The New Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order

The new Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order (PSOLEAO) intends to provide an appropriate balance between:

• ensuring that persons appointed meet the official language proficiency requirements of bilingual positions; and
• fostering the access of unilingual Canadians to bilingual positions in the federal public service.

The PSOLEAO sets out three situations in which, in the case of a non-imperative appointment, a person who is proficient in only one of the official language is excluded from the application of merit with respect to proficiency in both official languages.

• When the person submits an agreement to become bilingual;
• When the person is excluded for medical reasons; and
• When the person is eligible for an immediate annuity.

The Public Service Official Languages Appointment Regulations (PSOLAR) set out the provisions applying to persons who are excluded from merit with respect to proficiency in both official languages and specify the deputy head’s responsibilities and obligations when appointing a person who enters into an agreement to become bilingual.

Links

• Highlights
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order (1981) and Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order (2005) (PDF MSWord)
• Letter from the President to Deputy Heads on the new PSOLEAO and PSOLAP (06-02)
• • Statement of Agreement to Become Bilingual (PDF MSWord)
• A Guide for the Production of Monitoring Reports on the Application of the Public Service Official Languages Exclusion Approval Order