Welcome to ACFO-ACAF!

• About ACFO-ACAF
• Our members
• Our Labour Relations services
• History of ACFO-ACAF
• Register your membership

About ACFO-ACAF

ACFO-ACAF has been the professional association and certified bargaining agent representing more than 7,000 financial professionals employed in the federal public service and at NAV Canada since 1989.

ACFO-ACAF aims to continually improve the working conditions for our members, share information about the profession and raise awareness of the vital role played by our members. We believe that advocating for our members also advocates for a strong, accountable financial management framework for the Government of Canada and we recognize that our members benefit from working in a strong system, just as all Canadians benefit from good stewardship of their tax dollars.

You can see our full mission and vision here.

Our members

Our public service members work across Canada in more than 70 departments and agencies in more than 700 locations. The vast majority of our approximately 30 NAV Canada members work in Ottawa. Many hold business degrees and/or professional designations such as CPAs, CIAs and CFEs.

While members under the CT-FIN classification (formerly FIs) in the public service have been represented by ACFO-ACAF since 1989, in 2019, approximately 500 internal and external auditors in the federal public service became represented by ACFO-ACAF under the new occupational group, the Comptrollership (CT) Group. Our NAV Canada members became represented under a separate collective agreement in 1996 when it broke off from the federal public service.

In addition, our members have more responsibilities and abilities than just number crunching—they add value. They are strategic thinkers, project managers and program deliverers called upon to provide insights into their numbers and share their significance within the context of a program or department. They ensure managers not only understand their responsibilities and accountabilities, but also what recourse mechanisms are in place in the department if these responsibilities are not upheld.

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Some statistics about the CT Group:

• More than 75% have been in the public service for 10 years or longer
• 2 in 3 are in the National Capital Region (NCR)
• 60% are female
• More than half supervise employees
• 2 in 3 are bilingual

Our Labour Relations services

Our Labour Relations Advisors are available to answer questions, navigate benefits and provide information and guidance every step of the way in the following processes:

Collective agreement interpretation

Collective agreements are documents negotiated between ACFO-ACAF and the Employer (Treasury Board and NAV CANADA) that set the terms and conditions of employment and establish rates of pay, hours of work and duration and availability of leave, among other things. Our Labour Relations Advisors can help members interpret their respective agreement and determine how it applies in a particular situation.

Informal conflict resolution

This is the general label applied to any number of processes, from providing advice or supporting you with a simple phone call to a manager to the well-defined Informal Conflict Management Systems (ICMS) in various departments. The goal of informal conflict resolution is to solve problems without having to resort to formal grievance or complaint processes.

Our Labour Relations Advisors will help resolve conflicts informally wherever possible. In our experience, informal processes are:

• Shorter than formal grievances and complaints
• Non-adversarial in nature
• More likely to lead to good long-term relationships between the conflicted parties

Grievances

A grievance is a formal conflict resolution process. Many are related to provisions in your collective agreement, but members can also file a grievance over other issues. A grievance can generally be filed over any breach of the terms and conditions of employment. ACFO-ACAF Labour Relations Advisors can represent you at grievance hearings, guide you along in this process, and provide you with important timelines.

Staffing complaints

Staffing complaints are brought to the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board, which has the authority to intervene in the following types of staffing complaints:

• Layoff – For public servants who believe their Deputy Head abused their authority in selecting him or her for layoff.
• Revocation of Appointment – For public servants who believe the revocation of their appointment was unreasonable.
• Internal Appointments – For public servants who believe there was an abuse of authority related to an appointment or that their right to be assessed under the official language of their choice was denied.

Harassment and discrimination complaints

Public servants have a right to work in an environment free of discrimination and harassment. The definitions of each can be found in the Treasury Board Policy on the Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the Workplace and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Professional development

ACFO-ACAF provides members with the training and professional development they need in order to progress in their careers and maintain their accounting designations. As a group of highly professional and skilled financial officers, comptrollers and auditors, professional development is a top priority for ACFO-ACAF for which we’ve been advocating for many years with Treasury Board.

You can explore all of our professional development opportunities in the Professional Development section of our website.

Joint Career Development Program (JCDP)

The Joint Career Development Program (JCDP) is jointly administered by ACFO-ACAF and the Office of the Comptroller General and provides over $1,000,000 annually in free professional development each year. Originally launched in September 2017, the program has seen thousands of financial officers from more than 60 departments receive training. All training recipients are selected by random draw, therefore all members have an equal chance of receiving free training. There is a large offering of training under the JCDP, including ACFO-ACAF’s flagship PD day, Spring Tune Up, that hosts more than 1,000 members each year.

History of ACFO-ACAF

Since its foundation, ACFO-ACAF has established itself as a unique and specialized organization representing dedicated finance professionals.

Prior to the establishment of its own association, the FI Group was represented by the Financial Administration component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. In 1988, a group of FIs led by Merdon Hosking established a separate association to represent the specific interests of the financial management community. This provided the opportunity to serve as more than a traditional bargaining agent.

With an eye towards being an advocate for strong financial management in the public service, the Association (originally known as APSFA) began appearing before House and Senate standing committees. In December 2003, the Association published its first major policy paper of the Checks and Balances report series, which served to cement the Association’s reputation as a key stakeholder in financial management discussions. In June 2004, the Association changed its name to ACFO-ACAF.

Since then, the Association has published four more Checks and Balances reports and white papers. We routinely appear before committees and bodies such as the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, the Public Service Pension Committee, and the Office of the Comptroller General. Issues ACFO-ACAF has spoken to include whistleblower protection, fixing the broken staffing system, fixing Phoenix and more.

Today, ACFO-ACAF is recognized as a professional association, an advocate for prudent financial management and a valued stakeholder in the public sector financial management community. With more than 30 years of constructive labour relations, ACFO-ACAF vigilantly advocates on behalf of its members and ensures that they are respected and valued for their contributions to Canada.

Register Your Membership

All members of the Comptrollership Group in the federal public service and the FI group at NAV Canada are dues-paying members of ACFO-ACAF and therefore automatically represented. However, in order to enjoy the full benefits of membership, members must register with the Association.

Registering your membership allows you to:

• Have your say: Registered members get to vote on the Collective Agreement, elect members of the Board of Directors and take part in Annual General Meetings.
• Serve the CT Community: Registered members can stand for election to the Board of Directors and serve on committees including the collective bargaining committee.
• Stay informed: Registered members receive communications from ACFO-ACAF about collective bargaining updates, professional development opportunities, and more. You can even control which kind of news you receive to your inbox.
• Reap the benefits of membership: Registered members have access to a number of discounts on professional services through ACFO-ACAF’s member perk program, ServicePlus.

Click here to register your membership.