The present document contains the text of the
policy as revised on April 1995. It cancels Treasury Board
Circulars 1972-134 and 1987-29 relating to official languages and
replaces the version of this policy dated April 1, 1993.
To assist employees with costs they would not
normally incur for their children's public education.
(a) It is the government's policy to reimburse
the employee's expenses outlined in this policy where:
(i) as a result of working and living on lands
not subject to municipal taxes, the employee's children are not
entitled to free public education at adequate educational
facilities; or
(ii) as a result of the employee's posting to a
location in Canada, adequate public education is not available in
the official language of the employee's children;
and when deputy heads are satisfied that
(iii) there are no adequate educational
facilities operated by the Government of Canada or other
organizations that the employee's children could attend at no
cost; or
(iv) expenses to send the employee's children to
adequate educational facilities are not paid by the appropriate
municipal, provincial or territorial agencies or through another
policy.
(b) The maximum reimbursement, per academic year
per child, is the lesser of $5,500 or the amount of admissible
expenses that would be incurred if the child attended the
adequate educational facility the deputy head considers
acceptable.
(c) Admissible expenses may be paid directly to
the school authority or reimbursed to employees who submit proof
of payment.
This policy applies to all employees within that
portion of the Public Service specified in Part I, Schedule I of
the Public Service Staff Relations Act and to members of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
This policy does not apply to employees posted
abroad. Part V of the Foreign Service Directives applies in those
cases.
Note: The definitions in Appendix A apply
throughout this policy.
5.1 School fees
When the adequate educational facility requires
that non-resident school fees be paid for the child's education,
the deputy head must not reimburse an amount that is higher than
the school authority ordinarily charges for a non-resident
student.
5.2 Transportation
The deputy head may, under the following
circumstances, assist with the cost of daily transportation to
and from an educational facility: the school authority does not
provide adequate transportation and the educational facility is
located more than eight kilometres from the child's residence,
and the cost exceeds $3 per month per child or $5 per month for
two or more children of the same family. The forms of assistance
are:
(i) reimbursement of the cost that exceeds the
limits stated above for using public, non-urban
transportation;
(ii) providing a chartered or Crown-owned vehicle
or taxi for transportation. The employee must contribute to the
cost of this transportation, up to the limits stated above. This
charge will be suspended if the child is absent from school
two weeks or more for a recognized cause; or
(iii) where none of the above means of
transportation are available, employees may, upon request and
with the deputy head's approval, receive a kilometric allowance
each day they transport their children to and from the adequate
educational facility. The allowance is equal to the return
distance between the employee's home and the educational facility
times the traveller-requested rates as provided by the Travel
Directive.
5.3 Board and lodging
(a) The deputy head reimburses costs for board
and lodging only where:
(i) no suitable daily transportation is
available;
(ii) the cost is less than that of daily
transportation; or
(iii) daily transportation is not feasible
because of time, distance or terrain.
(b) Before authorizing reimbursement for meals,
the deputy head should consider the normal food costs the
employee incurs when the child lives at home.
5.4 Travel expenses
Where a deputy head has authorized a child's
board and lodging away from the employee's place of residence,
the employee is entitled to reimbursement of eligible travel
expenses when the child returns to the employee's place of duty
during a school holiday. Eligible expenses are actual and
reasonable transportation and travelling expenses the child
incurs for two return trips each school year, between the
employee's place of duty and adequate educational facility. If
the employee has elected to send the child to a different school,
the deputy head must reimburse only the amount that would be
eligible if the child were attending the adequate educational
facility.
5.5 Tutoring fees
5.5.1 Subjects
Deputy heads may reimburse expenses for tutoring
fees:
(i) in subjects where the child's educational
level is below that of the new educational facility and where the
school authority feels the deficiency is directly attributable to
the circumstances of the parent's previous location(s) of
employment;
(ii) for subjects the previous educational
facility attended by the child does not normally offer but the
educational facility in question does;
(iii) for subjects the province or territory of
residence normally offers but the educational facility that the
child must attend in question does not.
5.5.2 Official Languages
Where adequate educational facilities are
available but the curriculum is offered only in the child's
second official language, and the employee elects to send the
child to that educational facility, the deputy head may, in
certain cases, reimburse the cost of extracurricular courses or
tutors to instruct the child in the educational facility's
official language of instruction. The employee must however show
evidence that the local school authorities at the employee's
place of residence have interviewed the child either before or
after the transfer and concur that the child would avoid losing
academic standing if the courses or tutors were provided.
5.6 Other costs
The deputy head may authorize the payment of
fees, expenses and charges for courses, instructions, services,
programs, books and materials normally provided, without
additional cost to the family, as part of the educational program
of the province or territory of residence but not provided at the
approved adequate educational facility the child attends.
5.7 Payment of costs in the Yukon Territories
In accordance with Order in Council 1962-17/1371,
deputy heads with employees residing in the Yukon Territory must
pay the Government of the Yukon Territory $350 per school year
for each child who attends an educational facility operated by
the Government of the Yukon Territory and is a dependant of a
federal government employee occupying non-taxable quarters. The
payment should be applied to the operation and maintenance of the
educational facility.
Deputy heads shall keep records of all
educational assistance they provide to employees with school-aged
children and be prepared to submit a report to the Treasury Board
Secretariat when requested to do so.
7.1 Authority
This policy is issued under the authority of
Section 7 of the Financial Administration Act.
7.2 Treasury Board publications
Foreign Service Directives, Part V, Travel
Directive.
Enquiries about this policy should be referred to
the responsible officers in departmental headquarters who, in
turn, may direct questions regarding policy interpretation:
For employees residing on lands that are not
subject to municipal taxation, to:
Safety, Health and Employee Services Group
Labour Relations and Classification Division
Treasury Board Secretariat
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R5, or
For employees who, as a result of a posting,
are residing in areas where adequate public educational
facilities are not available in the official language of their
children, to:
Official Languages and Employment Equity
Branch
Treasury Board Secretariat
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R5
Adequate educational facilities
(établissement d'enseignement convenable) -- facilities for
educating school-aged children that meet the following
requirements: the facilities provide a curriculum complying with
the program for public education in the province or territory of
residence and they are the most economical and closest to the
employee's workplace;
Public education (enseignement
public): means all phases of education in the appropriate
official language required to reach university entrance level in
the employee's province or territory residence;
School-aged child (enfant d'âge
scolaire)
-- means a child for whom the employee has full
financial responsibility (normally claimed as a dependant for
income tax purposes) and who, at the beginning of the school
year, qualifies for free education, according to the employee's
province or territory of residence;
School authority (autorités
scolaires): means the corporation, board, or other body that has
authority to levy taxes to meet the expenses of operating and
maintaining a school.
|