This Order sets rules allowing some unilingual persons to be appointed to bilingual positions without meeting the usual official-language proficiency requirement, if specific conditions are met.
Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order Whereas the Public Service Commission has decided that it is neither practicable nor in the best interests of the public service to apply the provisions of the Public Service Employment Acta respecting official language proficiency to certain persons described in the annexed Order; S.C. 2003, c. 22, s. 12 and 13 Therefore, the Public Service Commission, pursuant to section 20 of the Public Service Employment Acta, hereby makes the annexed Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order. Ottawa, October 14, 2005 Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, pursuant to section 20 of the Public Service Employment Acta, hereby approves the annexed Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order made by the Public Service Commission. Definitions The following definitions apply in this Order. Act means the Public Service Employment Act. (Loi) agreement to become bilingual means an agreement in writing by which a person undertakes to attain the level of official language proficiency required for a bilingual position, through language training at public expense, within a period of two years beginning on the later of the date of the written agreement of appointment to the bilingual position and the effective date of the appointment; and agrees that if, at the end of the two-year period, the person has not attained the level of language proficiency required for the bilingual position, the person will be appointed or deployed on an indeterminate basis to a position for which the person meets the essential qualifications referred to in paragraph 30(2)(a) of the Act and that is of a similar level and salary as the bilingual position. (engagement de devenir bilingue) bilingual position means a position identified by the deputy head as one for which the work to be performed requires proficiency in both official languages. (poste bilingue) non-imperative, in relation to an appointment to a bilingual position, means that the appointment is for an indeterminate period and the bilingual position has been identified by the deputy head as not requiring, at the time of the appointment, occupation by a person who meets the required level of proficiency in both official languages. (nomination non impérative) unilingual person means, in relation to a bilingual position, a person who meets the required level of proficiency in only one of the official languages. (personne unilingue) Non-application No person is excluded by this Order from any requirement to meet any qualifications with respect to shorthand, typing, translation, editing, proofreading, revising, writing or interpretation or to meet any specialized or expert proficiency requirements in one or both official languages. Exclusion from paragraph 30(2)(a) of the Act with respect to official language proficiency A unilingual person who enters into an agreement to become bilingual in order to be appointed on a non-imperative basis to a bilingual position is excluded from the operation of paragraph 30(2)(a) of the Act with respect to the official language proficiency required for the appointment. If a unilingual person has a long-term or recurring physical, mental or learning impairment that makes the person unable to attain, through language training, the official language proficiency required for a bilingual position, the person is excluded from the operation of paragraph 30(2)(a) of the Act with respect to that requirement for a non-imperative appointment to that position. If a unilingual person is eligible for an immediate annuity under the Public Service Superannuation Act within two years after a non-imperative appointment to a bilingual position and the person submits an irrevocable resignation to take effect no later than the end of that two-year period, the person is excluded from the operation of paragraph 30(2)(a) of the Act with respect to the official language proficiency required for that appointment. [Repeal] Coming into force This Order comes into force on the day on which section 12 of the Public Service Modernization Act, chapter 22 of the Statutes of Canada, 2003, comes into force. [Note: Regulations in force December 31, 2005, see SI/2005-122.]