President meeting with Guylaine Roy, Deputy Minister, Department for Women and Gender Equality December 19, 2019

Introduction

Deputy Head

Guylaine Roy was appointed to the position of the Deputy Minister for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) (formerly Status of Women Canada) in addition to her role as Deputy Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, effective September 23, 2019.

Ms. Roy has previously exercised the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) authority as Deputy Head (DH). A copy of the New Direction in Staffing (NDS) highlights for DHs is attached as Annex A.

Organizational Context

Mandate

On December 13, 2018, new legislation created WAGE, transforming the former Status of Women Canada. This change modernizes and formalizes, in law, the roles of the Minister and the Department.

The mandate has been expanded for gender equity to include sexual orientation as well as gender identity and expression. More specifically, WAGE works to advance gender equality through an intersectional gendered lens. Working in partnership with key stakeholders, including civil society organizations, labour groups, the private sector, other orders of government, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, the Department actively promotes the inclusion of all people in Canada’s economic, social, and political life.

WAGE works to uphold its mandate to advance gender equality by performing a central coordination function within the Government of Canada by developing and implementing policies, providing grants and contributions, delivering programs, investing in research, and providing advice to achieve equality for people of all genders, including women.

Challenges

With the creation of this department in December 2018, the organization has gone from a micro organization with less than 100 staff to a small organization of approximately 200 employees, including a new Human Resources Directorate.

As a result of this change, work continues on building capacity to reach a full complement of staff.

Population and Staffing Activities

Population

WAGE is an organization with 180 employees. As at March 31, 2019, the workforce consisted of the following:

• 110 indeterminate employees;
• 7 term employees;
• 55 casual employees;
• 8 students.

Note that the data provided by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the attached Annexes is from March 31, 2019, and may not correspond to the data provided by the organization owing to differences in methodology and time periods. According to WAGE statistics on April 9, 2019, the organization had 305 employees, 183 of whom were indeterminate.

Staffing Activities

In 2018–2019, WAGE completed 18 advertised processes and 28 non-advertised processes. In total, WAGE carried out 205 staffing activities:

• 21 appointments to the public service;
• 25 promotions;
• 6 acting appointments (excluding appointments of less than 4 months);
• 99 appointments to casual positions;
• 14 appointments to positions for students;
• 40 deployments.

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

As mentioned above, PSC data may differ from that of the organization. In this case, WAGE states that it carried out 12 advertised processes.

Time to Staff

There is insufficient data to provide results on internal or external staffing times for WAGE.

Staffing Framework

New Direction in Staffing (NDS) Implementation

The former organization (Status of Women Canada) implemented the NDS. However, with the creation of WAGE, all staffing policies and the sub-delegation of staffing authorities instrument are being reviewed. Since July 2019, the organization’s 11 sub-delegated managers have all signed the attestation form.

The staffing monitoring framework is also being reviewed to reflect organizational changes. Consultations are being held with other departments and the PSC in order to adopt the best staffing practices that will meet the needs and suit the actuality of this new 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  

WAGE was managing a case where an individual was exempted from meeting the linguistic profile requirement of his/her bilingual position. The reason for exemption was the eligibility for an immediate annuity within two years of the non-imperative appointment. The individual submitted an irrevocable resignation and the departure date was September 4, 2019. Consequently, no follow-up is required by the PSC.

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

According to the latest Annex D report (for the 2018–2019 cycle), no exception to use the National Area of Selection (NAOS) requirements for external advertised processes was approved by the DH.

Results of Organizational Cyclical Assessment

To date, WAGE has not reported on the cyclical assessment. However, the organization has until March 31, 2021, to complete the assessment. The organization has opted not to participate in the PSC pilot project for small and micro organizations for the time being. The PSC’s Staffing Support Advisor assigned to this organization remains available to provide advice and guidance on this topic.

Inquiries and Trends

The majority of inquiries submitted by WAGE to the PSC’s Staffing Support Advisor over the past year were related to the Public Service Employment Act(PSEA). Other questions had to do with acting appointments, official languages, area of selection and qualified candidate pool management.

Oversight

Audits

In 2014–2015, WAGE was audited by the PSC as part of a series of audits of small and micro organizations. The audit focused on commonly reported risk areas for organizations of this size, such as authority sub-delegation and merit. The audit concluded, among other things, that appointment authorities were properly managed and appointments were based on merit and respected priority entitlements. No recommendations were issued.

WAGE was selected to be part of the Horizontal Audit of Student Hiring under the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP).

Investigations

No investigations to report for WAGE.

Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey Results

WAGE’s participation rate in the 2018 Staffing and Non-Partisanship Survey (SNPS) was 38.7%. The average rate for all 74 participating departments and agencies was 47.6%.

The following are key findings from WAGE’s 2018 SNPS results:

• 65.4% of employees agreed that the people hired are capable of doing the job, compared with 67.1% in similar-size organizations and 53.8% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 48.9% of managers agreed that the New Direction in Staffing has improved the way they hire and appoint persons to and within their organization, compared with 69.7% in similar-size organizations and 56.1% across all organizations in the federal public service.
• 80.3% of managers agreed that within their organization, the administrative process to staff a position is burdensome, compared with 79.3% in similar-size organizations and 89.7% across all organizations in the federal public service.

Diversity Profile

WAGE exceeds workforce availability for women, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities. The representation rate for Indigenous peoples was not reported because of privacy reasons related to the small number of people involved, and therefore cannot be analyzed.

Table 1 - Diversity profile

Designated Group	Public Service Work Force Availability (WFA)	Department for Women and Gender Equality	Representation Across the Public Service of Canada
Women	52.5%	87.9%	54.8%
Indigenous people	3.4%	*	5.1%
Persons with disabilities	4.4%	5.5%	5.3%
Members of visible minorities	13.0%	20.9%	15.7%

Source:  Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada for Fiscal Year 2017 to 2018
Treasury Board Secretariat

* Information for small numbers has been removed.

Priority Entitlements and Veterans

From April 1, 2018 to July 18, 2019, the organization appointed one person with a priority entitlement.

As at July 23, 2019, WAGE had two persons with priority entitlements activated in the Priority Information Management System. Both are entitled to a leave of absence.

Since the Veterans Hiring Act came into effect on July 1, 2015, the organization has not made any appointments of persons with a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) priority entitlement.

Non-Partisanship in the Public Service

Each organization has a designated political activities representative who works with the PSC to provide support. WAGE’s designated political activities representative is Julie Nixon, Manager, Client Services, Human Resources Services.

The PSC receives very few requests from WAGE employees for permission to be a candidate in an election. Since April 1, 2006, the PSC has granted permission for three requests, one of which is still active.

The 2018 Staffing and Non-partisanship Survey results indicate that WAGE employees are more likely to engage in political activities (other than voting or seeking political candidacy): 8.4%, compared with 2.4% for the public service as a whole.

However, WAGE employees demonstrate a high level of awareness regarding their rights and responsibilities relative to engaging in political activities: 95.6%, compared with 80.1% for the public service as a whole.

Recruitment Programs

Since 2019, WAGE has hired one person through the Indigenous Student Employment Opportunity under the Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP).  Currently, no hires have been made under the Federal Internship Program for Canadians with Disabilities and the FSWEP Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities.

Staffing Support

Public Service Commission Representatives and Organizational Contacts

The Staffing Support Advisor assigned to this organization is Johanne Villeneuve.

The primary organizational contact is Julie Nixon, Manager, Client Services, Human Resources Services.

The Head of Human Resources is Martin Prescott, Director General, Human Resources.

Prepared by:

1. Johanne Villeneuve,
2. Staffing Support Advisor

Annexes:

• Annex A – A New Direction in Staffing (NDS) highlights for DHs
• Annex B - Data on Population and Staffing Activities

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

• One Appointment Policy, no duplication with legal requirements
• Broader focus on values-based system, away from rules-based system
• Appointments Policy supported by streamlined guidance:
• A roadmap to the requirements in legislation, regulations and policy
• Options and considerations for decision-making where there is discretion
• Clear expectations for priority entitlements
• No restrictions to assessment methods for EX appointments
• Exceptions to National Area of Selection approved by deputy head

Delegation

• New ability to customize organizational staffing system based on unique context and evolving business needs
• Deputy head establish a direction on the use of advertised and non-advertised appointment processes
• Deputy heads to establish requirement(s) for sub-delegated persons to articulate, in writing, their selection decision
• Clarity on requirements related to investigations
• Attestation form to reinforce the accountabilities of sub-delegated persons

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

• Annual Departmental Staffing Accountability Report no longer required
• Annual reporting to the PSC limited to:
• Use of Public Service Official Language Exclusion Approval Order
• Exceptions to the National Area of Selection approved by the deputy head
• Results of any internal investigations
• Actions taken following any PSC investigations or audits.
• Deputy head responsible for ongoing monitoring of organizational staffing system based on the organization’s unique context
• Assessment of adherence to requirements, based on organization’s own risks, at the minimum every five years

PSC Oversight

System wide-focus

• Government-wide compliance audit every two years
• Renewed Survey of Staffing administered in alternating years with government-wide audit
• System-wide effectiveness and efficiency reviews to support continuous improvement
• Targeted PSC audits as a result of identified system-wide or organizational risks or at the deputy head request
• Investigations conducted when there is a reason to believe there was political influence, fraud or improper conduct in an appointment process

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

• Includes indeterminate and term appointments
• Excludes lateral and downward movements, deployments and acting appointments of less than four months
• Includes only appointments where the staffing process type is known (35% to 88% of appointments)

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

• 65.4% of employees feel that people hired can do the job, compared with 67.1% in organizations of similar size, and 53.8% in the federal public service.
• 48.9% of managers feel that the New Direction in Staffing has improved the way they hire and appoint persons within their organization, compared with 69.7% in organizations of similar size, and 56.1% in the federal public service.
• 80.3% of managers feel that within their organization, the administrative process to staff a position is burdensome, compared with 79.3% in organizations of similar size, and 87.9% in the federal public service.

Hires with experience in a federal student recruitment program within the last 10 years.

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

Internal time to staff by fiscal year from 2018–2019
The data is insufficient for providing results on the internal time to staff for the Department for Women and Gender Equality.

Technical Notes:

• 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 (PSRS) for internal term and indeterminate positions.
• 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. Since data between systems is linked using probabilistic matching, measurement errors are possible.
• Only term and indeterminate appointments are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded).

Sources:

• Data on hiring and staffing activities is derived from information received from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Incumbent File. The Incumbent File is extracted from Public Services and Procurement Canada’s compensation system. Data are an estimate of hiring and staffing activities for organizations.
• Information from the Priority Information Management System and the Public Service Resourcing System is also used to determine whether staffing processes are advertised or non-advertised and to calculate the time to staff.
• This data does not necessarily correspond to the human resources data for each organization because of differences in methodology and time periods covered by the analysis.
• 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 (PSRS) for internal term and indeterminate positions.
• Only term and indeterminate appointments are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded).
• 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 term and indeterminate appointments are included (deployments, casual and acting appointments are excluded).
• Since data between systems is linked using probabilistic matching, measurement errors are possible.
• Data on hiring and staffing activities is derived from information received from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Incumbent File. The Incumbent File is extracted from Public Services and Procurement Canada’s compensation system. Data is an estimate of hiring and staffing activities for organizations.
• Information from the Priority Information Management System and the Public Service Resourcing System is also used to determine whether staffing processes are advertised or non-advertised and to calculate the time to staff.
• This data does not necessarily correspond to the human resources data for each organization because of differences in methodology and time periods covered by the analysis.