Looking for a rewarding career in the federal public service? The Government of Canada is seeking people with diverse backgrounds who can create positive change and make meaningful contributions to the federal public service. By becoming a policy leader, through the Recruitment of Policy Leaders Program, you can help develop government policies to address today’s most pressing challenges.

Policy leaders work in a variety of areas such as:

·       Climate change;

·       Criminal justice;

·       Digital economy:

·       Food security;

·       Foreign policy;

·       Health;

·       International trade;

·       National security; and

·       Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Diversity in the Public Service

The Government of Canada is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and accessible public service and acting with honour, integrity, good faith, and fairness in the selection process and beyond. The federal government is working diligently to remove systemic barriers to employment equity members in order to build a workforce that truly represents the population it serves.

Representation matters!

Creating an environment where diverse perspectives are valued begins with self-declaration. Count yourself in and self-declare by identifying which employment equity group(s) you belong to. To learn more about the self-declaring, visit the website “Self-declaring for Government of Canada jobs”.

This campaign is open to all applicants. The Recruitment of Policy Leaders offers two additional advertisements to apply:

• Applicants who self-declare as Indigenous can apply from November 12 to December 10, 2024.

• Applicants who self-declare as persons with disabilities can apply from November 12 to December 10, 2024.

Applicants must only apply once. Candidates from all three advertisements will be assessed together, using the same assessment process.

Many positions are in the National Capital Region; however, the location and work arrangement can vary depending on the hiring department. Please note that most departments follow the Treasury Board Secretariat’s common hybrid work model. Accommodations and exception measures are available and assessed on a case-by-case basis.

We also encourage you to share any feedback about accessibility challenges during the recruitment process using the Fisheries and Oceans Accessibility feedback form. After submitting your application, you will be invited to provide optional feedback about to the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program. Your input is invaluable and helps us improve our commitment to accessibility, ensuring an inclusive experience for all applicants.

Throughout this process, you will need to provide information on your skills, experiences, achievements and behaviours. You can use examples from past work experiences, community involvement/volunteering, achievements, research or studies to complete your responses.

To be included in the pool, you must successfully demonstrate each competency and complete each assessment stage:

1. Screening Questionnaire

• Assessing:

• Education: Master's degree or doctorate, in any discipline, obtained by December 31, 2025, from a recognized university OR Degree in any discipline AND a law degree, both obtained by December 31, 2025, from a recognized university;
• Policy-relevant experience;
• Leadership or initiative; and
• Research achievements.

• Time allocation: This assessment should take approximately 5-6 hours to complete

2. Written exam

• Assessing:

• Analytical thinking and judgement;
• Creativity; and
• Effective communication.

• Time allocation: To be provided later.

3. Interview

• Assessing:

• Adaptability;
• Action orientation;
• Knowledge of Canadian public policy;
• Effective communication; and
• Analytical thinking and judgment.

• Time allocation: To be provided later.

4. Reference Checks

• Assessing:

• Effective interpersonal relations;
• Ethics and values; and
• Initiative and leadership.

• Time allocation: To be provided later.

5. Second Language Evaluations: positions may have various linguistic requirements (unilingual French or English or bilingual French and English)

• Assessing:

• Candidates who are successful in the process and who confirm an interest for bilingual positions will be invited to complete testing in their second official language.

• Time allocation: To be provided later.

6. Security Screening

• Security requirements depend on the position. Candidates will be required to meet security requirements (ranging from Reliability status to Top Secret clearance) according to the position.

Additional competencies or specific experience may be required by the hiring manager.

To select the candidates who advance at each stage of the assessment process, a top-down approach may be used or selection may be limited to candidates who self-declare as a member of one of the following Employment Equity groups: Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, or visible minorities.

Your application must be submitted via the VidCruiter platform.

We suggest you go through the entire application in "Preview Mode", to find out what is expected of you. Important note: if you accidently complete your application in "Preview Mode" your answers will not be saved. We strongly encourage you to prepare your answers in a Word document before saving them in the application.

All email communications and assessments will be completed using the VidCruiter platform. By submitting your screening questionnaire, you agree that your assessment results and personal information may be shared with hiring managers in the federal public service.

Accommodations are available to all candidates at any point in the process. The intent of accommodations is to provide a solution that best fits your needs to help you succeed while ensuring the integrity of the process. They are assessed on a case-by-case basis and in no way does requesting an accommodation impact your status.

Accommodations can be made to help you submit your application and/or better support you to complete your assessments which may include but are not limited to: additional time, presenting information in a different way, changing the colors, fonts, etc.

All information received during this process, including accommodations, will be kept confidential.