I started working for the federal govt-ESDC in 2018 as a payment service officer (EI call center).

In Jan 2020, just before Covid lockdown, I deployed to the Passport program where I have been a passport officer ever since.

I am indeterminate & I love being a passport officer. The job is easy & very straight forward to me. The problem is there is so much politics & favoritism in my office. There have been sooo many instances where acting/temporary assignments within the office have been appointed before they send out an expression of interest.

They will pre-choose their desired candidate 3 weeks in advance before sending out an expression of interest email to the entire office just to appear "fair".

In my opinion, career progression within the passport program itself is stagnant.

I dont know how I can advance from being a PM1.

There are no PM2 positions.

PM3's are Team leaders & Business Expertise Advisors. There are rarely any openings. If there ever is an opening, usually management already has their candidates pre-chosen.

There are no PM4 openings. PM5's are managers. 98% of the time..they promote a TL to this position.

I am in 6 different pools outside of ESDC & I am always actively searching.

I have leadership aspirations in my PMA but so far nothing has panned out.

For people who have been in this situation, how did you get unstuck or progress? I am at a point where I am contemplating going to back to school for a Master's program. (I hold a Bachelor's degree in Criminology)

I am open to all feedback.

For a while now I have been eating my lunch during work hours while still working and then using the entire allocated lunch and break times to disconnect and take a walk outside. What I normally do is that I eat during a teams meeting where I dont need to be on camera or speak. I almost always have one of these types of meetings sometime around mid day.

While I am in the meeting I can eat and take notes at the same time. My manager has now forbidden me from doing this and expects I eat my lunch during lunch hours. He says that during these meetings I should be multitasking other things including taking notes and that eating is not considered working.

Is this something that he can actually do?

Are you required to plug in or turn on your laptop in the building before you leave for the day or leave on a trip?

I was told today that we are monitored on our office presence individually by plugging our laptops into our docking station. That means if we’re supposed to be in the field that day we have to plug in and turn on our laptops before we leave.

Regardless of how stupid this direction is I thought it was aggregate data on compliance that was gathered? Am I way off in thinking this is just a case of the message changing between telephones?

Hi everyone,

I have two questions regarding sick leave

1. Is it possible to take sick leave on a part-time basis?
This has been recommended by my psychologist. For now I still have sick days but I struggle to understand how that would work once I use them all up.

2. Is a psychologist’s medical note sufficient for sick leave or I absolutely need a doctor’s note?

Thank you so much!

EDIT : I am trying to weight my options before deciding if I should go on full leave. Of course I’ll speak to my manager once I have decided, but not before.

Just wanted to share a quick reflection on something that happened today. In the public service, I feel like we are always conditioned to think we have to say yes to every single deployment, acting, or temporary project that comes our way. But sometimes, staying put is the smartest move.

I am currently permanent in a very specific, niche sub-unit within a much larger department. Honestly, I have a great setup. I know the job inside and out, I pull great results without burning out, and my supervisor is amazing. There is no micromanagement and zero toxicity.

An opportunity came up for a short-term temporary lateral move into a data and analytics unit. It sounded interesting (and honestly, I’d probably enjoy the work a ton more - no dealing with external clients), but when I spoke with the hiring manager today, the reality set in. It is a super fast-paced environment, and because it is just a temporary stint, there was no promise of it becoming permanent.

The thing is, if the assignment ends, there is no guarantee I get back into my specific niche team. Instead, I would likely get dumped into the broader, default operations stream, which historically has a reputation in my office for being incredibly toxic and chaotic (I was previously there and so I can attest to this). I did not want to gamble on ending up with a bad manager or a high-stress team dynamic just for a temporary experiment.

The hiring manager actually called me back afterward to chat about my decision. I was just honest with her. I used a grading scale to explain my logic. I told her the new role might be an A+, but it is a gamble. My current setup is a guaranteed A- because of my great boss and a predictable, low-stress environment. The default landing pad if things end is a solid D for my mental health.

I told her I am just not a gambler. If I already have a guaranteed A- quality of life, I am not going to risk ending up in a D environment just to chase a temporary carrot.

She actually completely agreed with me. She used to work in that broader stream too, validated everything I said about how unpredictable it is, and told me it was a smart career move to protect my peace and stick with a stable trajectory.

I guess my point is, if you currently have a toxic-free workplace, a manager who actually supports you, and a workflow you excel at, do not feel guilty for keeping it. Career growth is great, but protecting your day-to-day peace of mind is a massive win too.

Has anyone else turned down a promotion or acting role just to protect a good situation? Did you regret it or was it the right call?

The pension portal shows the « date joined pension plan » as the date when I started as a term (now indeterminate). However, I payed into the pension plan when I was a student. Does this date joined pension plan just reflect the most recent date rather that the date reflecting the total time contributed?

Throwaway account for anonymity.

I’m currently a PM‑01 on unpaid sick leave due to burnout. I’ve been off for a few weeks. I have two young kids under 5, and the combination of exhaustion and work stress finally caught up with me. My manager has been increasingly harsh, dismissive, and micromanaging to the point where I felt completely depleted. Going on leave was the only way to protect my health.

This week, I received an interview invitation for an AS‑01 position in another department. It would be a lateral move, but a much healthier environment - no call centre work, better work‑life balance, and honestly a fresh start. I’m excited about it and I know it would be a better fit for my family and my mental health.

My question is: because I’m currently on sick leave, do I need to notify my manager or team leader that I have an interview coming up? I don’t want them blindsided if I do get the job, but I’m also worried that giving advance notice could create issues or that my manager might try to interfere.

Is it better to disclose now, or only if I receive an offer?

I feel stuck and don’t want to accidentally break protocol, but I also want to protect this opportunity.

Any insight from folks who’ve been in similar situations would be really appreciated. TIA!

Serious question: is anyone aware of a way for colleagues in two different federal departments to collaborate on a single document online? Thanks!

Curious if anyone’s had luck getting Pilates classes covered by Canada Life with a doctor’s prescription? I’ve got multiple orthopaedic issues with my hips/low back and my hip surgeon strongly recommended Pilates to help strengthen my core for offloading stress off the hip joints and also helping after a c-section. On the prescription they didn’t say what medical issue the Pilates would be helping, only “for muscle strengthening”.

I remember when I got a prescription for a home blood pressure cuff while pregnant on the advice of my OB Canada Life were sticklers about making her re-do the prescription to explicitly say what condition it was treating (even though it’s painfully obvious what a blood pressure cuff does).

Before it got trendy Pilates was invented as a form of physiotherapy because it’s very low impact on joints so I hope Canada Life recognizes its therapeutic benefit. Do we know if they lump it in with the physio yearly amount vs another pot?
Thanks!

(A full-throated rebuttal to the "Why is the CSE prioritizing diverse hires?" fluff we get on a monthly basis now.)

For Anti-Smoking, Anti-Obesity, Preventative vaccines, it says “included”. But for the others listed, it’s more specific how much is covered. What could “included” mean when all the anti obesity drugs listed on Obesity Canada are listed as “not eligible” when I go through drug search on the app?

This is what the list shows:

Smoking cessation
$400 per lifetime

Fertility drugs
$5,000 per enrollment year

ED Drugs
Excluded

Medical Cannabis
$1,500 per enrollment year

Ant-smoking, Anti-obesity, Preventive vaccines
Included

Private duty nursing
100%, maximum of $10,000 for 12 months per condition

Vision care (including Laser eye surgery)
100%, maximum of $175 every 24 months (12 months for child < 18)

Eye examination
100%, maximum of $50 every 24 months (12 months for child < 18)

Ambulance
100%

Orthopedic shoes & Foot Orthotics
70% to a maximum of $300 every 2 years (with presciption)

Hearing aid
70% to a maximum of $500 every 4 years

Accidental dental
100% coinsurance

Convalescent care
Semi-private, 120 days per condition ($25/day for chronic care)

Medical, Orthopedic, and mobility equipment
Covered

Other fees: Diagnostic services, medical supplies, etc.
Covered

Hello,

A few years ago I applied for a publicly advertised job at a government department. There were multiple stages to the application process, and after like 4 stages, I was rejected. At the time, they had said that that stage was also where they do a holistic mid-process review of the application, so I never knew if I got rejected because I specifically failed the preceding stage, or after review they decided my application was not good enough. My rejection email stated that they were unable to provide feedback.

I believe knowing this info would be beneficial to me as an applicant if I were to apply to this department again. If I submit an ATIP to get this info, could there be any negative repercussions for me in the future?

From what I’ve read, I need to return and work for the same amount of time that I received the top-up, so if I take 15 weeks maternity leave and then 37 weeks of parental leave, I would have to work a total of 52 weeks afterwards. Does this mean that I have to work for the same department and/or for all of this time, or would it possible to move to a different department during that period, as long as I stay with the federal government?

​

I've been a term employee in the federal public service for almost five years and am currently the longest-serving term employee in my unit.Recently, three colleagues with shorter service were considered for indeterminate appointments through non-advertised processes, but I wasn't considered.

My supervisor mentioned that performance was the deciding factor. However, I've consistently received positive performance evaluations.I understand that seniority doesn't guarantee an indeterminate position, but I'm wondering if this is a common practice.Would it be worth requesting an informal discussion or contacting my union (PIPSC)? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Are you an EC or TR? Have you been complaining on Reddit about the services offered by your union?

I have a solution for you! VOTE ✅

The voting period for CAPE members will begin on November 16 at 9:00 am ET, following the Annual General Meeting on November 15, and will close on November 27 at 5:00 pm ET.

For more information about the candidates and up to date information on the presidential debates check out the website below.

https://www.acep-cape.ca/en/news/list-candidates-upcoming-2026-election

TL:DR - I need help deciding on a Masters degree that will help my PS career.

I’ve been in the gov for almost 20 years, started as a FSWEP student as an AS-01, moved to EC and worked my way up to a 4 for about 6 years but only in acting’s and then had time off and lost that, now back at a 2.

I have a Bachelor of Arts (sociology and philosophy). I do not speak French, I’ve done language training, online, one on one, basically all of it. I cannot learn French to the degree in which I will obtain bilingual status, I have dyslexia and although can understand and read French I cannot perform well enough in tests or speak French so please do not suggest language training as that has been explored and exhausted as an option.

It was a long road for me to get to an acting 4 with not speaking French in the NCR. I have had some incredible roles over the years that were pivotal to my teams and departments but I feel I have been chronically overlooked and used as grunt labour to complete work that no one else wanted to or could do. I always gave my all thinking this would show my work ethic and build my experience but actually just pigeon holed me. This has been incredibly demoralizing and I considered alternating out to return to school and shift careers entirely but with so many years under my belt and my life’s responsibilities I’ve been told again and again leaving would be ridiculous at this point. I really want to return to school, partially for personal growth, life experience and a love of learning but also to help position me for more advancement in my career. I am not interested in being a manager or director, ideally somewhere around an EC-06 is as high as I’d like to go. I am also open to changing classifications all together and that’s why I’m posting here today.

What kind of programs, masters, etc. have others done that directly translated into helping their career grow in the PS? Specifically looking to advance in my current EC classification.

Thanks all!

I’ve advanced relatively quickly in the FPS because of my attitude and willingness to learn in-demand skills, e.g. Power BI and other technical tools. I’ve reached the top end of my classification but do not have much in the way of supervisory or management experience.

I’m now getting the sense my management is unwilling to try me in leadership roles because of the value I provide in my current role. I’m harder to replace than others, especially for things like acting.

Anyone have experience navigating this?

I’m a federal public servant currently resigning while on LWOP.

My last day of leave (for e.g.) is September 14, and my official termination date is September 15, as confirmed by my director.

However, the Departure Clearance Form asks for “Last Day Employed.” I entered September 15, assuming it refers to my termination date.
Does anyone know if “Last Day Employed” should be September 14 (last day of leave) or September 15 (official termination date)?

Thanks in advance!

Need some outside perspective on this.

Background: I was on a term position with one department for a few years, supposed to convert to the next level up, but my team lost budget before that happened. When the contract ended, my whole team was let go. Not WFA , just a term contract that didn't get renewed/converted.

Since then I've been job hunting. A couple weeks ago I signed an indeterminate (permanent) offer with a different department ,security clearance done, letter signed, set to start in about two weeks.

Right after signing, I got a term contract offer from the same department that let me go before, at about $7k more per year, and they've hinted they might go a bit higher still. To get indeterminate status there I'd have to compete through a separate pool process later, I'm told being on contract first doesn't fast-track it.

The work is also similar in both these jobs.The pay gap isn't life-changing, but it would take me a while to close through normal step increases on the indeterminate track. On the other hand, I've already lived through this exact employer not renewing me and I don't have much cushion if that happens again.

Anyone been in a similar spot ,signed and committed to something permanent, then got a better-paying offer right after especially from a place with history?

Appreciate honest takes either way.