Fact Sheet: Establishing Regulations under the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act sets out a new proactive and timely approach to ensure that employees in the federal public sector receive equitable compensation at the time their wages are set. The Act was enacted by Parliament on , and will come into force after regulations have been developed and approved by the Governor in Council. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat is responsible for leading the development of the regulations.
The regulations will outline the obligations and the processes that are provided for under this new legislative framework.
About the Federal Government’s Regulatory Environment
Regulations are a form of law - they have binding legal effect and usually set out rules that apply generally, rather than to specific persons or situations. They are made by persons or bodies who have been delegated authority by Parliament, such as the Governor in Council, a minister or an administrative agency.
Federal regulation-making is governed by the Statutory Instruments Act and the Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management (the Cabinet Directive). The latter establishes a robust process and clear requirements to be followed to establish regulations. An important and mandatory component of the process is consulting Canadians.
Consulting Canadians about Equitable Compensation
Developing regulations for the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act is a complex undertaking involving many stakeholders, including the Treasury Board, the 25 separate agencies, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Forces, bargaining agents, the human resources community, federal public sector employees and the general public. Informative and accessible consultation is key to successful regulatory consultations.
In keeping with the Cabinet Directive, the Treasury Board Secretariat identified interested and affected parties at an early stage, and is providing them with opportunities to take part in open and meaningful consultations during the regulatory process and before pre-publication in the Canada Gazette. Stakeholders with obligations under the Act, such as employers and bargaining agents, have already had several opportunities to provide input on the development of the regulations. A final in-depth round of consultations took place in February and early . It included an on-line consultation that was extended to interested federal public sector employees through the Treasury Board Secretariat’s website. A summary report of the feedback received from the on-line consultation is currently available on this website.
The proposed regulations will be pre-published in Part I of the Canada Gazette. Pre-publication will provide various interested groups and individuals, as well as Canadians in general, a final opportunity to review and comment on the proposed regulations. All comments received during the consultation period will be considered before the regulations are finalized. Once the regulations have been approved by the Governor in Council in their final form, they will be published in Part II of the Canada Gazette.