President meeting with David McGovern, President, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada November 28, 2019

Introduction

Deputy Head

Mr. David McGovern was appointed as the President, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) on August 28, 2019. This organization was formerly named the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA).

Mr. McGovern is exercising the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) authority for the first time as DH. A copy of the New Direction in Staffing (NDS) highlights for DHs is attached as Annex A.

Organizational Context

Mandate

On August 28, 2019, the Impact Assessment Act, the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, and the Canadian Navigable Waters Act came into force. The Impact Assessment Act created the new IAAC (formerly known as the CEAA). This change repeals the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, created in 2012.

The IAAC is a federal body accountable to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

The IAAC delivers high-quality impact assessments that contribute to informed decision-making on major environmental projects, in support of sustainable development. Through its delivery of impact assessments, the IAAC serves Canadians by looking at both positive and negative environmental, economic, social and health impacts of potential projects of federal interest.

More specifically, the IAAC:

The IAAC works with other bodies like the Canadian Energy Regulator (formerly the National Energy Board), the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Offshore Boards and other federal departments and agencies. The IAAC also works in cooperation with provinces and territories, Indigenous jurisdictions, environmental organizations and industry.

Challenges

Ensuring steady growth of the organization as a result of legislative changes in support of new impact assessment and regulatory processes will be a challenge due to the current scarcity of competent labor market talent and resources in the area of impact assessment on climate change.

For 2019-2020, the IAAC plans to have 446 FTEs, an increase of 117 employees from March 31, 2019.

Experimentation

In support of the organization’s need to increase flexibilities on matters of staffing, a presentation regarding the use of performance assessments in the context of staffing was conducted by the Staffing Support Advisor (SSA) in February 2019.  As such, the previous CEAA and the new IAAC is continuing to plan to apply performance appraisals as a common assessment method (for competencies assessment and validation) for all upcoming appointment processes.

Population and Staffing Activities

Population

The IAAC (formerly the CEAA-will be referenced herein for the purposes of data sourcing in support of this briefing) is a small organization that has a population of 329 employees as of March 31, 2019.

Staffing Activities

In 2018-2019, the CEAA processed a total of 284 staffing actions composed of the following:

Please refer to Annex B for additional details on staffing activities.

Time to Staff

The median time of the public service for internal appointment processes is 176 days and for external appointments processes, it is 186 days.

The data is insufficient for providing results on internal and external processes times for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Staffing Framework

New Direction in Staffing Implementation

The CEAA has had a Policy on the Appointment Process which includes the use of advertised and non-advertised processes, the articulation of selection decision and a section on the area of selection. This policy came into effect on April 13, 2016.  The SSA has been informed that the former CEAA staffing policies will be adapted to reflect the new name and scope of mandate of the new IAAC.

The CEAA had their sub-delegation instrument revised by PSC representatives and the latest version of this instrument was approved in May 2016.

In terms of monitoring, the PSC met with the CEAA on November 10, 2018, to discuss monitoring for staffing. The SSA shared some information with regards to ongoing monitoring and cyclical assessment reporting in April 2019. The CEAA indicated at that time that they planned on reviewing their monitoring framework for staffing activities in the near future.

As it is for all new Deputy Heads, the new IAAC President has full discretion to review and update these staffing instruments to reflect current and emerging needs of the organization.

Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument Annex D Reporting

Use of the Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order and the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulations

The CEAA reported that the organization made no use of the Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Orderand one use of the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulationsfor the period of April 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019. The PSC is supporting the organization on the management of the outstanding case.

Approved Deputy Head Exceptions to the National Area of Selection Requirements for External Advertised Appointment Process

The CEAA reported one exceptionto the National Area of Selection approved by the DH. The exception was approved in support of an external advertised PC-03 process. The organization anticipated sufficient candidates in the St. John’s area who would meet the education and the experience requirements.

Inquiries and Trends

Since the implementation of the NDS, the CEAA’s human resources advisors have consulted the PSC on a variety of topics, mostly regarding assessment, the Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument (ADAI) and the Appointment Policy. The CEAA has demonstrated openness and willingness to share their tools with other organizations. Other topics of discussion between the CEAA and the SSA involved the articulation of the selection decision, the hiring of former students, reassessing official languages within the same appointment process and questions surrounding sub-delegated authorities and its conditions.

Oversight

Audits

No audits have occurred for both the IAAC and the CEAA since NDS. However, the PSC did conduct an audit of the CEAA in 2013 (pre-NDS). In November 2016, the PSC determined that it was satisfied with the CEAA’s progress in implementing the audit recommendations.

As a smaller organization, the IAAC may consult the PSC on the possibility of establishing an arrangement to generate a cyclical assessment report on its behalf, as per section 3 of the ADAI. It is our understanding, however, that the organization plans to conduct and submit their cyclical assessment report by May 1, 2021.

Investigations

Between September 2016 and September 2019, one case of fraud has been referred to the PSC, from the CEAA. This case was unfounded and the file closed.

Table 1 - Investigations

Nature of Issue

Cases
Received

Cases Referred by Organization

Closed –
Not Accepted

Completed
Unfounded

Completed
Founded

Ongoing

s.66 External Appointments (Merit, Error, Omission, Improper Conduct)

0

0

0

0

0

0

s.67.2 Internal Appointment - Deputy Head Request

0

0

0

0

0

0

s.68 Political Influence

0

0

0

0

0

0

s.69 Fraud

1

1

0

1

0

0

s.118 Improper Political Activities - Employees

0

0

0

0

0

0

Total

1

1

0

1

0

0

Note: The numbers may not add up as discontinued cases, cases resolved via early intervention and rare cases (s.119, s.67.1) are not included in this table.

Note: Each column is an independent calculation of the others. Cases received are cases received in the time period, cases completed are those completed in the period, not necessarily cases completed out of those received.

Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey Results

Overall, the CEAA’s Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey (SNPS) results are generally more favourable in comparison to other small organizations and the public service overall.
Below are some of the key findings of the CEAA SNPS results:

Diversity Profile

Employment Equity

Using data from 2017-2018, the statistics reveal that the CEAA was above public service workforce availability for women and Aboriginals. However, gaps were observed for persons with disabilities and visible minorities. The representativeness of the four designated groups will have to be reviewed once the new data on the Public Service Work Force Availability are released in 2019.

Table 2 - Employment Equity

Designated Group

Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)*
2017-2018
Note: Data on Work Force Availability for organizations are not available for 2019

Representation across the
Public Service of Canada
2017-2018
Note: Data for 2019 are not available 

Women

65.1%

54.8%

Aboriginal Peoples

6.2%

5.1%

Persons with Disabilities

3.5%

5.3%

Members of Visible Minorities

10.5%

15.7%

Source: Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada 2017- 2018 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

*IAAC replaced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on August 28, 2019. Consequently, data provided is for the latter. The following analysis applies to IAAC.

The following array of solutions may be useful as the IAAC continues to build a representative and diverse workforce:

The Public Service Employment Act includes provisions that enable managers to:

The PSC offers recruitment solutions that target designated group members such as:

Priority Entitlements and Veterans

The IAAC currently has two (2) persons with priority entitlement (PPE) identified in the Priority Information Management System. Both have been identified as Leave of Absence Returnee Priorities. Since April 1, 2018, the CEAA appointed one (1) PPE. This PPE was an employee of this organization and as such, had a statutory priority entitlement.

Since the coming into force of the Veterans Hiring Act on July 1, 2015, priority persons with a former Canadian Armed Forces member entitlement have yet to be appointed to a position within the organization.

From April 1, 2018 to September 5, 2019, the CEAA submitted 309 requests for priority clearance.

Non-Partisanship in the Public Service

The IAAC’s Designated Political Activities Representative is Elaine Mignault. Over the years, the PSC has not received many political candidacy requests from the CEAA employees. Since April 1, 2015, the PSC has not received nor processed any requests from the organization in this regard.

The 2018 Staffing and Non-partisanship Survey results indicate that the CEAA employees' level of awareness regarding their legal rights and responsibilities for engaging in political activities is 84.1%, compared to 80.1% for the public service as a whole

PSC Initiatives

The IAAC has participated and submitted requests for the employment opportunity for Aboriginal students and employment opportunity for students with disabilities. In summary, the organization hired:

The IAAC has not participated in the Federal internship program for Canadians with disabilities (FIPCD). Although the FIPCD is at-capacity at this time, there will be opportunities for new clients/organizations to participate in cohorts planned for 2020/21.

Staffing Support

Public Service Commission Representatives and Organizational Contacts

The SSA assigned to this organization is Caroline Fortin-Beaudry. The Head of Human Resources is Sylvain Campeau, Director, Human Resources and the main organizational contact is Marie-Claude Lemieux, Manager, Human Resources.

Prepared by:

Caroline Fortin-Beaudry,
Staffing Support Advisor

Annexes:

Annex A

A New direction in Staffing – A merit-based system that is effective, efficient and fair

Appointment Policy

New focus on core requirements to provide sub-delegated persons greater discretion in making an appointment

Delegation

All PSC monitoring and reporting requirements now found in the Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument

Monitoring and Reporting

Monitoring built by organizations, targeted to their needs

PSC Oversight

System wide-focus

This document should be read in conjunction with the Public Service Employment Act, the Public Service Employment Regulations, the PSC Appointment Policy and the PSC Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument.

Annex B

Figure 1 - Population by tenure as of March 31
Text version
Table 3 - Public Service Employment Act population by tenure as of March 31

Year

Indeterminate
population

Term
population

Casual
population

Student
population

Total
population

As of March 31, 2014

182

17

24

6

229

As of March 31, 2015

185

19

18

6

228

As of March 31, 2016

199

22

29

8

258

As of March 31, 2017

232

25

27

13

297

As of March 31, 2018

236

24

18

4

282

As of March 31, 2019

265

30

27

7

329

Figure 2 - Population by language requirements as of March 31, 2019
Text version
Table 4 - Public Service Employment Act population by language requirements of the position for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

Linguistic requirements of the position

Population as of March 31, 2019

Percentage of population as of March 31, 2019

Bilingual

149

57%

Unilingual

112

43%

Unknown

68

 

Figure 3 - Population by occupational group as of March 31, 2019
Text version
Table 5 - Top occupational groups, as a percentage of the Public Service Employment Act population for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

Occupational group

Population as of March 31, 2019

Percentage of population as of March 31, 2019

PC – Physical Sciences

114

35%

EC – Economics and Social Science Services

55

17%

AS – Administrative Services

39

12%

CR – Clerical and Regulatory

25

8%

Other

89

28%

Figure 4 - Population by region as of March 31, 2019
Text version
Table 6 - Distribution by region, as a percentage of the Public Service Employment Act population for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

Region

Population as of March 31, 2019

Percentage of population as of March 31, 2019

National Capital Region (NCR)

226

69%

Non-NCR

101

31%

Unknown

2

 

Figure 5 - External indeterminate hires by occupational group, 2018-19
Text version
Table 7 - External indeterminate hires by top occupational groups, for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

Occupational group

Number of indeterminate hiring activities

Percentage of all indeterminate hiring activities

EC – Economics and Social Science Services

7

28%

CR – Clerical and Regulatory

6

24%

PC – Physical Sciences

5

20%

AS – Administrative Services

4

16%

Other

3

12%

Total

25

100%

Figure 6 - Staffing by region
Text version
Table 8 - Percentage of staffing activities in the National Capital Region compared with all other regions by fiscal year

Fiscal year

Percentage of staffing activities in the National Capital Region (NCR)

Percentage of staffing activities in all other regions (Non-NCR)

2014 to 2015

60%

40%

2015 to 2016

72%

28%

2016 to 2017

66%

34%

2017 to 2018

75%

25%

2018 to 2019

73%

27%

Figure 7 - Staffing by process type
Text version
Table 9 - Number and percentage of staffing activities by type of process and fiscal year

Fiscal year

Non-advertised processes (excludes unknowns)

Advertised processes

% of Non- advertised processes

2014 to 2015

17

33

34%

2015 to 2016

17

34

33%

2016 to 2017

14

77

15%

2017 to 2018

37

56

40%

2018 to 2019

59

59

50%

Figure 8 - Staffing by appointment type
Text version
Table 10 - Staffing activities by appointment type and fiscal year

Fiscal year

Promotions

Lateral and downward movements

Appointments to the public service (includes casuals and students)

Acting appointments (excludes appointments of less than 4 months)

Total

2014 to 2015

19

35

73

29

156

2015 to 2016

30

37

104

34

205

2016 to 2017

47

57

123

37

264

2017 to 2018

49

45

88

24

206

2018 to 2019

64

52

136

32

284

Figure 9 - Staffing by tenure
Text version
Table 11 - Staffing activities by tenure and fiscal year

Fiscal year

Indeterminate staffing activities

Term staffing activities

Casual staffing activities

Student staffing activities

Total staffing activities

2014 to 2015

75

22

42

17

156

2015 to 2016

97

25

61

22

205

2016 to 2017

147

39

55

23

264

2017 to 2018

128

23

39

16

206

2018 to 2019

166

41

53

24

284

Key findings - Staffing and non-partisanship survey (2018)

Figure 10 - Student program hires
Text version
Table 12 - Student staffing activities by recruitment program and fiscal year

Fiscal year

Federal Student Work Experience Program

Post-Secondary Co-op/Internship Program

Research Affiliate Program

Total

2014 to 2015

7

10

0

17

2015 to 2016

12

10

0

22

2016 to 2017

10

13

0

23

2017 to 2018

9

7

0

16

2018 to 2019

6

18

0

24

Figure 11 - External indeterminate and term hiring activities: Post-Secondary Recruitment Program and former student hires
Text version
Table 13 - External indeterminate and term hiring activities: Post-Secondary Recruitment Program and former student hires by fiscal year

Fiscal year

Post-Secondary Recruitment Program hires

Hiring of former students

2014 to 2015

0

5

2015 to 2016

0

8

2016 to 2017

0

10

2017 to 2018

0

5

2018 to 2019

1

11

Figure 12 - Internal time to staff Public service median = 176 days 2018-19

Internal Time to Staff

The data is insufficient for providing results on internal process times for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Internal time to staff is calculated as the number of calendar days between the opening date of the advertisement and the date of the first notification.

Internal time to staff for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

The median internal time to staff for the public service (organizations subject to the Public Service Employment Act) for fiscal year 2018 to 2019 is 176 days.

The data is insufficient for providing results on internal process times for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Figure 13 - External time to staff Public service median = 186 days 2018-19

External Time to Staff

The data is insufficient for providing results on external process times for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

External time to staff is calculated as the number of calendar days between the opening date of the advertisement and the date of the first estimated external hire.

External time to staff for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

The median external time to staff for the public service (organizations subject to the Public Service Employment Act) for fiscal year 2018 to 2019 is 186 days.

The data is insufficient for providing results on external process times for the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Text version
Table 14 - Internal and External time to staff

Number of calendar days

The number of internal appointments for which the TTS-IA was within the specified number of calendar days for organizations subject to the Public Service Employment Act

The number of external appointment processes for which the TTS-EA was within the specified number of calendar days for organizations subject to the Public Service Employment Act

0 calendar days

0

0

0 to 29 calendar days

15

49

30 to 59 calendar days

130

82

60 to 89 calendar days

277

124

90 to 119 calendar days

391

160

120 to 149 calendar days

367

181

150 to 179 calendar days

322

179

180 to 209 calendar days

278

160

210 to 239 calendar days

241

139

240 to 269 calendar days

165

84

270 to 299 calendar days

134

73

300 to 329 calendar days

107

61

330 to 359 calendar days

77

41

360 to 389 calendar days

61

43

390 to 419 calendar days

53

49

420 to 449 calendar days

51

35

450 to 479 calendar days

42

22

480 to 509 calendar days

40

27

510 to 539 calendar days

32

17

540 to 569 calendar days

24

15

570 to 599 calendar days

21

14

600 to 629 calendar days

11

12

630 to 659 calendar days

19

7

660 to 689 calendar days

3

5

690 to 719 calendar days

13

7

720 to 749 calendar days

6

11

750 to 779 calendar days

5

3

780 to 809 calendar days

8

7

810 to 839 calendar days

4

2

840 to 869 calendar days

10

2

870 to 899 calendar days

4

0

900 to 929 calendar days

5

3

930 to 959 calendar days

5

1

960 to 989 calendar days

3

0

More than 990 calendar days

23

0

Technical Notes

Sources

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