Public Service Employment Act: Appointment Policy (Area of Selection)

Policy Statement

An area of selection provides reasonable access to internal and external appointments and a reasonable area of recourse for internal non-advertised appointments.

• A national area of selection is established, at a minimum, for all advertised external appointment processes for:
  • executive positions;
  • officer-level positions in the occupational groups and levels at the executive equivalent and one and two levels below the executive as determined by the Commission; and
  • other officer-level positions in the occupational groups and levels as determined by the Commission¹.
• This requirement does not apply to:
  • Student Employment Programs designated by the Treasury Board;
  • employment of persons not ordinarily required to work more than one third of the normal period for persons doing similar work;
  • employees performing duties of a seasonal nature;
  • appointments for a specified period of six months or less.

Policy Objective

To ensure that an area of selection:

• respects the core and guiding values while providing flexibility, efficiency and cost-effectiveness;
• provides for a reasonable pool of potential candidates;
• when established for an external appointment process, enhances access to persons who reflect a myriad of backgrounds, skills and professions needed to serve Canadians in their official language of choice; and
• when established for an internal non-advertised appointment process, provides meaningful access to recourse.

Application

The policy applies to all advertised internal and external appointment processes and to all non-advertised internal appointment processes in accordance with the PSEA. It does not apply to incumbent-based processes.

The requirement for the establishment of national areas of selection only applies to advertised external appointment processes.

Policy Requirements

In addition to being accountable for respecting the policy statement, deputy heads must:

• establish and communicate an organizational policy that complies with the Commission's policy on area of selection. This policy must, at a minimum, contain provisions to ensure that:
  • where an area of selection is limited to one or more designated groups, it is supported by the organization's employment equity plan or human resources plan; and
  • Veterans Affairs headquarters employees and National Energy Board (NEB) employees (employed in NEB prior to July 1, 1996), whose substantive positions are located in Charlottetown and Calgary respectively are included in any internal advertised appointment process open to employees or persons occupying positions in the NCR.
• Monitor national area of selection, at a minimum, for:
  • appointment processes where national area of selection were used;
  • the place of residency of the applicants in those processes; and
  • the place of residency of the persons hired in those processes.

Other Requirements

Deputy heads must respect:

• the Employment Equity Act, in terms of achieving and maintaining a representative organization; and
• the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Agreement on Internal Trade and the Social Union Framework Agreement, in terms of the mobility provisions.

¹ The occupational groups and levels determined by the Commission for national area of selection will be adjusted as classification modernization proceeds over time. ( return to policy statement )