Rescinded [2014-02-28] - Common Look and Feel Standards for the Internet, Part 4: Standard on Email

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Effective date

This standard comes into effect on January 1, 2007, and replaces the following Treasury Board Common Look and Feel Standards and Guidelines for Internet:

  • Standard 4.1 - Institutional Addresses;
  • Standard 4.2 - Signature Blocks; and
  • Standard 4.3 - "Canada" Wordmark and FIP Signatures for E-mail.

Application

Context

With the prevalent use of electronic mail as a communication tool for delivering Government of Canada information, it is important to identify the source of the information at both institutional and individual levels. Public servants who provide information via email cannot make assumptions regarding the end-use of information. Email recipients may respond immediately, store the message indefinitely, forward it to other recipients, import it to other documents or print a hard copy record. Thus, all email messages must contain enough information to identify the individual and the institution s/he represents, as well as contact information to facilitate further communication via various methods, for example, by telephone, facsimile and postal mail.

Accountability

Deputy heads are accountable for implementing this standard in their institutions.

Requirements

1. Email Addresses

1.1 Naming convention

To facilitate access to government employees, the institution must implement the following email address naming convention: givenname.familyname@institution.gc.ca , where the text following the @ sign reflects the institution's primary domain name, as specified in requirement 1.2. The resolution of naming conflicts in the local-part (that is, the portion of the address string preceding the @ sign) is left to the discretion of the institution's electronic mail administrator, with a preference for inserting the employee's middle initial to the local-part. In exceptional circumstances, an alternate naming convention may be used to meet security objectives.

It is recognized that some institutions will face technical challenges with implementing this naming convention. For that reason, and as an interim measure, the institution is permitted to create email addresses using its current naming convention as it develops a suitable technical solution. This interim compliance measure expires on December 31, 2008, by which date the email naming convention specified above must be in effect.

1.2 Domain name

To help protect the unique identity and integrity of Government of Canada email systems, the institution must register and maintain the registrations for its primary email domain in the gc.ca sub domain. The institution's electronic mail administrators must provide email addresses that demonstrate compliance with official languages requirements by applying the email address format that reflects the institution's primary domain name. Consult Appendix A of the Federal Identity Program policy for the prescribed order of presentation for the two official languages.

Where the institution also registers equivalent unilingual English and French versions of a domain name to be used for email, these must only be used in conformance with the Directive on the Use of Official Languages in Electronic Communications. The use of separate official language versions of email addresses are to be seen as short forms to facilitate the public's contact with employees. They must not substitute for the bilingual email addresses used in response to emails.

2. Generic email addresses

An institutional program or service, for the purpose of official correspondence, may establish a generic email address that is not tied to an individual employee. For generic email addresses used on an institution's Web site to support programs and services, entire address string (that is, the portions preceding and following @ sign) must respect the official language requirements set out in the Directive on the Use of Official Languages on Web Sites.

3. Email signature blocks

Sample email signature blocks are provided in the Common Look and Feel toolbox.

3.1 Contact information for individuals

The institution respects the requirements of the Federal Identity Program policy and Official Languages Policies by ensuring that email messages sent by its employees to all non-Government of Canada recipients include a signature block in both official languages that contains the elements described in requirements 3.1.1 to 3.1.10.

  • 3.1.1 The sender's given name or initial(s).
  • 3.1.2 The sender's family name.
  • 3.1.3 The sender's organizational information.
  • 3.1.4 Email address.
  • 3.1.5 Telephone number with area code in the format 613-999-1234 and extension number where applicable preceded by the words "Telephone | Téléphone".
  • 3.1.6 Teletypewriter number with area code in the format 819-999-1234 preceded by the words "Teletypewriter | Téléimprimeur".
  • 3.1.7 Facsimile number with area code in the format 604-999-1234 preceded by the words "Facsimile | Télécopieur".
  • 3.1.8 Postal address.
  • 3.1.9 The institution's applied title. The Federal Identity Program provides a listing of titles of federal organizations.
  • 3.1.10 The text "Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada".

3.2 Contact information for a program or service

Where an email address serves a program or service rather than an individual, email messages must include a signature block in both official languages that contains the elements described in requirements 3.2.1 to 3.2.8.

  • 3.2.1 The program or service name.
  • 3.2.2 Email address.
  • 3.2.3 Telephone number with area code in the format 613-999-1234 and extension number where applicable preceded by the words "Telephone | Téléphone".
  • 3.2.4 Teletypewriter number with area code in the format 819-999-1234 preceded by the words "Teletypewriter | Téléimprimeur".
  • 3.2.5 Facsimile number with area code in the format 604-999-1234 preceded by the words "Facsimile | Télécopieur".
  • 3.2.6 Postal address.
  • 3.2.7 The institution's applied title. The Federal Identity Program provides a bilingual listing of titles of federal organizations.
  • 3.2.8 The text "Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada".

3.3 Visual identifiers

Where an institution's email system supports the incorporation of visual identifiers ("Canada" wordmark and the institutional signature) in an accessible manner, the institution must include the identifiers in the signature area of email messages.

It is acknowledged that technological incompatibility between the sender and the recipient's email systems might cause the institutional signature and the "Canada" wordmark to be stripped from email messages.

3.4 Presentation of signature block

  • 3.4.1 Use a sans-serif font style such as Verdana or Arial.
  • 3.4.2 Use a font size in the range of 10 to 16 points.
  • 3.4.3 Employ neutral, high contrast common colour for the font and background to ensure sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen to avoid creating problems for people with visual and perceptual disabilities, with black font on a white background as the default setting.

3.5 Consistency in application

To ensure consistency in application, fulfillment of the requirements outlined in 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 above must be managed by the institution's mail system administrators rather than by individual employees, where feasible.

4. Third-party references

The institution ensures that it avoids the appearance or public perception of endorsing or providing a marketing subsidy or an unfair competitive advantage. All references to third-party software and/or hardware vendors must be removed from the automatic signature field or message footer on all electronic mail messages.

Monitoring and reporting

Consistent with the requirements above, deputy heads will monitor adherence to this standard within their departments, taking direction from Treasury Board's Active Monitoring Policy, Evaluation Policy and Policy on Internal Audit.

At a minimum, the institution assesses the following:

  • use of email addresses that comply with official languages requirements;
  • use of generic email addresses that comply with official language requirements when generic addresses are used;
  • use of signature blocks with required components on email messages sent to non-Government of Canada recipients; and
  • absence of third-party references in email messages.

The Treasury Board Secretariat will monitor compliance with all aspects of this standard in a variety of ways, including but not limited to assessments under the Management Accountability Framework, examinations of Treasury Board Submissions, Departmental Performance Reports and results of audits, evaluations and studies.

With respect to the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, the deputy head of the institution is solely responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with these standards within their organizations, as well as for responding to cases of non-compliance in accordance with any Treasury Board instruments that address the management of compliance.

Consequences

Deputy Heads are responsible for addressing significant issues that arise regarding compliance and ensure appropriate remedial actions are taken to address these issues commensurate with the specific nature of the failure.

Consequences of non-compliance can include informal follow-ups and requests from the Treasury Board Secretariat, external audits and formal direction on corrective measures.

Authority to amend

The Treasury Board of Canada delegates to the President of the Treasury Board the power to amend, revoke or add to the approved Common Look and Feel Standards for the Internet. Treasury Board is to be kept informed of updates and amendments.

Requests for exemption

The Treasury Board of Canada delegates to the President of the Treasury Board the power to grant exemptions from the Common Look and Feel Standards for the Internet. The minister presiding over the institution may apply in writing to the President of the Treasury Board for an exemption from one or more requirements of this standard. The application must consist of a detailed rationale and risk analysis for exemption from each requirement.

Enquiries

For more information, please contact:

Address:
Common Look and Feel Office
Information Technology Division
Chief Information Officer Branch
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
2745 Iris Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5

Email:clf-nsi@tbs-sct.gc.ca
Telephone: 613-952-6987
Toll free: 877-636-0656
Facsimile: 613-960-0050
Teletypewriter: 613-957-9090 (TBS)

Glossary

Abbreviation (abréviation)
The official abbreviation for an institution's applied title, registered under the Federal Identity Program.
Applied title (titre d'usage)
An institution's official title registered under the Federal Identity Program and required for use in all public communications and visual identity applications. A complete listing of applied titles and their abbreviations in both official languages is available at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/sipubs/TB_FIP/titlesoffedorg1_e.asp
Deputy head (administrateur général)
This term is equivalent to "deputy minister", "chief executive officer" or some other title denoting this level of responsibility.
Institution
For the purposes of CLF, an institution is any organizational entity listed under a unique title in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act.
Titles of institutions (titres d'usage)
Refer to applied title.