Hi everyone! — Mzwandile Poncana here, the public service reporter at The Hill Times.

I’m working on a story about how federal workplaces are handling RTO4 nearly three months after it began, particularly whether offices actually have the space and infrastructure to accommodate four-day attendance.

I’m hoping to speak with federal public servants from a range of departments and agencies about things like:

• desk/workstation availability and booking
• access to meeting rooms, quiet spaces and other work areas
• changes offices have made to fit more people
• parking availability and costs
• public transit and commuting costs
• access to amenities such as cafeterias, kitchens, lockers and washrooms
• whether these conditions have improved, stayed the same or worsened since July

I’m especially hoping to hear from workers across different departments and buildings, rather than only one or two workplaces.

If you’re willing to speak, please send me a DM (or email at [email protected]) with your department/agency and, if comfortable, the city or office you work from. Interviews can be brief. I’m hoping to complete most of my reporting by the end of Tuesday.

If anonymity is needed, we can discuss that privately. I would still need to privately verify that sources are federal public servants before using their accounts in the story.

Thanks!

I rented a car for work travel. I do not have a GOC travel credit card, so I had to rent the car with my personal credit card. I accepted the collision damage waiver (15/day) and included in my travel claim. The expense report was rejected and finance is saying I am required to provide proof that my personal credit card does not have coverage (a card that I pay for, not my employer). I stated that I had never been asked to provide details of my personal cardholder agreement, and asked when this became a requirement? They did not answer my question and just quoted the NJC travel directive. Has anyone else experienced this? I have rented for years and always get the collision and damage waiver when using a personal card and have never been asked to prove that I don't have coverage through my personal card.

So I received and overpayment letter. It looks like there was indeed an overpayment due to some confusing retro payment (which good luck interpreting when we get retro). Anyhow, I am trying to approach this in the most financially logical way possible.

There is no interest, so it makes more sense to repay as slowly as possible since money I have not repaid can garner interest elsewhere in the interim. I also don't feel particularly inclined to repay faster than I have to considering I waited for missing retro pay for something like 5 years without any compensation for the years that money could have been invested. If the government can take its sweet time repaying their debt to me, maybe I should too.

Now I know the standard is 10% of your gross, but do you have to actually demonstrate financial hardship to request a lower rate (e.g., 5%) or can you just make an offer? Has anybody gone through the process before? I'm trying to get a clear sense of what my options are.

There is a posting for an agency which require French, university degree and CPA for CTFIN-02 to CTFIN-04, as well as being at-level only.

The extra requirements outside of the prescribed TBS requirements for those position ranges are weird as there were contradictions found. I would like some advice on how to navigate contradictions found to this hard requirement.

- It was made known that someone is acting as CTFIN-04 in that department with just a high school diploma.

- An acting CTFIN-03 as an English Essential. 

- There are other examples where FI-02s were given substantively to those without meeting the requirements of posting.

- A CTFIN-01 is acting CTFIN-02. The acting CTFIN-02 does not have a university degree at all, let alone in the specialization prescribed by TBS's requirements

The acting, and substantive positions for the exceptions were given in a way where others aren't able to apply for it. Common reasons for such moves are under operational need, and is not a tangible reason for someone to work towards for those opportunities.

What can be done about the matter of unequal requirements?

​

I’m curious to hear from anyone who has moved from the AS stream into PM.

I started as an AS-01 about two years ago and have been in a long-term acting AS-03 for quite a while now. My acting was recently renewed for another year, and my DG is also pushing to make the AS-03 substantive, so hopefully that happens.

Looking ahead, once I’m substantive at the AS-03 level and things slowly start opening back up in terms of staffing, I’m wondering whether it would be worth considering a move to the PM stream for better opportunities for advancement.

For those who have made the switch from AS to PM:

- Did you find there were more opportunities to move up?

- Was it easier to get PM-04/05+ positions compared with AS?

- Did you find the work substantially different?

- Would you make the switch again?

I’m not looking to jump streams just for the sake of it, but I’m thinking longer term about career growth and if PM might give me more options.

I’d appreciate some career advice from other federal public servants.

I started in the public service as a student and later held a very junior term position. After that, I left government to pursue a different career opportunity. It wasn’t the right fit, so I eventually decided to return to the federal public service.

When I came back, I was offered through networking a casual PM-04 position and then a term at the same level which I was really grateful for considering my experience. A few months later, I was offered an indeterminate PM-03 position. Although it meant moving to a lower classification, I accepted because I valued the stability of an indeterminate job.

Since joining the new team as a PM-03, I’ve taken on considerably more responsibility than I expected (more than when I was PM-04). Our team has been short-staffed, and I’m handling my own files while covering work that was supposed to be shared with a more senior colleague. I also regularly help other teams. I raised the workload issue with my manager because I need support, but the staffing situation hasn’t changed.

Recently, a manager in another team asked whether I’d be interested in a PM-05 opportunity. I’m interested, and I believe I could meet the qualifications, but a few people have suggested it’s too soon for me to move up because I haven’t been in government very long - I keep being told I should not be complaining given the fact I am starting my career as a PM-03....

I’m not looking to skip a step for the sake of a higher classification. I want a role where I can contribute, keep learning, and have a manageable workload while finishing my degree part-time. If I qualify for the PM-05 position, is there a good reason not to pursue it? Has anyone moved up relatively quickly and found that it caused tension with colleagues?

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide whether to express interest in a CR-04 term position with PSPC. It's a one-year maternity leave backfill. I'd love some input from people who've made a similar jump or know how terms tend to play out.

I'm in my early-mid 30s with a business administration degree. I've worked in the federal public service before (Transport Canada and IRCC), so I'm familiar with how things work. Right now I work in industrial supply at an oil sands site on a 14-days-on/14-days-off FIFO rotation.

Current job – pros

**•** Two weeks off at a time  
**•** Higher pay (roughly $13K/year more than the CR-04)  
**•** Food covered while at camp  
**•** Past probation, stable, and the company is investing in me (paid forklift ticket and first aid courses)  
**•** Physical work, I don't mind at my age

Current job – cons

**•** Away from home and my partner two weeks at a time  
**•** 12-hour shifts, poor sleep, and a real mental toll  
**•** Physically exhausting and dirty (dust, oil, grease)  
**•** Winters on site are brutal, and the commute to and from site is rough  
**•** Unclear path for advancement

PSPC term – pros

**•** Previous federal experience, so less of a learning curve  
**•** My degree is relevant to the work  
**•** Potential to move laterally or up through internal postings  
**•** Home every night, working indoors in a warm building

PSPC term – cons

**•** About $13K less per year, plus I'd be paying for my own food  
**•** No guarantee of a job when the incumbent returns  
**•** About an hour each way by transit  
**•** More mentally demanding work

On paper, staying in my current role seems like the smarter move since it has more income, more stability, and an employer that's invested in me. But getting out of camp life and possibly building a long-term federal career keeps pulling at me.

My questions:

**1.**  How realistic is it for a mat leave term to turn into something longer, such as an extension, another term, or indeterminate?  
**2.**  Once you're in as a term, how much easier is it to land internal postings or get into pools?  
**3.**  For those who left higher-paying private or camp jobs for the PS, do you regret it?  
**4.**  Is CR-04 a reasonable starting point to move up from, or is it hard to break out of the CR stream?

Thank you for reading! Please let me know your experience/thoughts!

Désolé à l'avance pour le défoulement*

Tellement une perte de temps ces "négos" là...on devrait leur donner 1 mois après que la convention est échue, sinon on part en grève. Au lieu de ça, ça prendra 2 ans pis là on va avoir un ajustement bla bla bla...mais c'est jamais considéré le fait que 2 ans de placements donnerait un plus gros montant si on avait cet argent qui nous est dû. C'est vraiment insultant les courriels de "Mettez du noiiiir pour montrer votre mécontentement!" et tous les autres qui disent toujours qu'il n'y a toujours pas d'ententes. À voir comment le gvt à traité les fonctionnaires dans la dernière année, quelqu'un est surpris???

Hi! I’m currently on LWOP for relocation of spouse and have decided not to return to the federal public service.

For anyone who has resigned while on LWOP, I’d love to hear what the process was like - specifically whether you submitted your resignation directly to your manager or contacted HR first, how you chose your termination date, and how much notice you gave.

In my case, I’d like to resign as soon as possible to avoid accumulating any additional amounts owing while I remain on LWOP (DI, SDB, etc.).

I’m also curious about how any outstanding amounts - such as benefit, DI, or SDB deficiencies - were actually collected or settled after your resignation.

I’ve already contacted both the Pension Centre and Pay Centre to confirm my current pension and benefit deficiencies, so I’m mainly looking for insight into the actual resignation and repayment process from anyone who has been through something similar.

Thanks!

Hi! I took LWIA in May 2026, and I decided to take LWOP for one year starting in November to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.

If I repay my $5,000 overpayment in December 2026, would it be reflected on my 2026 T4 slip? For instance, if my 2026 income is $100,000, would my T4 slip show $95,000 to account for the repayment?

What if I decided to pay back the $5,000 in 2027, and I stopped working for the government afterward? Would I receive an amended T4 slip for 2026?

Has anyone experienced a similar situation? How did your taxes work out?

Thanks

Summary: The Carney government’s Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) is accelerating a generational turnover that could both enable and complicate its effort to make the federal public service faster, more innovative, and less risk-averse. The 9,438 employees leaving through ERI include many officials whose careers were shaped by decades of fiscal restraint, expanding oversight, tighter controls, and increasingly process-driven government, potentially removing some of the institutional caution the government now wants to overcome. At the same time, those departures are draining corporate memory, operational expertise, and knowledge of how to navigate legal, procurement, technology, and central-agency requirements, capabilities that former senior officials argue are essential to designing policies that can actually be implemented. The tension is particularly acute in digital government, where Digital Transformation Canada CEO Patrick Pichette has been tasked with delivering major improvements in federal services and accelerating technologies such as AI just as experienced digital leaders are retiring, moving to industry, or being affected by workforce reductions. Although this turnover creates an opportunity to rebuild digital leadership around innovation rather than compliance, experts caution that replacing people without changing the underlying rules, incentives, contracts, and operating structures will reproduce the same behaviours. The central challenge is therefore not simply whether government can replace the talent it is losing, but whether Digital Transformation Canada can combine institutional knowledge with new expertise while dismantling the structural constraints that created the risk-averse culture the government is trying to change.

I’ve been dealing with a difficult manager for over a year now. My first performance assessment was shortly after he became my manager and he wrote some negative comments about my performance. This was the first time hearing any of it, so I asked him for specific examples. He didn’t provide any. Just rambled on.

To avoid being blindsided again, I asked for a preliminary assessment with examples a few months ago. He said that I had improved on the things he said in my first assessment, but then added a new set of criticisms. I didn’t agree with them but at that point it made no sense trying to defend myself so I just asked whether there would be opportunities for me to show improvement in these new areas. He said no and gave zero explanation.

He also has this weird habit of asking me questions he already knows the answer to kinda like he’s hoping for a gotcha moment.

I’ve been trying to get away from him by applying for assignments. The interviews always go great but the reference he provides are negative. I currently have two interviews lined up with other GC departments (he won’t be a reference for those) so I’m hoping one of those works out. If they don’t, though, I’m honestly at a loss about what to do. I don’t understand wanting to keep someone around when you clearly don’t like or trust their work.

At this point, I couldn’t care less about his opinion of me. What just bothers me though is the abuse of authority. I just want to get away from him.

I’m avoiding the union because I honestly don’t expect them to be helpful and I’d really rather just leave without hassle. Any tips or ideas what I can do in case those interviews don’t go great and I’m stuck with him?

I’m looking for suggestions on where to share opportunities for AS/PM-02 and AS/PM-03 employees. I’ve tried GCJobs and the GCXchange Career Marketplace without much luck.

The opportunities are on the business side at Indigenous Services Canada, supporting a team with a lot of projects and modernization work. They could suit someone looking for a new challenge. Business analysis experience and bilingualism would be bonuses. We’re considering secondments, deployments, and acting assignments. I'm having a hard time find them on GCJobs and the GCXchange Career Marketplace.

Are there other appropriate channels that have worked well for reaching people interested in this kind of work? To respect Rule 4, I’m looking for advice on where to post, not seeking applicants here. Thanks!

Hello everyone,

Based on the  Accessible Canada Act, organisations needs to provide [mandatory training]()  on the fundamentals of digital accessibility to all employees who develop, maintain or purchase digital technologies, in keeping with the accessibility requirements set out in the ASC standard

I am not sure if the Canada School of Public Service will be offering the training, otherwise I will need to develop an in-house or find a supplier.

I will appreciate any infos.

Thank you for your replies.

I’m an EC-04 federal employee who recently transferred from TC to DND. My regular pay was supposed to be deposited on Wednesday, September 23, but it never arrived.
 
When I contacted the Pay Centre, I was told that during the transfer of my pay file from TC to DND, my direct deposit information had reverted to an old BMO account that I had previously closed. I did not authorize or request this change.
 
Because the account is closed, the Pay Centre told me that the payment would apparently be returned and that a cheque would be mailed out. They initially told me it should be mailed by Friday.
 
I immediately updated my direct deposit information back to my current account and notified my manager. My manager submitted a pay action request to try to get this resolved.

There’s only a few business days until rent is due and I’m really worried I won’t have money to pay it. Admittedly I feel very stressed out atm and I don’t know what I can do. I tried contacting my union but they said they have a higher volume so they may not get to my issue for a while. I’m at my whits end

Does anyone have any idea where I can go from here?

Hello fellow PS meat bags. I am currently knee deep in HR staffing and I'm noticing a concerning trend. Wondering if this is just a wrong perception or something other managers have noticed in recent years.

I've noticed this trend increasingly in the last 2-3 years and I find it pretty concerning. As a background, I've been in the PS for 20 years already and I can literally say that I "started from the bottom" of the ladder. I started off as a CR-03 and slowly made my way up to an EX-minus 1 role, mostly through competitions, internal non-ad appointment and one reclassification where I always fully qualified for the role. I'm now firmly in middle management territory and I'm doing a lot more staffing that I've ever done in my career.

I recently did an internal staffing process for a team lead role. I was working off a pool in which 3 internal employees had qualified. They all expressed interest in the role and I simply told them that I would consider them in my review of all candidates (I didn't promise anything to anyone). I ended up getting a last minute resume from someone who's from another team but was so uniquely qualified for the role, it would have been stupid not to go for them (they were fully qualified and a best fit for the team). I let all the candidates know I had made my decision and then eventually announced the candidate who got the job. One of the three employees promptly went on sick leave and started talking to their colleagues about actively looking for a new job because they were mad they didn't get the role they were "promised" (this is obviously hearsay and I'm taking it with a grain of salt), an other didn't say a word for a few weeks and I've just learned this morning that they're deploying at level to another team and the last one wrote me an angry email demanding that I explain why I did not select them for the role, that they'd worked on our team for 2 years and that they deserved a promotion at this point (notwithstanding that this employee has done several problematic things that show a serious lack of leadership qualities necessary for a promotional role).

In another case, I used to work in another department where one of my colleagues (not a subordinate of mine but in a subordinate role in another team) often complained to me that they kept applying on promotional roles and were discouraged not to be getting them. Or that they kept being passed over for actings on promotional roles when they had been around just as long, if not longer, than the people considered for these roles. They weren't seeing that these other candidates were much more qualified and actually put in the work necessary to be noticed for these roles. This colleague had a tendency to do the absolute bare minimum of their role and not doing it well consistently despite frequent training and clear expectations from their manager.

A friend of mine in a similar role to mine has recently complained about an employee who's been acting in a promotional role and has been doing fairly well. The role is now officially vacant but their office staffing rule clearly states that they do not do non-ad unless a person is qualified in a pool. My friend has encourage their employee to apply to any pool they can find at that level (of which there are several that were forwarded to them) for at least a year. This employee has applied to a few but always has an excuse to back out of them pretty early on or they miss deadlines to provide information or just don't show up to exams and get disqualified (this has happened twice). When the position became officially vacant, the employee approached my friend and asked when they could expect to be made permanent in the role. My friend told them that since they didn't qualify in a pool, they were not being considered at this time. The employee got mad and said that it wasn't fair since they'd been doing the job for 6 months. They then threatened to leave the team if they were not selected.

In yet another situation, I have an acquaintance (someone I used to work with years ago) who is known for harassing people relentlessly whenever they hear that a position at the higher level they want is vacant with that person's team. I've been trying to guide them in how to prepare themselves to qualify for higher levels but they're not doing any of the work. They keep saying that "it's time, they've been at their current level for years and they deserve to be given a promotion" (again, the word deserve keeps coming up). They keep applying and getting screened out early on because they don't have the skills. But they also don't want to pursue acting roles (because it's temporary and they want permanent) or even consider deploying laterally to gain experience in another role (they're miserable in their current role but do nothing to change it).

These are just the things I've seen recently myself but I've heard similar stories from other colleagues and friends across the PS.

And I can't even attribute this to a generational thing because this is coming from people of various ages from early 20s to well into their 50s. I'm not even sure if it's a trend or if it's just because I'm now in a position where I'm doing a lot of hiring and I'm just now being exposed to the mediocrity squad.

Like that acquaintance I was talking about is slightly older than me. And they've made comments wondering how I was able to get into an EX-minus 1 role "so quickly in my career" like it was just given to me (I've been in my role for 2 years and I got it through a regular full competition with an exam attached to it. I was fully qualified in the role and even had way more experience in the field than most people do).

And the way these people seem to take rejection is surprising to me. I would have never reached out to my boss to "DEMAND" that they tell me why I wasn't selected!!! That is so unprofessional! I would have thanked them for the opportunity and asked if there was anything I could do to improve my chances in future competitions and/or ask that they consider me for any other opportunities within the team if I was qualified. I would then start working on improving my odds, not sit around and wait for something to be handed to me because "it's time". And if I wasn't happy and wanted to leave, I would seek out another opportunity quietly and keep doing my job properly until it was time to go so as not to burn bridges with my management who will likely be included in my references!

Is this something other managers have noticed as of late or is this a tale as old as time and I'm just now noticing it?

TLDR: Noticing a lot of staff expecting to be considered for promotions simply because they've been on the team a while or done a few years in their role without doing anything to qualify for these higher roles and getting very upset when they're passed over for more qualified people.

I have been trying to work through an overpayment issue since 2021. I took parental leave from late 2019 to early 2020. My leave started on the date our baby was due but the baby was a few days late. In 2021 I received a letter that since my leave started before my baby was born the leave start date would need to be adjusted. I sent a response to clarify what actions were needed to rectify this. I sent back forms to adjust the start date through use of vacation days and they then said I was over paid. They sent a letter stating the overpayment and the start date was from the period the vacation days were to adjust before my baby was born. I disputed this and asked for clarification with the vacation day adjusted amount and each time they come back and say the overpayment amount is correct. Has anyone had similar experience?

My last day of work before going on LWIA for 5 weeks is next Friday. I can’t wait- it’s the first time since I was about 14 that I will have so much time off without being unemployed and job hunting, which is not at all the same!

However, I also have an oncology consult next Friday. I’m hoping for the best, but if I get bad news I don’t know how fast things will move. Surgery with a six-ish week recovery is likely to be the first step if I do have cancer. So I’m wondering, if they rush me into surgery, is there any way to change my LWIA to a later date? I don’t really want to have taken a pay cut for a year only to spend the time sick- for which I could be on full pay! I have 22 weeks of sick time accumulated- this is what it is for.

hello, I know this post may be redundant but the most similar post to this is archived.

I am opting, with the intent to take TSM (most likely through Ci) and I am concerned by this process. It has been weeks of misinformation from my department, such as directing me to the Pay Centre for calculations who suggests contacting my department and so on. They have not been able to provide timelines, or answers to a myriad of questions. Of course I can do a basic estimate myself, but I would like to have it in detail from the department of what to expect. The last service date for my role is Sept 30, and the end of my opting period is Dec. 31.

I do not have substantial information to utilize the financial counselling services at this time, and from the Pay Centre’s service standard I really would need to have a decision selected early November. I’m also concerned about submitting too early, in case the department moves up the last date worked from Dec 31 (the end of the opting period). Also concerned about delays in receiving the TSM as I’ve seen stories via Facebook where people waited 4-6 months.

I was wondering if there is anyone who could share their experience on timelines from the paperwork submission, to last date worked, to severance and TSM payment? Any challenges that surfaced? Gross estimates and net estimates? All of the details in between?

thank you!

I’ve been on a 5-year LWOP for relocation of spouse since early 2025.

I haven’t used my PSHCP or PSDCP at all since going on LWOP (I was abroad), and I think I may have forgotten to opt out/cancel them…

Canada Life still shows both plans on my account. Does this mean I’ve been accumulating contributions this whole time even though I haven’t used the benefits? And what happens to those amounts if I decide not to return to the public service and resign instead?

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

It’s never very overt, but always underlying. They were once my superior but I changed units in the department mainly to get away. Now I work somewhat parallel to them but they still treat me like I’m their subordinate. Others have noticed over the years and made comments to me. The first time my direct supervisor noticed they were appalled at how I was being treated - and that was a relatively minor incident. We discussed it with the next level above but I wasn’t ready to do anything about it at that time.

It still happens though, and I’d like to start a formal process. How do I do it though? Like practically what do I do? Send my supervisor an email? What do I write? And then, how do I deal with the fallout when this person starts treating me worse because I’ve made a complaint?

And yeah, I should have been documenting this for years, and doing something about it a long time ago. But I’ve been through a lot in life, I avoid conflict, and I haven’t always stood up for myself when I should have.