# 2024-062 Pay and Benefits, Pilot's Pay and Promotion

Case summary

F&R Date: 2026-03-16

The grievor disagreed with the way his qualifying service was calculated when converting him to the new Pilot pay tables. He submitted that his previous years of service should have been calculated from the date he was promoted to Captain (Capt), not when he attained Wings Standard, in accordance with Canadian Forces General Message (CANFORGEN) 209/11. He also argued that it was unfair to be told that the conversion charts in Annex A of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) Order 030/21 – Transition to New Pilot Pay Rates would not apply to him only after he had accepted his re-enrolment offer. As redress, the grievor requested calculation of his years of service from the date he was promoted to Capt, that he be converted according to the conversion charts in Annex A of CDS Order 030/21, and that he be credited the surplus days of service towards his next Pay Increment (PI). 

The Director General Compensation and Benefits, acting as the Initial Authority (IA), denied redress. The IA found that the grievor had correctly been credited for his qualifying service and that his PI anniversary date corresponds with his re-enrolment date, pursuant to Compensation and Benefits Instructions for the Canadian Forces (CBI) 204.215(7) – Pay Increment Progression Between Groups. The IA confirmed that the conversion charts in Annex A of CDS Order 030/21 did not apply to the grievor as he was not serving in the Regular Force on 1 April 2021. 

The Committee found that, in accordance with CBI 204.015(2) and CANFORGEN 209/11, the grievor's PI determination on re-enrolment should be calculated from the date he was promoted to Capt. Despite having found evidence in the file that the grievor's PI had incorrectly been calculated, the Committee found that the resulting PI had nevertheless been correctly determined. The Committee, however, found that the grievor had not been correctly credited over 300 days of qualifying service towards his next PI in accordance with CBI 204.215(5) – Pay Increment – Anniversary Date and therefore found that he had been aggrieved on that matter. Regarding the grievor's request to be converted in accordance with Annex A of CDS Order 030/21, the Committee found that it was not intrinsically unreasonable for the Royal Canadian Air Force to have converted some Pilots using the conversion charts and not others, based on whether they were serving on 1 April 2021. The Committee also noted issues with the authorities used to grant additional PIs on conversion and therefore could not recommend redress of equal treatment for the grievor. The Committee recommended that the grievor's file be referred to the Director of Claims and Civil Litigation to assess whether the misleading information provided during the grievor's re-enrolment, which he relied on to accept his re-enrolment offer, caused him financial harm. Lastly, the Committee recommended that the grievor's PI anniversary date be corrected to account for his credited qualifying service.