Rescission of Direction on IT Exceptions

From: Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada

To: Deputy Heads and Departmental Chief Information Officers

Subject: Rescission of Direction on IT Exceptions

Message:

Colleagues,

As part of our ongoing commitment to aligning our policies and practices with the evolving needs of the public service, I am writing to formally rescind the Direction on IT Exceptions that was issued by the CIO of Canada on January 12, 2023.

While exceptions were previously granted in specific IT areas for recruitment and retention purposes, a review was conducted with inconclusive results on recruitment. In fact, the review showed that there was an internal- and external-to-GC need for consistency when it came to hybrid work, at all classification levels and job descriptions. It also showed that a unified approach will better serve our goals of delivering excellent service to Canadians, promoting diversity and inclusion, and modernizing our business practices.

To maximize the benefits of on-site presence and to bring greater fairness and consistency to the application of hybrid work for our employees, the Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace has been updated. By September 9, 2024, Deputy Heads will implement a refined requirement for all federal public servants in the core public administration (CPA) eligible for a hybrid work arrangement to work on site a minimum of 3 days per week. For IT employees who had been granted an exception, the transition will begin in September 2024 and will be fully implemented by September 2025.

Your organizations are well equipped to implement the direction, supported by the learnings of the IT-Exceptions experimentation, the knowledge of the IT workforce recruitment landscape and TBS OCIO support mechanisms, and the Deputy delegated flexibilities related to the hybrid work model.

Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Dominic Rochon (He/Him)
CIO of Canada
Treasury Board Secretariat