Archived - Guidance Series - Establishing an Area of Selection



Document Status:
Draft: Working version
Effective Date:
December 2005
Contact:
Staffing Support Advisors
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Table of Contents

Appendix - Area of selection and section 6 of the Charter - Inconsistent with Charter

1. Introduction

1.1 About this guide

This document provides some practical advice for managers on how to establish an appropriate area of selection. In addition to reading the Public Service Commission (PSC) Policy on Area of Selection and your own organizational policy on area of selection, you should read this document along with related reference materials such as the :

1.2 Highlighted changes of note

1.2.1 Moving on national area of selection in external recruitment

A national area of selection is required for all external advertised appointment processes, effective December 31, 2008.

To find out more about the recent announcement, Greater access to job opportunities for Canadians, please visit the PSC Web site.

Due to enhanced system controls, as of March 17, 2015, deputy heads are no longer required to monitor use of national area of selection. Deputy heads have the opportunity to conduct monitoring in situations where they accept applications outside the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS), for example, by Canada Post or electronic mail.

1.2.2 "Employees" and "persons employed" in the public service

Under the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), "employees" in the public service means individuals employed by organizations listed in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and separate agencies listed in Schedule V of the FAA for which the PSC has the exclusive authority to make appointments. Individuals employed by the other organizations listed in Schedule V (separate agencies) may now participate in internal advertised appointment processes open to "employees" of the public service.

The PSEA enables the PSC to recommend to the Governor in council to "designate" organisations to allow their employees to participate in internal advertised appointment processes open to "persons employed" in the public service.

Please note that individuals considered to be "employees" are also eligible to participate in internal processes when the term "persons employed" is used.

More Information

For additional information on which individuals in a federal organization are considered "employees" versus "persons employed" please refer to the PSC's Reference Document – Organizations in the Public Service.

1.2.3 Including Canadian Forces members in advertised internal appointment processes

As of April 1, 2006, the PSEA allows for serving Canadian Forces members to apply for advertised internal appointment processes where they are specifically identified as being eligible in the area of selection criteria. Federal organizations can also restrict eligibility to certain organizational elements or components of the Canadian Forces. For example, not all members are full-time. Full-time members are members of the Regular Force or members of the Reserve Force serving on a period of Class B or Class C service in excess of 180 days.

Prior to April 1, 2006, members of the Canadian Forces were neither "employees" nor "persons employed" in the public service. Although civilian employees of the Department of National Defence are included as "employees" of the public service, Canadian Forces members are not. Consequently, the military component was not part of the public service and members were ineligible to participate in advertised internal appointment processes prior to April 1, 2006.

1.2.4 Incumbent-based processes

As indicated in subsection 34(1) of the PSEA, there is no requirement for incumbent-based processes to establish an area of selection.

The Public Service Employment Regulations (PSER) define incumbent-based processes as an internal appointment within the Research and the University Teaching Groups, where there is a career progression framework which includes an independent recourse mechanism. This framework must be established by the deputy head following consultation with the authorized bargaining agents.

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2. A checklist for setting an area of selection

In addition to respecting the requirements established in the PSC Policy and your organization's policy on area of selection, you may want to consider the many factors to take into account in making a decision on setting an area of selection.

The area of selection used for any specific circumstance will vary depending on considerations, such as the merit criteria required, the level of the responsibilities and the number of persons that may be available.

The following checklist, while far from exhaustive, outlines issues, considerations and questions that may help in determining an appropriate area of selection.

2.1 Guiding values

Consider:

2.2 Business needs

More information

It is important to know the organization, its corporate culture and available human resources. The organizational human resources plan may need to be reviewed by colleagues or managers or specialists in other human resources management areas such as training and development.

Consider:

2.3 Corporate interests of the public service

More information

You should continuously seek to attract and retain a competent, motivated and representative workforce.

2.3.1 Employment equity

Consider:

2.3.2 Official languages

Consider:

2.3.3 Mobility

More information

Consider mobility within and from outside the public service, as increased mobility contributes to the development of individuals as well as the achievement of organizational goals.

Consider:

2.4 Career aspirations of employees

More information

In addition to achieving their corporate and business objectives, federal organizations must consider the needs and career aspirations of employees.

Consider:

2.5 Employee representatives and bargaining agents

More information

One of the principles of delegation is that deputy heads will actively seek the participation of employee representatives in the development and revision of appointment practices.

Consider:

2.6 Accountability

More information

Managers may need to explain the area of selection for a particular appointment process. The appropriate choice of an area of selection is critical to a well-managed appointment process.

Consider:

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3. About the area of selection criteria

Human resources advisors should work with managers to identify the appropriate area of selection that would provide a reasonable pool of persons to meet the managers' needs as part of their organization's policy.

Except where a national area of selection is mandatory, incorporating flexibility in the use of area of selection criteria should be considered.

For example, there may be times when it would make sense to use the organizational component in external recruitment to employees of other levels of government, not-for-profit organizations, professional associations, or private sector organizations.

In other situations, it may be appropriate to use the occupational criterion and limit the selection to several similar occupations (e.g., health care services), or to refer to members of a specific occupation (e.g., aeronautical engineer).

Advice

The following examples of geographic, organizational, occupational and employment equity criteria, while far from exhaustive, may help in determining who can apply when establishing an area of selection.

3.1 Use of the geographic criterion

The geographic criterion must accurately describe a geographic zone that prospective candidates can understand. A geographic zone can be of any size, and an area of selection may include more that one geographic zone, which do not necessarily have to be of comparable size or adjacent. If no geographic criterion is established, individuals who meet all of the other criteria would be eligible, no matter where they live or work.

3.1.1 Area of selection and section 6 of the Charter (mobility)

Section 6 of the Charter guarantees the mobility rights of Canadians. Accordingly, organizations cannot establish areas of selection based on provincial or territorial boundaries.

Consistent with Charter– Internal appointment processes

An area of selection that is open to:

Consistent with the Charter – External appointment processes

Important

The following examples are subject to the Commission's phased approach for national area of selection in external recruitment. See subsection 1.2.1 of this document for details. These examples are only applicable where:

  • the area of selection is limited to designated employment equity groups. In such situations, organizational, occupational and geographic criteria may still be applied;
  • exceptions as outlined in the Policy on Area of Selection occur.

For example, for a position of CR-04, term, service delivery assistant, HRSDC, in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador:

For example, for the position of airworthiness inspector, Transport Canada in Edmonton, Alberta:

Inappropriate because too vague

3.1.2 Area of selection and individuals employed outside Canada

Several organizations have employees who are posted abroad, and some areas of selection may be confusing to potential candidates who are temporarily located outside Canada, in terms of their eligibility. Federal organizations that advertise nationally may or may not wish to attract persons who are outside the country; therefore it is important that the wording used to describe the area of selection be clearly understood by all.

Internal appointment processes

If the area of selection is described as open to:

If an organization wishes to limit eligibility to:

3.1.3 Area of selection and residence

When recruiting from outside the public service, the geographic criterion refers to where candidates must reside or be employed. (Important)

With the increased use of the Internet as an advertising medium, individuals, regardless of whether they are in the stated area of selection, have access to all the job notices posted. As a result, there are increasing numbers of applications from candidates who are not employed or residing in the area of selection.

Some of those applicants can be considered to be in the area of selection by virtue of a permanent residence. However, it is not always straightforward to make that determination.

Eligible to compete in external appointment processes (Important)

Ineligible to compete in external appointment processes (Important)

More information needed to determine eligibility to compete in external appointment processes (Important)

3.2 Use of the organizational criterion

The organizational criterion refers to the organization(s) or part(s) of organizations in which persons must be employed in order to be eligible for appointment. When used, the organizational criterion must accurately describe a structure that can be recognized as an organizational entity.

More information

The person being appointed must be within the area of selection no matter what type of appointment is being made, except for incumbent-based processes or external non-advertised processes.

In the case of an internal appointment process, an area of selection can include one or several organizations or part(s) of organizations within the public service, regardless of whether or not appointments in those organizations are made by the PSC in accordance with the PSEA, based on an assessment of where potential candidates may be found. When public service organizational entities are combined in a single area of selection, they do not necessarily have to be of comparable size or be in the same organization.

Various factors, such as the candidate qualifications being sought, or the existence of reciprocal agreements with other organizations, will help determine which organizations to include.

More information

For a listing of federal organizations included when using an organizational criterion, please refer to the listing on the PSC Web site.

Internal

If the organizational criterion specifies "employees" of a particular organization, an employee whose substantive position is within the specified organization (as a result of an appointment or deployment) would be included, even if that person is temporarily assigned elsewhere. Individuals on secondment or working there through an Interchange Canada assignment from another organization would be excluded.

If the organizational criterion is open to "persons employed" in a particular organization, it would include those who are employees of that organization within the meaning of the PSEA, other persons who have been appointed through legal means other than the PSEA to the entity (e.g., persons appointed by the Governor in Council-GIC), and persons who are in the organization as the result of an assignment or a secondment.

It is important to note that, in the case of a secondment, eligibility would be determined based on the individual's substantive employment situation. A person who has been seconded from an organization that is part of the public service would be eligible. However, if the person is on an Interchange Canada assignment from an organization outside the public service (e.g., from a municipal government), he or she is employed by the municipal government. Therefore the person is not a person employed in the public service and would not be eligible for appointment in internal processes.

External (Important)

The organizational criterion can also be applied to external appointment processes. There may be situations where it would make good business sense to use the organizational component to open appointment processes to employees of other levels of government, not-for-profit organizations, professional associations, or private sector organizations, to name a few.

Internal appointment processes

An area of selection that is open to:

A closer look

The area of selection for an internal advertised appointment process is open to "persons employed in Department A in Montréal, Quebec," and the following individuals apply:

Eligible

Ineligible

External appointment processes (Important)

Although it has not been a common practice to use the organizational element for external advertised appointment processes, there are no provisions in the PSEA preventing its use.

Take for example, the position of AI-06, indeterminate, senior aviation policy analyst, Transport Canada, in Ottawa. An appropriate area of selection might read "persons residing or employed in the National Capital Region and employees of Nav Canada across Canada."

3.3 Use of the occupational criterion

The occupational criterion can be used to:

If no occupational criterion is established, all persons who meet the organizational and geographic criteria would be eligible, as they meet the area of selection criteria.

The occupational criterion can also be applied to external appointment processes. There may be situations where it would make sense to use the occupational criterion to limit the selection to an occupational stream that spans several occupations or one specific occupation.

Internal appointment processes

External appointment processes (Important)

Although it has not been a common practice to use the occupational element for external advertised appointment processes, there are no provisions in the PSEA preventing its use.

Take for example, the position of nursing officer, Health Canada, Moose Factory, Ontario:

3.4 Use of an employment equity criterion

Achieving better representation of members of designated employment equity groups is a major corporate objective that will also help organizations achieve their business needs. Subsection 34(1) of the PSEA allows an area of selection to be limited exclusively to the members of one or more of the employment equity groups, which are women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

Subsection 34(2) of the PSEA is an important provision that can be used to facilitate the achievement of employment equity goals, by expanding an area of selection to ensure that members of designated groups make up a sufficient pool of applicants.

Whenever there is a need or desire to attract more employment equity group members to the pool of candidates, managers are encouraged, pursuant to this subsection, to expand one or more elements (geographic, organizational and occupational) of the area of selection for one or more of the employment equity groups. This allows designated group members to be included in greater numbers in advertised appointment processes by allowing them to enter processes for which they would not otherwise be eligible, since they would not be within the established, or regular, area of selection.

Limiting an area of selection to one or more employment equity group

An area of selection that is open to:

Expanding an area of selection to include employment equity groups

An area of selection that is open to:

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4. Other considerations in establishing an area of selection

4.1 Area of selection and telework (Important)

It is important to accurately determine the workplace of applicants who telework, in order to decide whether or not they are eligible to participate. Teleworkers must not be penalized or receive any undue advantages; they must be treated in the same way as all other applicants.

In all of the following examples, the area of selection is open to "persons residing or employed in X."

4.2 Sliding areas of selection

When it is uncertain where the pool of potential applicants is, an area of selection may be established with an indication that a larger area of selection may be used if there is an insufficient number of applicants from the smaller area.

Internal appointment processes

Illustration of a sliding area of selection using the organizational criterion

Internal advertised appointment process open to "employees in the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AGR). Should an insufficient number of applicants be identified, employees of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) will also be eligible to apply."

In this example, the size of the applicant pool within the department is unknown, but it is suspected that the smaller area of selection may yield a sufficient number of applicants to conduct a meritorious selection. If the smaller area of selection is used, then employees of AGR and employees on secondment with AGR from other public service organizations would be eligible. If the larger area of selection is used, then employees of the CFIA and the CDC would be eligible.

Illustration of a sliding area of selection using the geographic criterion

Internal advertised appointment process open to "employees of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AGR) in the National Capital Region. Should an insufficient number of applicants be identified, then employees of AGR who are currently working in Canada will be eligible."

In this example, if the smaller area of selection is used, employees of AGR in the National Capital Region would be eligible. If the larger area of selection is used, then employees of AGR across Canada would be eligible.

External appointment process (Important)

An area of selection is open to "persons residing or working in Toronto and within a 100-kilometre radius of Toronto. Should there be a sufficient number of applicants residing or working in Toronto, only those applicants will be considered."

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Appendix - Area of selection and section 6 of the Charter - Inconsistent with Charter

Inconsistent with the Charter – Internal appointment processes

In the following examples, Department X is large, with offices across Canada, some of which serve one or more provinces or territories.

An area of selection that is open to:

Inconsistent with Charter – External appointment processes (Important)

In the following examples, Department X is large, with offices across Canada, some of which serve one or more provinces or territories.

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