With input from the ACFO-ACAF President, General Counsel, and core public administration (CPA) organizations, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) has officially separated the Comptrollership (CT) group implementation from the Program and Administrative Services (PA) conversion. This separation will speed up the process of implementing the CT group and allow for a new planned target date for implementation of September 2023. However, conversion and renaming of positions will occur when organizations are ready and when the new CT sub-groups and their corresponding rates of pay can be seamlessly integrated into the pay system without issue.

We have received many questions about the CT group implementation. On August 29, 2022, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET, ACFO-ACAF is inviting you to an information session on Microsoft Teams about the implementation.

There is no need to RSVP. Simply contact Rex Tshibanda, at rtshibanda@acfo-acaf.com, to receive the link that will grant you access to the information session.

Recording now available

Incase you missed the event, the recording of the CT Group Implementation info session is available for viewing on the my.ACFO-ACAF portal.

The portal is only accessible for ACFO-ACAF members that have registered their membership. If you haven’t registered your membership with ACFO-ACAF you can register in less than 5 minutes by clicking here:

Sign up

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the CT Group implementation?

The new Comptrollership (CT) group was certified in 2019 to combine financial management and external / internal audit work under one umbrella. For more information on this decision and what it means, please see the resources below:

• CT group decision (opens in a new tab)
• CT group definition (opens in a new tab)
• Joint communication from TBS and ACFO-ACAF to impacted employees

The Employer created the new CT occupational group to include work performed by three communities in the CPA, which includes:

• Financial Management (FI), which makes up the entirety of the FI group, currently represented by ACFO-ACAF (around 8,100 positions);
• Auditing (AU) currently included in the Audit, Commerce and Purchasing (AV) group and formerly represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) (around 150 positions); and
• Internal Audit currently included in the Program and Administrative Services (PA) group and formerly represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) (around 450 positions).

To integrate these three communities into the CT group, Treasury Board approved the rescinding of the FI group and the creation of three sub-groups under the CT group umbrella:

1. Financial Management (CT-FIN)
2. External Audit (CT-EAV)
3. Internal Audit (CT-IAU)

2. What are the next steps?

For the CT-FIN and CT-EAV sub-groups, the path to implementation of the CT group will take place in three steps:

• Step 1: The FI and AU groups will be renamed to the Comptrollership-Financial Management (CT-FIN) and Comptrollership-External Audit (CT-EAV) sub-groups respectively. Renaming does not involve a new classification decision and it is not a conversion. There will be no changes to job descriptions and no job evaluation work needs to be completed in preparation for the renaming. If you qualify for the FI group or AU group at the time of implementation, then you will also qualify for the CT-FIN sub-group or CT-EAV sub-group. ACFO-ACAF will be consulted during the mapping exercise. This work is currently underway.
• Step 2: You will receive from your organization a notification letter to inform you of the effective date of the renaming of your position.
• Step 3: Information about the renamed positions will be entered into HR systems. Going forward, CT-FIN and CT-EAV members will pay fixed monthly union dues to ACFO-ACAF, which are lower than many other public service union dues.

For the CT-IAU sub-group, the path to implementation of the CT group will take place in four steps:

• Step 1: An OCHRO team will be supporting organizations within the CPA with the conversion of Administrative Services (AS) positions whose primary purpose is internal audit, including a job description mapping exercise for existing AS internal auditing positions. ACFO-ACAF is being consulted during the mapping exercise that is currently underway.

• Step 2: An Advance Personal Notification (APN) will be sent to employees before conversion   advising them of their new group, sub-group and level, which is a letter sent to employees which informs them of the proposed classification of their position upon conversion. Sending the APN to employees is a standard first step in a conversion exercise. At this stage, employees can discuss the information in the APN with their manager and ACFO-ACAF.

• Step 3: A few months after the APN is sent, the HR system will be updated to reflect changes to the affected positions. Following systems updates, an Official Personal Notification (OPN) will be sent to the employees impacted by conversion. An OPN is the official notice which includes confirmation of the group and level of your position, the salary range of the converted position, information on grievance rights and the effective conversion date. Upon conversion, the implementation will be complete and CT-IAU union dues will officially be paid to ACFO-ACAF.  

• Step 4: Following conversion and if required, employees, ACFO-ACAF, organizations and OCHRO will address any job content and classification grievances stemming from the conversion.

3. What is the difference between a conversion and reclassification?

A conversion is a change made in the method of establishing the relative value of work within an occupational group. A conversion affects every job in the occupational group and requires that every position be re-evaluated using the new job evaluation standard.

A reclassification is specific to one job or position and occurs when there is a substantive change in the work performed, leading to a change in the occupational group, sub-group and/or level of that job or position.

4. How will I be informed if my position is part of a conversion to a new group (or sub-group) and level?

CT-FIN and CT-EAV members will receive a letter notifying them of the effective date of the renaming of their position.

CT-IAU members who are in a position that will be converted will receive two notifications advising them of changes to their position.

Please note: it is important that your contact information is up-to-date with human resources and in pay systems.

5. Will my job description change in preparation for the CT group implementation?

For CT-FIN and CT-EAV members, we do not anticipate changes to the job descriptions, as the CT implementation for these positions is a renaming exercise only. Therefore, no changes are required to job descriptions and no job evaluation work needs to be done for the renaming.

For the CT-IAU sub-group, the intention is to map current AS positions with a primary purpose of internal audit work to the newly developed CT-IAU Interdepartmental Standardized Job Descriptions (ISJD) in most cases. These will be shared with the HR community in the coming weeks. You will be informed of the job description that applies to your position when you receive your APN (see Question 2).

6. I am an AS who received a notification that my job description changed. Does this mean my position has been converted to CT-IAU?

No. Updating job descriptions is part of regular classification operational business and is a good way for your manager to confirm that your job description is up to date. When a standardized job description or Interdepartmental Standardized Job Description (ISJD) is formally applied to your position, you will receive a letter informing you that your job description has changed.

While many departments are reviewing AS job descriptions in advance of the conversion to the CT group, this exercise is not tied to the APN and OPN conversion requirements, which will all be sent to employees at a time specified by the employer and will be distributed at the same time for all AS positions in internal auditing in all organizations.

7. As a CT-IAU, what happens if I don’t meet the new minimum qualification requirements of my position?

The AS Qualification Standard requires a secondary school diploma or employer-approved alternates, while the CT-IAU Qualification Standard requires a degree from a recognized post-secondary institution with acceptable specialization in a field relevant to the work to be performed as a minimum educational requirement. Indeterminate CT-IAU employees, on the effective date of conversion, will have acquired rights and be deemed to have met the new minimum qualification requirements based on education, experience, and/or training of their position. Members will not be required to acquire new education or training to convert from an AS position whose primary purpose is internal audit to a CT-IAU position.

8. Will my terms and conditions of employment in the collective agreement change because of the conversion process?

While the conversion and implementation of the CT group is strictly a classification-related process, ACFO-ACAF is currently at the bargaining table in negotiations with TBS to create one new CT collective agreement which will apply to all sub-groups (CT-FIN, CT-IAU, CT-EAV). ACFO-ACAF will keep members informed of our progress and of changes as negotiations progress at the bargaining table. You can find the latest bargaining update here: CT group collective barga mining update (opens in a new tab)

9. What will happen to my salary at the time of conversion?

Your salary may change as a result of conversion but will not be reduced. You are to be paid at the rate of pay that is nearest to but not less than the rate of pay you would otherwise be entitled to on the date of conversion.

Your salary will be negotiated through the collective bargaining process before the date of conversion.

Salary protection measures will apply should the maximum salary for your new group (or sub-group) and level be lower than the maximum salary of your current group (or sub-group) and level, which means that you will retain the salary level of your substantive position at the time of conversion. The terms and conditions of employment of your converted position may change based on the negotiation process.

10. How will the group and level from FI to CT-FIN and AU to CT-EAV be determined?

There will be no changes to your current level. For example, FI-01 positions will become CT-FIN-01 and FI-02 positions will become CT-FIN-02, etc. Similarly, AU-01 positions will become CT-EAV-01 and AU-02 positions will become CT-EAV-02, etc.

11. How will the group and level from AS to CT-IAU be determined?

Currently, AS internal audit positions range from AS-02 to AS-07. Once the conversion is complete, internal audit will be recognized as its own discipline and, similar to the CT-FIN sub-group, positions will range from level CT-IAU-01 to CT-IAU-04. In order to achieve this, some of the CT-IAU levels will be made up of more than one AS level.

ACFO-ACAF will be available to explain and discuss this process with CT-IAU members through the Advance Personal Notification (APN) (see question 2).

12. Can management remove some of my AS duties to keep my position at a lower intended CT-IAU classification level as part of the conversion exercise?

Management has the right to organize work and assign duties as required and this must be reflected in the job description. If the manager significantly changes the job description prior to conversion, a classification decision in the current AS system is required. If the new classification decision results in a downward or upward reclassification, or a new classification decision, the employee will be informed of their grievance rights. When the AS position is subsequently converted to CT-IAU, the employee will again be informed of their classification grievance rights. You can contact the ACFO-ACAF labour relations team with any concerns by sending an email to labourrelations@acfo-acaf.com.

13. Is it possible that my position will be abolished through the renewal exercise (conversion)?

The classification renewal exercise will not lead to positions being abolished. The process is not about reducing jobs and is not a workforce adjustment (WFA) exercise. The review of occupational groups is not about analyzing how many positions are required to deliver programs. It serves to better organize similar work within occupational groups and to reflect today’s business needs.

14. Will my pension be affected by the classification or occupational group changes?

No. Your status under the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) will not change. Your contributions will continue to be calculated according to your salary.

15. Will my managerial or excluded confidential position remain excluded?  

For the new CT group, any existing managerial or confidential position will retain its status and will continue to be excluded. Therefore, if you are currently in an excluded position, your position will continue to be excluded once converted or renamed.

16. Will there be any changes to the linguistic profile of my position?

The language requirements of your position are established in accordance with the Treasury Board Directive on Official Languages for People Management, the Official Languages Act and its regulations. Unless the language requirements of your position change, there will be no change to the corresponding linguistic profile due to any occupational group change.

17. Will the ongoing challenges with the Phoenix pay system influence the determination of the implementation date?

The implementation date will depend on a variety of factors, including organizational readiness and pay system readiness.

The changes will only proceed when the Employer can assure a seamless transition to the new occupational groups and subgroups within the pay system.

18. If I have any additional questions about the CT group implementation, who should I contact?

As a first step, we recommend that you speak with your manager and/or your union representative. Your manager can also contact their classification advisor and/or consult the GCintranet website on Classification Renewal for additional information.

We also invite you to attend the information session on MS Teams taking place on August 29, 2022 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm (more details above).