Canadian Federal Public Servants in Canada's northern isolated posts (northern communities) are receiving a pay cut of up to $8,500 per year from a program that is intended for the recruitment and retention of staff delivering government programs in isolated locations.  The National Joint Council intends to implement these changes effective December 1st, 2023.  

Federal public servant salaries are much lower than the average northern salaries.  Therefore, in order to attract and retain federal public servants in northern regions, northern federal public servants are provided an Isolated Post Allowance, which helps to increase salaries up to the general northern standard.  Isolated Post Allowance is managed by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer and the Treasury Board Secretariat, through the National Joint Council.  The National Joint Council states that “The purpose of this directive is to facilitate the recruitment and retention of staff delivering government programs in isolated locations. Its provisions are designed to assist in offsetting some of the higher costs and to recognize the inherent disadvantages associated with living and working in isolated posts”.  

The National Joint Council (NJC) has implemented a revised methodology for the calculation of the Shelter Cost Differential (SCD) element of the Isolated Post and Government Housing Directive which leads to a pay (allowance) reduction of almost $2,000 per year for all federal employees in Yellowknife (this amount varies between northern communities).  The change in the calculation is primarily a result of rental costs in the South increasing, rather than the costs in the North decreasing. In fact, the opposite is happening in most northern communities where expensive housing costs continue to climb. 

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, acknowledged the unique housing difficulties of northern regions in his housing announcement in Yellowknife on October 12th, 2023.  Prime Minster Trudeau acknowledged the unique challenges in the north, including:  climate; access to material, a very large labour shortage, and very low vacancy rates [https://www.ctvnew.ca/video?clipId=2785005  The housing issue in the north is not solely related to the cost of rent, and this acknowledgement by the Prime Minister reinforces the existence of the SCD allowance for all federal public servants in the northern regions.

Another significant change, is that the SCD will now only be available to renters, and homeowners in isolated posts will no longer receive any SCD at all. This change is equivalent to a reduction of $8,502 per year in some locations.  This is a dramatic reduction in take home pay for federal employees in the North. Taking into consideration the costs associated with increasing mortgage rates, increasing property taxes, and the increasing costs to maintain a home in Canada's North, the decision to continue to own a home in the North becomes more challenging.  In addition, most northern communities have a general lack of available rental units (as recognized by the Prime Minister's address), which makes home ownership the only option in many northern communities.

These changes will certainly have an impact on the ability of the federal public service to hire staff to live and work in isolated locations. For the approximately 1,400 existing federal employees in Canada's Northern Regions, the above changes will result in a loss of many millions of dollars in annual income. The implications will inevitably be seen in a reduction in local spending and may ultimately lead to some employees deciding to leave the North, further contributing to the major issues in hiring and retention within the federal service northern regions.    

Staff were neither engaged nor properly notified of these upcoming cuts to their pay. In fact, initial emails about the cuts were sent out in the midst of the NWT forest fire evacuations and requests for information that was considered in the process of making these changes has not been clearly communicated. This severely limited the ability of employees to influence results or make informed personal decisions regarding their finances and their overall lives. 

The National Joint Council intends to implement these changes effective December 1st, 2023.  Please show your support for Federal Public Servants delivering important programs in Canada's Northern Regions by signing this petition to stop the reduction of Isolated Post Allowances.