Yellowknife - Special Accommodation Allowance - Revised Dollar Amounts - Information Notices

June 21, 2005

Please distribute this notice to people at your headquarters and/or regional offices who are involved in the administration of the isolated post allowances.

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide details on the next steps in the Special Accommodation Allowance (SAA) phased-out that began in August 2004.

Background

The Isolated Posts and Government Housing Directive (IPGHD) provides for a housing allowance, known as the Shelter Cost Differential (SCD). The SCD represents the difference between the average market rent paid for a three bedroom bungalow at a post and the "national average" (current at $1025/mo.) market rent paid for a similar unit in "southern" Canada. The revised SCD rates for Yellowknife are $7200/year for employees with dependants and $4320/year for employees without dependants. The maximum a household of two federal employees can receive is $7200/year.

In keeping with the decision by the President of the Treasury Board to gradually phase-out the SAA and phase-in the SCD, please note the following dollar amounts payable to employees who were working in Yellowknife before August 1, 2003.

Effective August 1, 2005, employees in private accommodation will receive:

Employee Couple - per household	$8420/year ($7200 SCD +$1220 SAA)
Employee with Dependants	$7200/year (SCD, no SAA)
Employee without Dependants	$4692/year ($4320 SCD+$372 SAA)

Effective August 1, 2005, employees in government housing will receive:

Employee Couple - per household	$8420/per year ($600 SCD + $7820 SAA)
Employee with dependants	$6000/per year ($600 SCD + $5400 SAA )
Employee without dependants	$4692/per year ($360 SCD + $4332 SAA )

Employees assigned to Yellowknife after August 1, 2003:

It should be noted that employees who have been assigned to Yellowknife after August 1, 2003 are to be treated as follows:

Employee couples living in private accommodation will receive the SCD of $7200 per household. They will not receive the SAA.

Employee couples living in government housing will receive an amount equal to $6000/year ($600 SCD + $5400 SAA) per household.

All other employees, i.e., those with or without dependants, will be treated in the same manner as their counterparts who have been assigned in Yellowknife prior to August 1, 2003.

You may use the existing pay code for the Special Accommodation Allowance to process these transactions.

Should you require further information on the above, please contact Maryse Bélanger at (613) 952-3202.

 

Robert E. Wells

Director
Excluded Groups and Administrative Policies
Labour Relations and Compensation Operations