Priority Administration

• Guide on Priority Administration
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Staffing actions requiring/not requiring priority clearance
• Amendments to the Public Service Employment Regulations:
  • Repeal of the priority right for persons employed in an excluded position in the Office of the Governor General’s Secretary and replaced by the Mobility provision for persons formerly employed in an excluded position at the Office of the Governor General's Secretary;
  • Clarification of certain provisions with respect to the priority rights for employees who become disabled, members of the Canadian Forces and of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are released or discharged for medical reasons and persons entitled to the reinstatement priority; and
  • Establishment of a new priority right for surviving spouses or common-law partners of employees, members of the Canadian Forces and members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police whose death is attributable to the performance of duties.

The following lists and briefly describes the priority provisions of the PSEA and the PSER. Additional details about each priority type are provided in Part II of this Guide.

Statutory priorities

• An organization's own surplus employees who have been informed by their deputy head that their services are no longer required, but before any lay-off becomes effective (PSEA, section 40);
  • Note: An employee who is surplus from another organization has a priority under PSER, section 5;
• Leave of absence: Employees on leave of absence, where their positions have been staffed indeterminately, or the employees who replaced them on an indeterminate basis if they are displaced when the employee returns from leave (PSEA, subsection 41(1)); and
• Lay-offs: Persons who have been laid off pursuant to subsection 64(1) of the PSEA, due to a lack of work, the discontinuance of a function or the transfer of work or a function outside the public service (PSEA, subsection 41(4)).

Regulatory priorities

• Surplus employees: Employees from other organizations who have been advised by their deputy head that their services are no longer required, but before any lay-off becomes effective (PSER, section 5);
  • Note: Within their own organization, a surplus employee has a statutory priority under the PSEA, section 40.
• Employee who becomes disabled: Employees who become disabled and who, as a result of the disability, are no longer able to carry out the duties of their position (PSER, section 7);
• Canadian Forces (CF) or Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP): Certain members released or discharged for medical reasons (PSER, section 8);
• Relocation of spouse or common-law partner: Indeterminate employees who have been granted leave for such relocations, whose positions have not been staffed indeterminately (PSER, section 9);
• Reinstatement: Certain priority persons who were appointed or deployed to a position in the public service at a lower level (PSER, section 10); and
• Surviving Spouse or Common-law Partner: Surviving spouses or common-law partners of persons employed in the public service, the CF or the RCMP, whose death is attributable to the performance of duties.

PIMS is a tool to help human resources (HR) professionals administer priority entitlements.

• PIMS (available only to registered HR professionals)
• PIMS User Manual
• Frequently asked questions
• Privacy Consent Form for Priority Persons
• Occupational Group Structure
• Occupational Category & Corresponding Job Types/Skills
  (PDF Version - 81.16 Kb)

• Priority Clearance
• Privacy Consent Form for Priority Persons