4.1 Purpose
4.1.1 The House Hunting Trip (HHT) is meant to provide an employee with the opportunity to secure suitable accommodation at the workplace.
4.1.2 The HHT should result in most moves being door-to-door, hence considerably reducing the cost for interim accommodation, meals, and incidental expenses and eliminating unnecessary storage in transit costs.
4.1.3 Employees who plan to re-occupy a previously occupied residence, or who have already secured accommodation, or who have been assigned an “Official” Crown-owned or leased accommodation associated to special functions, are not entitled to a HHT. However, entitlement exists for a destination home inspection trip (DHIT).
4.2 Travel Status
4.2.1 Before proceeding on an HHT/DHIT, prior approval must be received from the manager. An employee who is relocating to a new post (including Isolated Posts) where a viable market exists is eligible for an HHT. Employees are deemed to be on travel status for the normal duration of the HHT (5+2 days). Annual leave/ compensatory time off may be used when the HHT is extended beyond the normal duration. Reimbursement of allowable HHT expenses shall be paid as if the employee or spouse or common-law partner, or both, were in travel status in accordance with the relevant module of the NJC Travel Directive. Only one incidental expense shall be paid per family.
4.3 Savings from a Shorter HHT and Incentive for Staying Over a Saturday
4.3.1 Employees may schedule their HHT in order to benefit from provisions that enable them to transfer funds into their Personalized Fund. See paragraphs 3.4.6(b) and (c).
4.4 Travel Time
4.4.1 Total travel time shall not exceed two (2) days, except when distances and/or connections are such that the total return journey cannot be accomplished in that period. In such cases, additional travel time shall be authorized by the Departmental National Coordinator and those expenses shall be paid from the Core Fund.
4.4.2 However, additional travel time and related expenses, resulting from the employee selecting a different mode of transportation other than that which would normally have been used, will be paid from the Personalized Fund.
4.4.3 Annual/compensatory time off (authorized leave) will be used for these additional days.
4.5 Funding Overview
4.5.1 The benefits related to House Hunting Trips (HHT) are paid from the Basic Core and Core Customized Funds as follows:
| Benefit | Basic Core Fund | Core Customized Fund |
|---|---|---|
|
HHT: |
Employee and spouse or common law partner |
Children and/or other dependants; HHT extends beyond 5 + 1 nights because no appropriate accommodation is found |
|
Extended HHT (family issues): |
Employee, spouse or common-law partner, children and/or other dependants. Accommodation and meals |
|
|
Extended HHT (finding elder care accommodation): |
Employee, spouse or common law partner, children and/or other dependants. Accommodation and meals |
|
|
Destination Home Inspection Trip (DHIT): Accommodation: 2 + 1 nights; |
Employee/spouse or common-law partner (one person only) |
|
|
Rental Car mid-size car only |
6 days (HHT); 3 days (DHIT) |
|
|
Return Transportation |
Employee and spouse or common law partner |
Children and/or other dependants |
|
Telephone Calls |
Local/long distance - business calls only |
No reimbursement for calls home |
|
Dependant Care - 7 days |
Actual expenses within limitations |
Expenses for extra HHT/DHIT days and above the Basic Core |
|
Boarding of Pets |
Actual expenses |
|
|
Commuting on HHT |
Kilometric expenses for 5 days |
4.6 Duration of HHT
4.6.1 An employee or spouse or common-law partner, or both, may be authorized a HHT of up to 5 days (5 nights) duration at the new location. The total duration of the HHT shall not normally exceed 7 days (6 nights) total, inclusive of travel time.
4.6.2 An employee who has taken a HHT, and who subsequently decides not to relocate, shall not be required to reimburse the department for the cost of the HHT.
4.7 Extended HHT
4.7.1 Employees may use funds from the Core Customized Fund to extend the duration of their HHT by up to 4 days as follows:
- Family Issues - a maximum of 2 days for locating day care, school, and/or making specialized medical arrangements; and/or
- Finding Accommodation - a maximum of 2 days to find suitable accommodation (other than principal residence) such as elder care facilities.
4.8 Additional Travelling Expenses for Children/Other Dependants
4.8.1 Employees who wish to have their children and/or other dependants accompany them on a HHT may do so by utilizing funds from the Core Customized Fund.
4.9 Hotel/Motel - Occupancy Principles
4.9.1 The number of rooms that an employee shall be entitled to while proceeding to the new location is based on family size. The following outlines the room entitlement by family size:
- family size of 1 = 1 room for 1 person;
- family size of 2 = 1 room;
- family size of 3 to 5 = 2 rooms;
- family size of 6 or 7 = 3 rooms;
- family size of 8 or more = 4 rooms.
4.10 Accommodation Cost
4.10.1 Employees will be reimbursed actual and reasonable commercial lodging expenses within the city rate limit or average range (as applicable) found in the Accommodation and Car Rental Directory published by Public Services and Procurement Canada.
4.10.2 Employees who are entitled to two or more rooms may instead choose to occupy a suite. Such cost will be paid from the Basic Core Fund but the employee will not be eligible for the hotel-motel room reduction savings/incentive.
Basic Core Fund
4.10.3 The employee and/or spouse or common-law partner are entitled to 6 nights maximum inclusive of travel time.
Core Customized Fund
4.10.4 The employee and/or spouse or common-law partner are entitled up to an additional 4 nights.
4.10.5 Children and/or other dependants are entitled up to a maximum of 10 nights.
4.10.6 An employee who uses less than his or her hotel room entitlement, based on family size, shall receive an incentive of $50.00 per night which will be transferred to the Personalized Fund.
4.11 Meals and Incidentals
4.11.1 An employee shall be paid the daily meal allowance in accordance with the NJC Travel Directive meal rates per person per day plus only one incidental allowance per family unit per day as follows:
Basic Core Fund
4.11.2 The employee and/or spouse or common-law partner are entitled to 7 days maximum inclusive of travel time.
Core Customized Fund
4.11.3 Children and/or other dependants are entitled to a maximum of 11 days of a meal allowance for each dependant.
4.11.4 The employee and/or spouse or common-law partner are entitled to a maximum of 4 days.
4.12 Transportation
4.12.1 Employees shall be provided with the most practical and economical return transportation from the place of duty to the new location and will be reimbursed for related expenses in accordance with the transportation provisions in the relevant module of the NJC Travel Directive.
4.12.2 All travel via a commercial carrier shall be arranged by the Government’s contracted travel services.
4.12.3 There will be no reimbursement from either the Basic Core or Core Customized Funds for travel arrangements made outside of this contractor.
4.12.4 Employees and spouse or common-law partner are entitled to:
Basic Core Fund
- commercial transportation; or
- reimbursement of expenses in accordance with the kilometric rate established by the NJC Travel Directive when using a Personal Motor Vehicle (PMV). Where it is practical, an employee may travel to the house-hunting destination at the end of a regular workday or on weekends;
Core Customized Fund
- children and/or other dependants are entitled to commercial transportation expenses when travel is authorized.
4.13 Local Transportation
4.13.1 To conduct house hunting/home inspection, an employee may be reimbursed the following:
Basic Core Fund
- Car Rental – Mid-size car (HHT/DHIT)
- up to a maximum of six (6) days (HHT); or
- three (3) days (DHIT) reimbursement of actual and reasonable mid-size car rental expenses;
- actual and reasonable gas expenses;
- parking and toll charges for six (6) days (HHT)/three (3) days (DHIT); or
- Personal Motor Vehicle (HHT/DHIT)
- actual mileage driven calculated at NJC Travel Directive kilometric rate;
- parking and toll charges for six (6) days (HHT)/three (3) days (DHIT).
4.14 Telephone Calls
Basic Core Fund
4.14.1 The cost of telephone calls and faxes related to the house hunting. Receipts should be provided if available.
4.14.2 No “calls home” will be reimbursed, as the cost of telephone calls home is included in the incidental expense allowance.
4.15 Dependant Care
4.15.1 The costs associated with dependant care as a result of the HHT shall be reimbursed in accordance with the NJC Travel Directive.
4.15.2 Employees shall be reimbursed for dependant care costs additional to any existing dependant care arrangements, based on a maximum per day/night as follows:
Basic Core Fund
- actual and reasonable dependant care expenses up to a daily maximum of $35 Canadian, per household, with a declaration; or
- up to $75/night with a receipt;
- up to 7 days;
Core Customized Fund
- expenses in excess of the Basic Core Fund are subject to availability of funds.
4.16 Boarding of Pets
4.16.1 An employee shall be reimbursed actual expenses from the Core Customized Fund for the boarding of household domestic pets while on HHT.
4.17 More than One HHT
4.17.1 An employee may take more than one HHT.
4.17.2 Expenses in excess of the Basic Core entitlement of 5 days must be paid from the Core Customized Fund.
4.18 Destination Home Inspection Trip (DHIT)
4.18.1 Employees who plan to re-occupy a previously owned residence, or who have already secured accommodation, or who have been assigned an “Official” Crown-owned or leased accommodation associated to special functions, are entitled to a home inspection trip. Employees who qualify for a DHIT are entitled to:
Basic Core Fund
- Return and local transportation (employees or spouse or common-law partners);
- Up to two (2) travel days;
- Up to two (2) days at destination [three (3) nights accommodation, three (3) days meals and incidentals], to conduct inspection or to finalize arrangements for school or for elder care.
4.19 HHT on Arrival at the New Location
4.19.1 Where no HHT was utilized in advance of the departure/report date, an employee may be reimbursed from the Basic Core Fund reasonable HHT expenses such as dependant care/car rental, while occupying Interim Accommodation at the new workplace.
4.19.2 An employee may claim the above expenses; however, the amount of Interim Accommodation, Meals and Miscellaneous Relocation Allowance (IAM&MA) which would normally have been authorized shall not be increased.
4.19.3 For greater clarity, an employee unable to take a HHT because of operational requirements and who has not secured a residence prior to departure date shall proceed to the new location and will be authorized up to 15 days IAM&MA from the Basic Core Fund. Expenses for childcare and a car rental may also be reimbursed if necessary. However, the 15 days of IAM&MA shall not normally be extended. Any extensions to IAM&MA shall be administered in accordance with Part V.