Service outside Canada

Policy objective

To provide special terms and conditions of employment for personnel serving outside Canada.

Policy statement

Living conditions and conditions of employment outside Canada are affected by a variety of circumstances over which the employer and the employee have only limited control. In recognition of these differences, special terms and conditions of employment are provided for career foreign service employees, foreign assignment employees, Heads of Mission, members of the Canadian Forces serving outside Canada, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police serving outside Canada, civilian foreign assignment employees serving abroad with the Canadian Forces and staff engaged locally outside Canada.

Application

This policy applies to members of the Canadian Forces serving outside Canada, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police serving outside Canada, staff engaged locally outside Canada and all employees serving outside Canada who are within that portion of the Public Service of Canada

  1. listed in Part I of Schedule I to the Public Service Staff Relations Act;
  2. listed in Part II of Schedule I to the Public Service Staff Relations Act and which is a member of the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada and for which the Foreign Service Directives form part of their collective agreements.

Policy requirements

  1. The Foreign Service Directives apply to career foreign service employees, foreign assignment employees, Heads of Mission, military attachés and their staff and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police serving outside Canada.
     
    The Foreign Service Directives are revised periodically following consultation in the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada and are issued as a separate volume within the Treasury Board Manual.
     
  2. Civilian foreign assignment employees serving abroad with the Canadian Forces in a military environment come under the same provisions as those that apply to their military counterparts except for relocation and leave provisions, which are in accordance with the Foreign Service Directives. For all other purposes, these employees come under the Military Foreign Service Regulations. These regulations are administered by the Department of National Defence and enquiries should be directed to that department.
  3. Persons serving at posts abroad in the role of Head of Mission come under the Heads of Post Directives. Responsibility for the administration of these directives rests with External Affairs and International Trade Canada. Any relevant enquiries should be directed to that department.
  4. Members of the Canadian Forces serving outside Canada come under the provisions of the Military Foreign Service Regulations and the Foreign Duty Allowance Regulations which are administered by the Department of National Defence. Any relevant enquiries should be directed to that department.
  5. Persons engaged locally outside Canada come under the provisions of the Locally Engaged Staffs' Terms and Conditions Regulations (see chapter 2-2). Copies of these regulations are available from External Affairs and International Trade Canada. Any relevant enquiries should be directed to that department.

Monitoring

The Foreign Service Directives require reports to the Treasury Board Secretariat or to the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee. Directive 70 of the Foreign Service Directives outlines the frequency and details of the various reporting requirements.

Reference

This chapter replaces chapter 1-5 of PMM volume 8.

Enquiries

Except as noted above, enquiries about this policy should be referred to the responsible officers in departmental headquarters who, in turn, may direct questions on policy interpretation to:

Benefits Group,
General Personnel Policy Development and Compensation Division
Personnel Policy Branch,
Treasury Board Secretariat,
Ottawa, Ontario.
K1A 0R5

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2017,
ISBN: 978-0-660-20323-2