Archived - Selection and Appointment

Policy Statement

Appointments are based on merit and are free from political influence and personal favouritism.

Policy Objective

To ensure that selection for appointment is fair and transparent.

Policy Requirements

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

• persons proposed for appointment or appointed:
  • meet all the essential qualifications, except official language proficiency when excluded in accordance with the Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order (PSOLEAO);
  • are within the area of selection, where required;
  • meet any asset qualifications, operational requirements and organizational needs that were used to make the appointment decision;
  • applied within the period for receiving applications, if such a period exists; and
  • complete and sign the Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form if they have self-declared as Aboriginal and the appointment process:
    • has an area of selection limited to Aboriginal peoples, or to members of designated employment equity groups that include Aboriginal peoples; or
    • has applied as a merit criterion the organizational need of increasing the representation of Aboriginal peoples, or increasing the representation of members of designated groups, including Aboriginal peoples; or
    • involves selection from an Aboriginal inventory, or Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat approved student employment programs used to increase the representation of Aboriginal peoples, or of designated groups, including Aboriginal peoples.
• the reasons for the appointment decision have been documented;
• the offer of appointment is extended by someone delegated to do so on behalf of the organization;
• offers of appointment are in writing and clearly set out all the conditions of the appointment;
• appointments take effect only after all conditions of the appointment are satisfied; and
• they report to the Public Service Commission (PSC) on the use of the Affirmation of Aboriginal Affiliation Form.

Other Requirements

Deputy heads must respect:

• the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) and the Public Service Employment Regulations which require that a person with a priority entitlement who meets the essential qualifications of a position must be appointed in priority to all other persons;
• the PSEA, which stipulates that:
  • in advertised external appointment processes, persons in receipt of a pension by reason of war service, veterans or survivors of veterans, and Canadian citizens who meet the essential qualifications are appointed ahead of other candidates and in this order;
  • a person being appointed from outside that part of the public service to which the Commission has exclusive authority to make appointments takes and subscribes the oath or solemn affirmation as set out in section 54 of the PSEA before the appointment takes effect; where the oath or solemn affirmation is required, the effective date of the appointment is the later of the date that is agreed to in writing by the deputy head and that person, and the date on which that person takes and subscribes the oath or solemn affirmation;
  • when a person is being appointed from within that part of the public service to which the Commission has exclusive authority to make appointments, the effective date of the appointment is the date agreed to in writing by the person to be appointed and the deputy head, regardless of the date of their agreement; and
  • a period of employment is indeterminate, unless a term of employment has been specified by the deputy head (e.g., term, casual or student employment or an acting appointment);
• the PSOLEAO and the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulations(PSOLAR), which require persons proposed for appointment or appointed to a bilingual position on a non-imperative basis to meet the requirements of the PSOLEAO and the PSOLAR in order to be excluded from meeting the official language proficiency qualifications at the time of appointment;
• the PSC policy on Official Languages in the Appointment Process, which requires all communications to persons, including offers of appointment and the administration of the oath or solemn affirmation, be in the official language(s) of choice of the person; and
• the Treasury Board/Public Service Commission Policy on the Duty to Accommodate Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service, which requires the provision of accessible formats, upon request, for communicating with persons with disabilities when making an offer of appointment or administering the oath or solemn affirmation.