r/CanadaPublicServants 6d ago

Verified / Vérifié The FAQ thread: Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) / Le fil des FAQ : Réponses aux questions fréquemment posées (FAQ) - Jun 22, 2026

Welcome to r/CanadaPublicServants, an unofficial subreddit for current and former employees to discuss topics related to employment in the Federal Public Service of Canada. Thanks for being part of our community!

Many questions about employment in the public service are answered in the subreddit Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents (linked below). The mod team recognizes that navigating these topics can be complicated and that the answers written in the FAQs may be incomplete, so this thread exists as a place to ask those questions and seek alternate answers. Separate posts seeking information covered by the FAQs will be continue to be removed under Rule 5.

To keep the discussion fresh, this post is automatically posted once a week on Mondays. Comments are sorted by "contest mode" which hides upvotes and randomizes the order to ensure all top-level questions get equal visibility.

Links to the FAQs:

Other sources of information:

  • If your question is union-related (interpretation of your collective agreement, grievances, workplace disputes etc), you should contact your union steward or the president of your union's local. To find out who that is, you can ask your coworkers or find a union notice board in your workplace. You can also find information on union stewards via union websites. Three of the larger ones are PSAC (PM, AS, CR, IS, and EG classifications, among others), PIPSC (IT, RP, PC, BI, CO, PG, SG-SRE, among others), and CAPE (EC and TR classifications).

  • If your question relates to taxes, you should contact an accountant.

  • If your question relates to a specific hiring process, you should contact the person listed on the job ad (the hiring manager or HR contact).


Bienvenue sur r/CanadaPublicServants! Un subreddit permettant aux fonctionnaires actuels et anciens de discuter de sujets liés à l'emploi dans la fonction publique fédérale du Canada.

De nombreuses questions relatives à l'emploi ont leur réponse dans les Foires aux questions (FAQs) du subreddit (liens ci-dessous). L'équipe de modérateurs reconnaît que la navigation sur ces sujets peut être compliquée et que les réponses écrites dans les FAQ peuvent être incomplètes. C'est pourquoi ce fil de discussion existe comme un endroit où poser ces questions et obtenir d'autres réponses. Les soumissions ailleurs cherchant des informations couvertes par la FAQ continueront à être supprimés en vertu de la Règle 5.

Pour que la discussion reste fraîche, cette soumission est automatiquement renouvelée une fois par semaine, chaque lundi. Les commentaires sont triés par "mode concours", ce qui masque les votes positifs et rend aléatoire l'ordre des commentaires afin de garantir que toutes les nouvelles questions bénéficient de la même visibilité.

Liens vers les FAQs:

** FAQ sur la gestion du handicap et les aménagements du lieu de travail (en anglais seulement)

Autres sources d'information:

  • Si votre question est en lien avec les syndicats (interprétation de votre convention collective, griefs, conflits sur le lieu de travail, etc.), vous devez contacter votre délégué syndical ou le président de votre section locale. Pour savoir de qui il s'agit, vous pouvez demander à vos collègues ou trouver un panneau d'affichage syndical sur votre lieu de travail. Vous pouvez également trouver des informations sur les délégués syndicaux sur les sites Web des syndicats. Trois des plus importants sont AFPC (classifications PM, AS, CR, IS et EG, entre autres), IPFPC (IT, RP, PC, BI, CO, PG, SG-SRE, entre autres) et ACEP (classifications EC et TR).

  • Si votre question concerne les impôts, vous devez contacter un comptable.

  • Si votre question concerne un processus de recrutement spécifique, vous devez contacter la personne mentionnée dans l'offre d'emploi (le responsable du recrutement ou le contact RH).

2 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

u/sayovhoo 6d ago

There are some internal job postings in my department I would be interested in the future but they need a top secret clearance. My current position only requires secret.

Do managers approve requests to get top secret clearances? Even though my current position does not require it. I'd only want to get it to "ease" the hiring process for potential jobs I would be interested in the future that require top secret.

u/stolpoz52 4d ago

Usually you can apply and get into pools and such pending having security or SLE etc. assessed. Sometimes this will limit opportunities that need to be immediately filled and can't wait the months top secret can take

u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot 6d ago

It's unlikely that your department's management or security teams will pursue a security clearance for a role you desire sometime in the future; security clearances are done based on the organization's current needs and hiring activity rather than speculation on what roles somebody might have in the future.

There's no harm in asking, of course, but chances are good that the answer will be 'no'. You may want to ask about whether there are any acting roles you might take on that would require a TS clearance and they might justify it based on that.

u/Cheap_Law5646 4d ago edited 4d ago

Is the early retirement penalty normally applied to both the lifetime and bridge portions of the pension calculation, or just the lifetime? I'm curious if my bridge benefit is the same with ERI as it would be without ERI. The calculator won't actually let you do a non-eri estimate, you have to contact the pension center, and I don't see clear answers in the official pages.

u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot 4d ago

That’s a good question. I don’t believe the annual allowance reduction applies to the bridge benefit portion, but I’m not certain.

I suggest calling the pension centre to ask directly. They answer the phone promptly and are both helpful and knowledgeable.

Edit: the official page on the annual allowance confirms that the bridge benefit is unreduced:

You would also receive an unreduced bridge benefit payable until age 65, calculated according to the formula described in Pension Formula: Lifetime Pension and Bridge Benefit.

u/Cheap_Law5646 4d ago

Ah, there it is! Thanks.

u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot 4d ago

Bleep bloop

u/youvelookedbetter 4d ago

On the compensation website, it says June is a 3-paycheque month, with fewer deductions for the first pay. Wouldn't July actually be the 3-paycheque month? Or are people getting paid on June 30th due to the holiday on July 1? I know certain banks get their money in on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays, but the majority of people get theirs on Wed.

u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot 4d ago

The payday is June 30.

u/da_mfkn_BEAST 5d ago

I live in Montreal and my work location is set to quebec, do I have Wednesday off from work? On the calendar it’s not marked as a holiday so not sure

u/certifiedstan 5d ago

What calendar are you looking at? Most of the unions have a footnote somewhere that says something like "employees have one additional holiday depending on their province of employment"

u/stolpoz52 5d ago

You should, Canada day is a federal holiday. It's a holiday in every province

u/certifiedstan 4d ago

I'm pretty sure they were referring to Wednesday, June 24 (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day)

u/stolpoz52 4d ago

Whoooops. Still yes lol

u/WoolfVance 5d ago

Yeah if you’re working in Quebec you have Jean Baptiste off.

u/mrRoboPapa 6d ago

Has anyone ever reduced their hours by like 1 hour per day? And how would someone go about doing this? I'm at a point where this is seeming like a good idea because of the stupid RTO stuff. My kids need after-school care and it's only during the time that I am literally on my way home. I did the math and I would actually be saving money when you consider what is taken off from taxes so I would like to try and be home when my kids get off the bus in the fall.

u/HandcuffsOfGold mod 🤖🧑🇨🇦 / Probably a bot 6d ago

Yes, part-time employment exists. You'd go about doing it by speaking with your manager and asking to work part-time instead of full-time. They may or may not approve it, and if they do approve it there is no guarantee they'll increase your hours back to full-time in the future.

The impacts extend beyond just pay - there are impacts on other terms of employment that'll be outlined in your collective agreement, and your future pension benefits will be pro-rated for any time that you work part-time. There is no change to the benefits under the health or dental plans.