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Recruitment of Policy Leaders 2025-2026 for Persons with a Disability
AN ACCESSIBLE VERSION OF THIS JOB POSTER IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AFTER CLICKING "APPLY NOW"
Reference number: DFO25D-171203-000014
Selection process number: RPL-RLP 2025-2026 PWD-PSH
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is pleased to launch the 2025-2026 Recruitment of Policy Leaders (RPL) campaign.
EC-05, EC-06, EC-07 or equivalent groups and levels
(Salaries ranging from $100,265 – $146,936)
Persons residing in Canada, Canadian citizens, and permanent residents abroad who self-declare as a person with a disability are invited to apply until 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 22, 2025.
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 theRecruitment of Policy Leaders Program, you can help develop government policies to address today’s most pressing challenges.
The Government of Canada is currently recruiting policy leaders who work in the following priority areas:
- Artificial intelligence, technological innovation
- Border security, public safety, law enforcement
- Crown-Indigenous relations regarding resource development and northern affairs
- Defence, national security
- Economic growth, productivity
- Infrastructure, housing
- International trade, international investment, internal trade
As a policy leader, you will:
- Work as a mid-level or senior-level policy analyst
- Propose creative and innovative solutions to advancing Canadian public policy
- Participate in meaningful work with real-world impacts
- Innovate, collaborate, and challenge the status quo
- Advise senior officials in a constantly changing environment
- Shape your career path based on your interests and expertise
- Join a network of passionate and motivated alumni policy leaders
The RPL program is intended to establish a pool of assessed individuals from which hiring managers from various Government of Canada departments can actively recruit.
This program also provides candidates:
- Access to opportunities in various specializations across multiple departments, agencies, and other Government of Canada employers across the nation
- Mentorship and support from program alumni
- Training, development possibilities, and career advancement
- Work-life balance through a flexible work environment
- Excellent benefits and competitive salaries
Diversity in the Public Service
The Government of Canada is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive public service. It is committed to hiring over 5 000 people with disabilities by 2025 and to creating a barrier-free Canada by 2040. At the centre of this culture is an inclusive workplace where individual differences are recognized, appreciated, and respected, and where each person’s talents and strengths are fully developed and utilized. It will act with honour, integrity, good faith, and fairness in this selection process and beyond. The Government of Canada is working diligently to remove systemic barriers to employment equity members in order to build a workforce that truly represents the population it serves.
The Government of Canada is taking meaningful steps to create opportunities for strong and diverse leadership through the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service. It is also working to ensure an accessible and inclusive workplace where everyone can fully contribute and thrive.
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”.
Other Opportunities to Apply
This campaign is open to persons who self-declare as a person with a disability. The Recruitment of Policy Leaders offers two additional advertisements to apply:
• A general advertisement for all applicants is open from November 24 to December 8, 2025, please use the following link to apply.
• Applicants who self-declare as Indigenous can apply from November 24 to December 22, 2025, using the following link.
Applicants must only to one of the three streams. For candidates who self-declare as both Indigenous and a person with a disability, please apply to the Indigenous stream. Candidates from all three advertisements will be assessed together, using the same assessment process.
Position Locations
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.
Accessibility
We are committed to providing an inclusive, accessible, and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. The Personnel Psychology Centre has assessed the Recruitment of Policy Leaders process to ensure it is free of bias and barriers. If you encounter any issues while completing your questionnaire or assessments on the VidCruiter platform, please contact the RPL Secretariat.Accessible documents in Word format can be downloaded at each stage of the process, and other formats are available upon request by contacting us.
The Government of Canada has also created a Workplace Accessibility Passport to help remove barriers and to support public service employees. This initiative provides the tools, adaptive computer technology, supports, and measures needed to create the best conditions possible for employees to succeed.
We encourage you to review the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada to learn more.
We also encourage you to share any feedback about accessibility challenges during the recruitment process using the Fisheries and Oceansaccessibility 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.
What to Expect
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:
- Screening Questionnaire
- Assessing:
- Education: Master's degree or doctorate, in any discipline, obtained by December 31, 2026, from a recognized university OR Degree in any discipline AND a law degree, both obtained by December 31, 2026, from a recognized university
- Policy-relevant experience, preferably in at least one of the federal priority areas listed above
- Leadership or initiative
- Research achievements
- Time allocation: This assessment should take approximately 5-6 hours to complete
- Written Exam
- Assessing:
- Analytical thinking and judgement
- Creativity
- Effective communication
- Time allocation: To be provided later
- Interview
- Assessing:
- Adaptability
- Action orientation
- Knowledge of Canadian public policy
- Effective communication
- Analytical thinking and judgment
- Time allocation: To be provided later
- Reference Checks
- Assessing:
- Effective interpersonal relations
- Ethics and values
- Initiative and leadership
- Time allocation: To be provided later
- Second Language Evaluations
- Assessing:
- Positions may have various linguistic requirements (unilingual French or English or bilingual French and English)
- 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
- Security Screening
- Candidates will be required to meet security requirements (ranging from Reliability status to Top Secret clearance) that vary depending on 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.
VidCruiter
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
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 established 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.
If you require an accommodation or require assistance due to unreliable internet connection, you are having difficulties with the platform or have any questions, please send usan email. Accommodations should be requested as early in the process as possible to avoid delays with your application. Once your email has been received, we will ensure adjustments or alternative measures are in place to better support you.
All information received during this process, including accommodations, will be kept confidential. Instructions on how to request assessment accommodations can be found on this website.
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