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Canadian Armed Forces Military Personnel Instruction 05/09 – Reserve Force Job Re-Instatement and Student Loan Abatement Legislation

Table of Contents

  1. Identification
  2. Definitions
  3. Direction
  4. Re-instatement
  5. Students
  6. References
  7. Annexes

   

Chef of Military Personnel Crest

1. Identification

Date of Issue: 2009-02-17

Date of Modification: 2024-12-01

Application: This Instruction applies to Officers and Non-Commissioned Members (NCMs) of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who are involved in the call out of Reserve Force members for operations or training.

Approval Authority: Chief of Military Personnel (CMP)

Enquiries: Administrative Response Centre (ARC)

2. Definitions

Designated Operation (Opération designée)

Is an operation that is designated by the Minister of National Defence or the Chief of Defence Staff pursuant to paragraph 247.5(1) (a) of the Canada Labour Code. Note at present time the term designated operation only applies to re-instatement provisions under Federal legislation.

Re-Instatement (Réintégration)

Re-instatement is the process by which a member of the Reserve Force is reinstated in a civilian position following a period of Reserve Force service. Re-instatement usually occurs into the position that the employee left or at a comparable level.

3. Direction

Context

3.1 The Reserve Force, as a part of the Total Force, is an important source of personnel for CAF operations. In the past, many Reserve Force members were reluctant to volunteer for operations due to fears about losing their civilian employment. At present all the Provinces and the Federal Government have passed legislation which allows Reserve Force members to take unpaid leave from their civilian employment to participate in CAF operations and gives them the right to be re-instated in that employment on completion of the operation. In addition, Reserve Force members who are full time students deployed on an operation are exempted from the usual requirement to begin the repayment of federal loans when away from their studies for longer than 6 months.

Policy Statement

3.2 The purpose of this order is to set out the administrative procedures that are to be followed to assist members of the Reserve Force in exercising their rights under job reinstatement and student loan abatement legislation. It is anticipated that the new legislation will encourage greater participation in operations by members of the Reserve Force. This instruction also sets out how Reserve Force members, who are full time students, can participate on a deployment without having to start repaying their student loans. Commanding Officers and others in the Reserve Force chain of Command are to be aware of the procedures set out in this instruction and to use them in assisting Reserve Force members in obtaining re-instatement in their civilian employment or in gaining an exemption for the repayment of student loans while on deployment.

4. Re-Instatement

Introduction

4.1 Re-instatement in civilian employment is regulated through employment law, an area where jurisdiction is shared between the Federal and Provincial governments. At present the Federal Government and all provinces have passed re-instatement legislation to cover the employers over which they have jurisdiction. The result is that different individuals in a particular Reserve Force unit may be covered by different pieces of legislation. Ninety percent of Canadian workers are regulated by the provinces, so most Reserve Force members will fall under the re-instatement legislation of the Province in which their civilian employer is located; the remainder are regulated by the Federal Government. Employers under federal jurisdiction include: interprovincial railways and trucking firms, airlines, banks, inter provincial telephone companies, broadcasting companies, shipping lines, and the federal public service. Additional information on which industries are regulated by the Federal government can be found at the following web site: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/labour/employment_standards/regulated.shtml

Re-Instatement Legislation

4.2 All of the legislation governing re-instatement is similar in that each act allows Reserve Force members who are eligible to take unpaid leave, from their civilian employment, to perform certain types of military training or operations. Upon completion of this service the legislations provide for the re-instatement of the member back into the civilian job, either into the same position or a similar one with comparable wages and benefits. In addition, most of the acts ensure that there is no loss in seniority due to the time on deployment. The re-instatement acts differ in the following ways: the minimum length of time that an individual must be employed by an employer in order to trigger re-instatement, types of reserve service covered, the length of time between re-instatement breaks and the amount of notice required prior to the start of reserve leave. The chart at Annex A is provided as a general outline of the relevant statutes. It is not intended to replace a review of the relevant legislation. It remains the member’s obligation to be aware of the legislation that applies to his or her situation. For more detailed information on the various Provincial employment standards regimes the Federal Labour programme web site contains a list of links to the Provincial Ministries of Labour at: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/labour/employment_standards/ministries.shtml

Designation of Operations

4.3 Under paragraph 247.5(1)(a) of the Canada Labour Code operations designated by the Minister of National Defence automatically entitle Reserve Force members who participate in them to a leave of absence and re-instatement. The Minister has delegated this authority to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). During the planning phases of an operation the Strategic Joint Staff will notify Chief of Military Personnel (CMP) J1 Coord that the operation can be designated for the purposes of paragraph 247.5(1) (a) of the Canada Labour Code. CMP J1 Coord will then staff a letter to the CDS which will inform the Minister of Labour that the operation in question has been designated for the purposes of paragraph 247.5(1) (a) of the Canada Labour Code.

4.4 While the term ‘designated operation’ only applies to federally regulated employees, for administrative simplicity the following phrase will be used in all opportunity messages relating to a designated operation and in all acceptance messages for those reservists who are selected for service on such an operation:

“Op (NAME) is effective as of (date) and is designated an operation pursuant to the Canada Labour Code, Division XV.2, section 247.5(1) (a).”

Notification to Employer

4.5 The initial notification to the employer is the responsibility of the member seeking the Reserve Leave. To assist Reserve Force members in exercising their rights under job re-instatement legislation the formal notification of the member’s employer will be done by the CAF. Commanding Officers will send to a member’s employer a letter stating that the letter is for the purposes of re-instatement and that the member has volunteered, and been accepted, for service on a Canadian Forces operation. A pro forma for this letter can be found in Annex B to this instruction. This document will meet the requirements of the various re-instatement acts that require that a member notify the employer of the start date and end date of their reserve service. This letter will also demonstrate to an employer the importance of a member’s participation in an operation. A copy of the tasking message will be enclosed with the letter.

If Issues Arise

4.6 If an employer refuses to grant a Reserve Force member leave or refuses to re-instate a Reserve Force member on return from service the member has two courses of action:

  1. contact the Canadian Forces Liaison Council which runs a number of programmes that serve to mitigate issues between employers and reservists, or
  2. the member can contact the labour standards office for the government that has jurisdiction over their employer.

5. Students

General

5.1 Reserve Force members who are full time students in a post secondary educational institution are responsible for arranging a leave of absence from their studies to go on a deployment in accordance with the procedures of the institution that they attend. To deal with the requirement in student loans agreements that if a full time student ceases their studies for more than 6 months they must start repaying their loan the Federal Government regulations governing student loans have been amended to ensure that members of the Reserve Force who are also full time students and who are being deployed on a designated operation will not be charged interest or have to pay back their federal student loans while they are on deployment. If a member is injured the exemption may cover a recovery period of up to 2 years.

Student Loans Eligibility

5.2 To be eligible for this benefit a reservist must be:

  1. A full time student;
  2. Have a student loan from the Federal Government but not have started repayment;
  3. Intend to return to school after the deployment;
  4. Be deployed on a designated operation since 1 Jan 2008; and
  5. Apply for the benefit by completing a form and sending it to the National Student Loan Service Centre.

5.3 The programme covers federal student loans. Reserve Force members who are students will still be required to make payments on any provincial student loans that are not aligned with the Federal benefit. However, in the case where a Province does not align with the Federal benefit, the Government of Canada will ensure that the interest is paid on the provincial loan. As a result, all payments the member makes during this time will be applied directly to the principal of the loan. It is the responsibility of the member to obtain details of, and apply for, this benefit.

Process

5.4 Eligible members may apply for this benefit by completing a form available on Canlearn web site entitled Confirmation of Posting Assignment for Full-Time Students and submitting it along with a copy of their tasking/posting message to the address on the form. This action must be completed no later than 30 days after the receipt of the posting/tasking message. On completion of the deployment the member has six (6) months to return to school or they will be required to begin repaying their student loans. Further details on the process and the benefit can be found at: http://www.canlearn.ca/eng/postsec/faq/res.shtml

6. References

Acts, Regulations, Central Agency Policies and Associated DAOD

Other References

7. Annexes

  1. Annex A – General outline of Relevant statutes
  2. Annex B – Sample CO’s Letter to Employer to Confirm Deployment

Page details

2025-05-27