President meeting with Marta Morgan, Deputy Minister of Global Affairs Canada

Introduction 

Deputy Head

Ms. Marta Morgan was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) on May 6, 2019.

Deputy Minister University Champion

As a Deputy Minister University Champion, Ms. Morgan plays a key role in Public Service Renewal by building relations between the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU).

Ms. Morgan is an active Champion and was involved in many events in 2018 and 2019. Since April 1, 2019, the PSC attended six events at SFU in support of the public service renewal:

• April 1, 2019: SFU Beedie “Meet the Pros” – organized by SFU Beedie School of Business.
• May 16, 2019: Meeting with SFU to explore their French program, discuss recruitment, Work Integrated Learning best practise, opportunities and challenges for students and graduates.
• July 18, 2019: Meeting with SFU regarding how the PSC can continue to support SFU co‑op students and discuss their interest in speed staffing event for the Spring 2020.
• July 18 and 19, 2019: SFU “Meet the Pros”– two information sessions to students mostly in Finance, Accounting, Audit and Human Resources.
• September 25 and 26, 2019: SFU Big Fair.
• October 10, 2019: University of British Columbia (UBC) Speed Staffing event – GAC interviewed for UBC co-op students at the event.

Additionally, GAC was invited to participate in the Student Ambassador Initiative but did not hire any Student Ambassadors. However, Employment and Social Development Canada has hired two SFU student ambassadors for their own department for Vancouver.

Recruitment of Policy Leaders Champion

Ms. Morgan is the Champion for the Recruitment of Policy Leaders (RPL).

Following the evaluation of the RPL program, the PSC is reaching out to the School to provide support in next year’s campaign. The details of the MOU have not been finalized yet.

Table 1 - Emerging Talent Pool

Year	Number of qualified candidates	Hired from the pool	Types of contracts	Candidates available	Candidates not available	Referrals
2017-2018	15	7	6 indeterminate 1 term (until February 2020)	3 (in the next 6 months) 4 (later in 2020)	1 (candidate removed from GCPedia)	9 (for 5 available candidates)
2018-2019	26	0	0	9 (as of August 8, 2019) 23 (to be available in January 2020)	0	0
From January 2019 to today	0	1 (the referral was made in 2018)	0	0	0	7

Table 2 - Recruitment of Policy Leaders

Year	Number of qualified candidates	Hired from the pool	Candidates available	Candidates not available	Referrals
2017-2018	27	8	12 (in the next 6 months) 4 (later in 2020) *	3	15 (for 11 candidates available)
2018-2019	37	0	0	0	0
From January 2019 to today	0	0	-	0	1

*The 2017-2018 pool expires in December 2020.

Organizational Context

Mandate

GAC manages Canada’s diplomatic relations, provides consular services to Canadians, promotes the country’s international trade, and leads Canada’s international development and humanitarian assistance.

GAC also preserves and supports Canadian prosperity and security, and contributes to a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world, in a gender-responsive manner. The organization is implementing Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy and its suite of feminist international policies, programs and initiatives across its commitments in diplomacy, trade, security, development and consular services. The Feminist Foreign Policy recognizes that fostering rights-based, open and inclusive societies, where all people, regardless of their gender, can fully benefit from equal participation in economic, political, social and cultural life, is an effective way to build a safer and more prosperous world.

Challenges

GAC has recruitment and retention challenges for the occupational groups CS, FI, IS and PG. They have also needs at the FS occupational group. The last FS process was at the FS-03 group and level and closed on September 4, 2019. An internal FS-01 process was launched simultaneously with the post-secondary recruitment campaign of 2019. GAC is also planning to launch a FS-02 process (next spring).

Population and Staffing Activities

Population

GAC is a large organization that has a population of 6,556 employees (as of March 31, 2019). The majority of the employees are indeterminate and are in the National Capital Region. The population is as follows:

• 5,408 indeterminate employees;
• 475 term employees;
• 396 casual employees; and
• 277 students.

The PSC is currently working closely with GAC to modernize the regulatory framework with respect to Locally Engaged Staff (LES). There are approximately 5000 LES across 178 missions in over 112 jurisdictions. LES have been excluded from the operation of the Public Service Employment Act since 1967 by way of an exclusion approval order.

Staffing Activities

In 2018-2019, GAC proceeded with a total of 4,552 staffing activities:

• 552 appointments to the public service;

• 650 promotions;
• 803 acting appointments;
• 826 casuals;
• 553 students; and
• 1,168 lateral and downward movements.

A high number of casual was hired for the G7 Summit, in June 2018. Other reasons for the hiring of casuals includes emergencies and twenty-four hours-media monitoring.

Regarding the use of PSC targeted programs:

• GAC did not identify any positions for the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities.
• GAC submitted three requests through the Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities in 2019, and hired one student through this inventory.
• GAC submitted two requests through the Indigenous Student Employment inventory in 2019, and hired one student from this inventory.

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

Time to Staff

In 2018-2019, GAC had a median time to staff of 189 days for internal appointments, which is higherthan the median of the public service, which is 176 days.

Due to the limited amount of external advertised appointment processes conducted by GAC in 2018-2019, there is insufficient data to provide information about time to staff for external appointments.

Staffing Framework

New Direction in Staffing Implementation

GAC provided the PSC with the Staffing Framework they implemented in 2016. Notwithstanding New Direction in Staffing (NDS) flexibilities, GAC HR advisors noticed some resistance from sub‑delegated managers, and it remains difficult to implement new approaches in staffing.

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

GAC reported that the organization approved one extension under the Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulations for the period of April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019.

Between April 3, 2012 and March 31, 2015, for employees impacted by workforce adjustment (alterning employees, employees with a surplus priority and persons with a lay-off priority), the Second language Evaluation (SLE) results that were over five years old were deemed valid, subject to confirmation within 12 months of the alternation or priority appointment. GAC has one outstanding case of SLE confirmation in which, despite its efforts to refer the employee to managers of other divisions within GAC, the organization has not been able to find an English essential position for the employee. The employee has requested language training, and the organization is now looking at options. No action is required from the PSC at this point.

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

GAC’s DH has not approved any exceptions to the National Area of Selection.

Results of Organizational Cyclical Assessment

GAC intends to provide its first cyclical assessment before the end of fiscal year 2021‑2022.

Since the implementation of NDS, GAC observed an increase of their non-advertised processes, particularly within the FI and PG occupational groups. GAC’s non-advertised processes represented 52% of their appointments in 2018-2019, compared to 33% in 2016-2017. GAC indicated that this will be reviewed as part of their monitoring exercise.

Inquiries and Trends

The PSC received a total of 63 inquiries from GAC from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2019. These requests were related to 19 different topics, but mainly on the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) and the assessment in the staffing process.

Oversight

Audits

GAC was audited by the PSC in 2011. In August 2015, the PSC determined that it was satisfied with the organization’s progress in implementing the audit recommendations.

GAC was included in the completed System-Wide Staffing Audit, for which the final report was published in December 2018.

GAC is one of 30 organizations selected for the Audit of Employment Equity Representation in Recruitment that is currently underway.

Investigations

Between May 5, 2016, and May 5, 2019, the PSC received 20 cases for investigation pertaining to GAC. From those, 8 were referred by the organization. During this period, 14 cases were not accepted, 4 were unfounded, 1 was founded and 2 are still ongoing.

Table 3- 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	15	3	13	0	0	2
s.67 Internal Appointment – Deputy Head Request	0	0	0	0	0	0
s.68 Political Influence	0	0	0	0	0	0
s.69 Fraud	4	4	1	4	0	0
s.118 Improper Political Activities – Employees	1	1	0	0	1	0
Total	20	8	14	4	1	2

Note: The number of received cases may not add up to the numbers or completed/closed cases as completed/closed cases are not necessarily cases that were received in the same period. Some cases can also be discontinued or resolved via early intervention.

Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey Results

The results of the Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey are based on a response rate of 49% for GAC, compared to 47.6% for the public service.
Below are key findings from GAC’s 2018 SNPS results:

• 100% of staffing advisors indicated that they can explain to managers how their organization’s implementation of the NDS relates to their staffing needs, as compared to 92.2% in similar size organizations and 93.1% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 53.7% of managers indicated that they understand the NDS, as compared to 60.1% in similar size organizations and 61.4% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 36.7% of managers indicated that the NDS has resulted in staffing being made simpler in their organization, as compared to 44.5% in similar size organizations and 46.3% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 29.9% of managers indicated that staffing options available to them within their organizations allow them to address their staffing needs as quickly as required, as compared to 35.5% in similar size organizations and 37.6% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 48.2% of managers agreed that, overall, they were satisfied with the staffing services they received within their organizations, as compared to 57.7% in similar size organizations and 59.4% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 55.7% of employees have the perception that the appointment processes depend on who you know, as compared to 54.9% in similar size organizations and 54% across all organizations in the federal public service.

Diversity Profile 

The workforce availability (WFA) estimates in the public service for 2019 have been updated in the Diversity Profile although new estimates for organizations will only be released in the coming month. Using data from 2017-2018, GAC is doing well with the representation of women, Aboriginal peoples and especially visible minorities. However, the organization is below workforce availability for persons with disabilities, who represent 3.8% of it’s workforce, while the workforce availability for this group is 4.4%. The organization may wish to take action on that front, especially given the 7% target (5000 persons with disabilities) set in the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service and the new 9% workforce availability. These findings will be revised when new estimates are released.

Table 4 - Diversity Profile

Designated Group	Public Service Work Force Availability 2019	Public Service Work Force Availability 2018	Global Affairs Canada	Representation across the Public Service of Canada
Women	52.5%	52.5%	55.6%	54.8%
Aboriginal Peoples	4%	3.4%	5%	5.1%
Persons with Disabilities	9%	4.4%	3.8%	5.3%
Members of Visible Minorities	15.3%	13%	21.1%	15.7%

Source: Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada 2017- 2018

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Priority Entitlements and Veterans

As of November 14, 2019, there were 30 Persons with Priority Entitlements (PPE) in GAC. From April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, GAC appointed 10 PPEs. Nine of the PPEs came from other organizations. Eight of the PPEs held Leave of Absence Returnee entitlements. GAC has appointed 4 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) statutory PPEs (attributable to service) and 0 CAF regulatory PPEs (not attributable to service) since the coming into force of the Veterans Hiring Act on July 1, 2015.

From April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, GAC submitted 1085 priority clearance requests.

Table 5 - Priority Entitlements and Veterans

Fiscal year	Attributable to service (statutory)	Not attributable to service (regulatory)	Total
2015 (July 1) - 2016	0	0	0
2016 - 2017	0	0	0
2017 - 2018	2	0	2
2018 - 2019	1	0	1
August 2019	1	0	1
Total	4	0	4

Source: PSC Priority Information Management System

Non-Partisanship in the Public Service

Since 2016-2017, the PSC received 10 candidacy requests from GAC employees, among which two employees requested permission to seek nomination and be a candidate in the 2019 federal election (both have been chosen candidates by their party).

Two employees are currently elected at the municipal level (one full-time and one part-time).

The results of the 2018 SNPS demonstrate that GAC employees have an overall higher awareness and understanding of political activities and non-partisanship than the public service as a whole.

It is also interesting to note that the percentage (2.8%) of employees who indicated that they engaged in political activities in 2017 – other than voting or seeking political candidacy – is also slightly higher for GAC employees than the public service as a whole (2.4%).

Public Service Commission (PSC) Initiatives

The PSC is pleased to have GAC return as a client for PSR 2019. We are looking to establish an FS-01 inventory for them. As part of PSR 2019, there were 6751 applications, and 5890 applicants were screened in. The campaign ended on October 23, 2019.

As of November 12, 2019, GAC submitted seven requests for PSR referrals in 2019, from all available PRS inventories. No appointment has been reported following the requests for referral.

The PSC is in the midst of reviewing the Public Service Employment Regulations (PSER). GAC is a key stakeholder as they are one of three departments that use acting appointments in rotational positions. Engagement has begun and consultations will continue in the upcoming months.

GAC has participated in the Anonymized Recruitment project.

Staffing Support

Public Service Commission Representatives and Organizational Contacts

The Staffing Support Advisor (SSA) assigned to this organization is Véronique Geoffroy and the head of human resources is Francis Trudel, Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources.

PREPARED BY:
Véronique Geoffroy,
Staffing Support Advisor

Annex A

• Regional distribution excludes unknowns

• Includes indeterminate and specified term appointments
• Excludes lateral and downward movements, deployments and acting appointments of less than 4 months
• Includes only appointments where the staffing process type is known (41% to 56% of appointments)

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

• 58.1% of employees agreed that people hired can do the job, compared to 52.3% in organizations of similar size, and 53.8% in the federal public service
• 49.6% of managers agreed that the New Direction in Staffing has improved the way they hire and appoint persons to and within their organization, compared to 54.4% in organizations of similar size, and 56.1% in the federal public service
• 91.7% of managers agreed that within their organization, the administrative to staff a position is burdensome, compared to 88.6% in organizations of similar size, and 87.9% in the federal public service.

Hiring of former students includes indeterminate and term hires with experience in a federal student recruitment program within the last 10 years.

Requests for Post-Secondary Recruitment referrals for 2019

Table 17 - Requests for Post-Secondary Recruitment referrals for 2019

Department	Status	Number of Referrals Sent	Position Title	Group & Level	Tenure	Number of  Positions to Fill
Global Affairs Canada	Completed	10	Receptionist / Administrative Clerk	CR-04	Indeterminate	1
Global Affairs Canada	Completed	10	Foreign Service Officer - International Assistance	FS-01	Term 6-12 months	3
Global Affairs Canada	Cancelled	0	Foreign Service Officer - International Assistance	FS-02	Term 6-12 months	3
Global Affairs Canada	Completed	8	Human Resources Advisor, Developmental, Classification	PE-01	Indeterminate	4
Global Affairs Canada	Completed	12	Innovative Finance Contracting Officer	PG-04	Term 12+ months	1
Global Affairs Canada	Completed	0	Project Officer	CS-01	Indeterminate	2

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.

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

Global Affairs Canada’s median internal time to staff for fiscal year 2018 to 2019 is 189 days.

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  

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

External time to staff for fiscal year 2018 to 2019

The data is insufficient for providing results on external process times for Global Affairs Canada.

Technical notes:

• The Time to Staff - Internal Appointments (TTS-IA) is the median number of calendar days between the opening date of an internal advertisement and the date of the first Notice of Appointment or Proposal of Appointment (NAPA) from the Public Service Resourcing System for internal term and indeterminate positions. As NAPAs are not required for all internal staffing actions, this measure is limited to reporting on internal promotional appointments.
• The Time to Staff - External Appointments (TTS-EA) is the median number of calendar days between the opening date of an external advertisement and the date of the first estimated appointment of an individual from outside an organization subject to the Public Service Employment Act for term and indeterminate positions. Because data between systems is linked using a probabilistic match, errors in data linkage are a potential source of measurement error.
• Only estimated term and indeterminate appointments/notifications are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded).
• The Time to Staff - Internal Appointments (TTS-IA) is the median number of calendar days between the opening date of an internal advertisement and the date of the first Notice of Appointment or Proposal of Appointment (NAPA) from the Public Service Resourcing System for internal term and indeterminate positions. As NAPAs are not required for all internal staffing actions, this measure is limited to reporting on internal promotional appointments
• Only estimated term and indeterminate appointments/notifications are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded)
• The Time to Staff - External Appointments (TTS-EA) is the median number of calendar days between the opening date of an external advertisement and the date of the first estimated appointment of an individual from outside an organization subject to the Public Service Employment Act for term and indeterminate positions. Only estimated term and indeterminate appointments/notifications are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded)
• Because data between systems is linked using a probabilistic match, errors in data linkage are a potential source of measurement error