General

Collective agreement

This directive is deemed to be part of collective agreements between the parties represented on the National Joint Council (NJC), and employees are to be afforded ready access to this directive.

Grievance procedure

In cases of alleged misinterpretation or misapplication arising out of this directive, the grievance procedure, for all represented employees within the meaning of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, will be in accordance with section 15.0 of the NJC By-Laws. For unrepresented employees the departmental or agency grievance procedure applies.

Definitions

Accommodation (logement)

1. Commercial Accommodation (logement commercial) - lodging facilities such as hotels, motels, corporate residences or apartments.
2. Crown-owned living accommodation (logement de l’État) - living accommodation owned, leased, rented or whose occupancy is otherwise controlled by the Government of Canada.
3. Interim accommodation (logement provisoire) - refers to days for which living expenses are paid at the new place of duty when an employee is unable to move into the new residence.
4. Self-contained accommodation (logement autonome) – a commercial accommodation that is equipped so that employees may prepare and consume meals. This accommodation may also have laundry facilities.
5. Temporary accommodation (logement temporaire) - accommodation for which living expenses are paid at the start and/or the end of the relocation to the new place of duty or both.

Actively Marketed (sur le marché de façon active) - for the purpose of this directive, under normal circumstances a principal residence will be considered “actively marketed” for sale when:

1. the principal residence is continuously listed for sale (except for brief interruptions, e.g. to change brokers or listings) through a licenced real estate agent (realtor);
2. the listing price is consistent with the suggested list price in the appraisal;
3. the employee is acting in good faith to dispose of the residence;
4. no reasonable offers are refused; and
5. the property is not rented to tenants for any period of time.

Actual and reasonable expenses (Frais réels et raisonnables)

1. the actual expenses incurred, supported by proof of payment, e.g. receipts and vouchers; and
2. the reasonable amount that the employer judges to be both appropriate and justifiable based on experience of what such costs should be in the circumstances, and within the limits of this directive.

Appointee (personne nommée) - a person recruited from outside the public service and appointed or on assignment to a department or agency listed in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act. On relocation to the first place of employment, a person is deemed not to be an employee for the purposes of this directive. Members of the Canadian Forces on initial appointment to the public service are considered to have the status of appointees.

Arm’s length transaction (transaction sans lien de dépendance) - an arm’s length transaction is one that is consummated between two or more non-related parties. Conversely, a non-arm’s length transaction is any transaction consummated between two or more related parties.

• Related individuals include direct-line descendants (grandparents, parents, children, and so on), as well as spouse or common-law partners, brothers, sisters, and in-laws.
• Related individuals also include non-immediate family members such as cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.

In transactions considered to be non-arm’s length, participants have the potential to manipulate a transaction for their benefit.

Central removal services (CRS) (services centraux de déménagement) – Central headquarters unit at Public Services and Procurement Canada responsible for the administration of the contract for the delivery of household goods moving services for all relocation within Canada.

Contracted Relocation Service Provider (CRSP) [fournisseur de services de réinstallation (FSR)] - private sector company contracted by the Government of Canada to administer the relocation services for employees in accordance with this directive.

Dependant (personne à charge) – a person who resides full-time with the employee at the employee’s residence, or a person who resides outside the employee’s residence and for whom the employee has formally declared a responsibility for assistance and/or support, and who is:

1. the spouse of that employee; or
2. the biological child, stepchild, adopted child including a child adopted by aboriginal people under the Custom Adoption Practice, or legal ward of that employee or of the employee’s spouse who is both dependent on the employee for support and is:
   1. under 18 years of age; or
   2. dependent on the employee by reason of mental or physical disability; or
   3. in full-time attendance at a school or other education institution that provides training or instruction of an educational, professional, vocational or technical nature; or
3. ]the parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or grandchild of that employee or of the employee’s spouse who is both dependent on the employee for support and is:
   1. under 18 years of age; or
   2. dependent on the employee by reason of mental or physical disability; or
   3. in full-time attendance at a school or other education institution that provides training or instruction of an educational, professional, vocational or technical nature.

Note:

A formal declaration may be either a signed statement by the employee or a legal document.

Deputy head (administrateur général) - in relation to a department, the deputy minister; and in relation to any other part of the public service, the chief executive officer, or, if there is no chief executive officer, the person designated by the Governor in Council as the deputy head for the purposes of the Public Service Employment Act.

Door-to-door (porte-à-porte) – a door-to-door move is a synchronized move from the principal residence at origin to the new principal residence at destination where efforts are made by the employee to minimize the need for interim accommodation, meals and miscellaneous expenses as much as possible.

Employee (fonctionnaire) - a person employed in the federal public service and whose salary is paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

1. Full-time employee (fonctionnaire à temps plein) – means a person whose normal scheduled hours of work are those of a full-time employee in accordance with the collective agreement;
2. Part-time employee (fonctionnaire à temps partiel) - part-time employee means a person whose normal scheduled hours of work are less than those of a full-time employee in accordance with the collective agreement, but not less than one-third of those hours;
3. Seasonal employee (fonctionnaire saisonnier) – means a person whose period of work is of a seasonal nature;
4. Term employee (fonctionnaire nommé pour une période déterminée) – means a person whose period of work is for a determined period of time.

Employee-requested relocation (réinstallation à la demande du fonctionnaire) - a relocation resulting from a formal request made by an employee for compassionate or other personal reasons and for which the costs involved are to be reimbursed in accordance with Part XII.

Employer (employeur) - Her Majesty in right of Canada as represented by the Treasury Board, and includes persons authorized to exercise the authority of the Treasury Board.

Exceptional circumstances (circonstances exceptionnelles) – means rare and unforeseeable circumstances, normally outside of the employee’s control.

Household goods and effects (effets mobiliers) - the furniture, household equipment and personal effects of an employee or appointee and dependants, but does not include automobiles, livestock and pets.

Isolated post (poste isolé) - a place named in Appendix A of the Isolated Posts and Government Housing Directive.

Living expenses (frais de subsistance) - the expenses incurred for food and overnight accommodation. It may also include incidental expenses such as laundry, valet service, gratuities, local telephone calls and local transportation, as specified in this directive.

Mobile home and double-wide removable home (maison mobile et maison mobile double) - are considered to be synonymous terms for purposes of this directive and mean a transportable, detached, single-family dwelling which is an employee’s principal residence and which contains by design the normal amenities for continuous year-round occupancy. The unit is connected to utilities and is designed to stand on a specially prepared site, although these preparations do not include a permanent foundation. The unit is designed and built to be towed or moved by road. This definition does not include: a lean-to or other attached living space, fencing or similar items, travel trailers, camping trailers and the like, or any type of self-propelled vehicle such as a motor home or pick-up coach.

Mortgage (hypothèque) - means a loan registered as a mortgage on a property. It is for a fixed amount and may not be re-advanced as the borrower pays down the mortgage. It will mature when the term is up and the borrower has the choice to renew with his current lender or switch to another lender for the remaining balance. Payments are made on a fixed schedule and involve payments of principal and interest. For greater clarity, a mortgage does not include any loan which allows the borrower to access funds for other purposes, such as Home Equity Lines of Credit.

New principal residence (nouvelle résidence principale) - a single-family dwelling purchased or rented at the new workplace which will become the employee’s principal residence following the relocation.

Non-Accountable Incidental Expenses Allowance (Indemnité pour les faux frais non soumis à une justification) - an allowance that employees do not have to account for upon relocation i.e. receipts are not required but should be retained.

Pet (animal de compagnie) - any animal that normally resides in the family home and is kept for companionship (if the animal is allowed in the living room, it can be moved). Large animals such as horses or sheep or large numbers of domestic animals, such as a cattery, or a kennel of dogs, are not considered pets.

Personal Declaration (déclaration) – means a written statement signed by the employee attesting to and listing the expenses for payment without receipt.

Personal Motor Vehicule (PMV) [véhicule automobile personnel - (VAP)] - for purposes of shipment, means a sedan, sports car, station wagon, mini van, pick-up, or 4-wheel drive vehicle of three-quarter ton rating or less, registered in the employee’s name or in the name of the spouse or common-law partner, or a dependant, the primary purpose of which is for family conveyance. This definition excludes racing cars, campers, and any other vehicle which does not meet the above criteria.

Principal residence (résidence principale) - a single-family dwelling owned or rented and occupied by the employee or dependant residing with the employee, which was occupied continuously at the time the relocation at public expense was authorized and which is recorded as the employee’s permanent address on the departmental or agency personnel file. Temporary or seasonal accommodation is excluded from this definition.

Receipt (reçu) - an original document or electronic/paper copy showing the date and amount of expenditure paid by the employee.

Relocation (réinstallation) - the authorized move of an employee from one workplace to another. The move consists of the relocation from the principal residence occupied while working at the old workplace, to the new principal residence that will be occupied while working at the new workplace. For greater clarity, the employee must relocate to a new principal residence to be eligible for the reimbursement of relocation expenses.

Single-family dwelling (habitation unifamiliale) - living quarters containing the normal amenities necessary for continuous year-round occupancy. The dwelling must be structurally separate and have an entrance or entrances from outside the building or from a common hall, lobby, vestibule, or stairway inside the building.

Spouse or common-law partner (conjoint ou conjoint de fait) - the term “common-law partner” refers to a person living in a conjugal relationship with an employee for a continuous period of at least one year. The term “spouse” refers to the person married to the employee.

Third-party service provider rates and fees (taux et frais des fournisseurs de service tiers) - contracted ceiling amount charged by the Contracted Relocation Service Provider to the Government of Canada for providing third-party real-estate, legal, building inspection and rental assistance services.

Transferee (personne transférée) - the employee being relocated from one place of residence to a new destination to perform duties of a position within the public service.

Travelling expenses (frais de voyage) - the transportation and living expenses incurred en route to the new workplace.

Workplace/Place of Duty (lieu de travail)

1. Permanent/Regular (permanent/régulier) - the single permanent location determined by the employer at, or from which, an employee ordinarily performs the work of his or her position or reports to;
2. the workplace of employees who are employed as Ships’ Officers or Ships’ Crews shall be deemed to be a suitable structure, as determined by the employer:
   1. at the location of the home port of their vessels, for employees whose normal duties are performed aboard a vessel; or
   2. at the location where employees normally perform their duties when they are not employed on a vessel.