On July 1, 2015, changes to the Public Service Employment Act increased access to employment opportunities in the federal public service for members and Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Q1. How do I apply for job postings with the federal public service?
Go to Government of Canada jobs and follow the steps to set up your account. You will need your CAF service number. Once your account is set up you can apply for jobs. If you need assistance, contact the Public Service Commission, toll free, at 1-888-780-4444 or TTY/TDD 1-800-465-7735.
Q2. What is mobility?
Mobility is available to CAF members (Regular and Reserve) with at least three years of service and allows you to apply on all advertised, internal appointment processes from now until five years after your release date.
Q3. What does preference mean?
If you qualify for an externally-advertised federal public service job (job postings open to the general public), as a Veteran, you can be appointed before any other equally qualified candidate.
Q4. What does priority status mean?
Priority status means that an individual meets certain conditions defined in the Public Service Employment Act or its Regulations and automatically has a right to be appointed in priority over others to vacant positions in the public service for which they meet the essential qualifications.
Q5. What is statutory vs regulatory priority?
Statutory priority is available to Veterans whose medical release was due to a service-related injury or illness, while Regulatory priority is available to Veterans whose medical release was not due to a service-related injury or illness.
Q6. I have statutory priority, how does that benefit me?
Statutory priority is the highest level of priority in the public service hiring process. There are currently four groups with a statutory priority entitlement and they have an order of precedence:
- Veterans who medically released due to a service-related injury or illness;
- employees who have been declared surplus by their own organization;
- employees on leave of absence; and,
- public servants who have been laid off.
Q7. Is statutory priority and regulatory priority available to Reservists?
Statutory priority is available to all CAF Veterans whose medical release was due to a service-related injury or illness. Regulatory priority (which is provided to those medically releasing for other reasons) is only available to Regular Force, Reserve Class C and Reserve Class B (> 180 days).
Q8. I medically released, how do I find out if my release is considered to be due to a service-related injury or illness?
To receive statutory priority, Veterans Affairs Canada is required to review your medical release to determine if it was due to a service-related injury or illness using the Medical release attributable to service determination form (VAC1002e). You can access this form from My VAC Account, download it from the Website, pick up one at any VAC, CAF Transition Centre, or Service Canada location, or call us to have one mailed to you.
Q9. I medically released, but I know I will only receive regulatory priority, what is my next step?
If your medical release was not due to a service-related injury or illness, contact the CAF Director Casualty Support Management (DCSM) at 1-800-883-6094 to get information on having your regulatory priority established.
Not sure where to start?
The Veterans in the Public Service Unit (VPSU) was created by Veterans Affairs Canada to help Veterans understand and succeed in the application process for public service jobs. If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the VPSU by sending a message through My VAC Account or by calling the Department at 1-866-522-2122.