”,
• “Forms” (forms catalogue, list and search tool),
• “A to Z” (alphabetic services listing)
• “Help”.

Four of the six persistent links of the site menu (“Services for you”, “Subjects”, “Online Services” and “Help”) have associated lists of links that stay hidden until you rest the mouse pointer on one of them (or use the tab key to reach one of these four persistent links) and only then does a dropdown list of their associated links appear below the persistent link

This new site menu design:

• Reduces the number of mouse clicks (or tab keystrokes) you use when navigating within the site
• Helps to limit the number of visible information links on the page to the areas of the site that are of most interest to you
• Maintains the existing site-wide access provided for the Help page on the site
• Gives you prominent, accessible, site-wide access to Online Services, Forms and the available information on Service Canada’s programs and services

The Breadcrumb path...

The “Breadcrumb Path” (located below the left side of the site menu bar near the top of the page) can be used to return to the Web pages referenced by each Breadcrumb link in the path.

The Site Footer...

Twelve frequently accessed links, which specifically refer to Service Canada information and services are located in the Site Footer (at the bottom of each page on the Web site). The Terms and Conditions and Transparency are also available in the Site Footer.

Federal Department Footer...

The Federal Department footer contains the following six links:

• “HEALTH” (Health Canada’s “Healthy Canadians” Web site)
• “TRAVEL” (The Government of Canada Web site for Canadians travelling or living abroad)
• “SERVICE CANADA” (Service Canada’s Web site)
• “JOBS” (Service Canada’s “Job Bank” Web site)
• “ECONOMY” (Canada’s Economic Action Plan Web site)
• “Canada.gc.ca” ( “Government of Canada” Web site)

Site navigation options available on the home page

I Want to...

The “I want to” section is a group of the five most frequent tasks viewed on the Service Canada site. This list of links chosen for this section is based on a periodic review of the statistically most popular Web pages. The English and French metrics will be assessed separately; therefore, there may be instances where the French list and the English list differ.

Top Searches...

“Top searches” is a list of the 10 most frequently searched for topics.
The “Top Searches” section is updated periodically. Since the English “Top searches” and the French “Top searches” are assessed separately, there may be instances where the French list and the English list differ.

My Service Canada Account...

Go directly to the “My Service Canada Account” main page using this large, boldly highlighted and easily accessed link. Note that site-wide access to this page is provided through the “My Service Canada Account” link found under “Online Services” in the new site menu.

Life Events...

The “Life Events” section is a list of links to Web pages with information on government programs or services that may be of assistance to clients during important life events (e.g., “Finding a Job”, “Having a Baby”, “Retirement Planning”). The list will be updated periodically based on an assessment of the Web metrics.

Featured Content...

The “Featured Content” section lists links which provide clients with easy access to information on those programs and services that stakeholders believe should be featured on the homepage. A maximum of 5 featured links are listed to ensure that the featured content maintains a non-cluttered appearance.

Home Page Promotion Rotator

The “Promotion Rotator” presents a continuous “slideshow” featuring three (3) federal programs and services that are available to Canadian citizens. Each of the three promotional “slides” consists of a graphic image, a title and a brief text description for one of the featured federal programs and services. The display area provided for the featured federal programs and services is located near the top of the Home Page (below the new site menu).

Finding programs and services

Information on the Service Canada Web site is organized in a variety of ways to make it easy for you to find information about Government of Canada programs and services.

Finding information about Service Canada

Alternative formats and plug-ins

Information throughout the Service Canada Web site is provided in HTML as the primary format. In some cases, other software formats are provided as alternatives. To open these alternate formats, you may need to download and install one or more of the following on your computer: