The Benefits of Working at the CFIA

• Compensation and Benefits Package
• Diversity and Equity
• Language Training
• Linguistic Duality
• Occupational Health & Safety
• Rewards & Recognition
• The CFIA Youth Network
• One of the NCR's Top 25 Employers
• Learning and Career Development
• Work/Life Balance
• Workplace Wellness

Compensation and Benefits Package

The CFIA is a leading employer, particularly when you consider our total compensation package. We offer a variety of benefits:

• A competitive salary
• Our full commitment to a safe and healthy workplace
• Excellent medical, dental, and pension benefits for you and your family, including:
  • Dental and health care plans, with coverage for prescription drugs, vision care, paramedical practitioners, hospitalization, and much more
  • A competitive pension plan
  • A death benefit
  • Disability insurance
• Flexible vacation and numerous types of leave:
  • All permanent employees begin with three weeks of paid annual vacation leave
  • Leave of absence: Whether it's for personal growth, self-care, or family care, the CFIA gives employees the opportunity to take planned leaves of absence
  • Maternity and parental leave, including allowances which, in conjunction with EI parental benefits, amount to 93% of the employee's weekly rate of pay
  • Flexible working arrangements such as flexible start and end times, leave with income averaging, pre-retirement transition leave and self-funded leave
• Opportunities for diversified work
• Access to modern technology
• Employee reward and recognition programs
• Numerous opportunities for career advancement, including a wide range of learning and career development opportunities
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): A voluntary, free, confidential counselling service for all CFIA employees and retirees, their spouses, and their dependants. This is the place to get short-term counselling about career concerns, marital strife, family issues, single parenting, alcohol or drug abuse, gambling, domestic violence, esteem issues, stress and much more.

For more information on Public Service-wide benefits, visit the Treasury Board Secretariat's Getting to Know Your Benefits website.

The CFIA is a unionized work environment. Based on employee status, length of service, and job classification, specific entitlements are defined in greater detail in each separate collective agreement.

Bargaining agents within the CFIA include:

• The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)
• The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)

Diversity and Equity

For the CFIA, the principles of equity, multiculturalism, and diversity underlie the Agency's approach to business. To serve Canadians effectively and to work cooperatively with Canadian and international stakeholders, the CFIA is committed to having a workforce that represents the public it serves. We provide a work environment where all people are treated with respect and dignity. This commitment is reflected in the actions of individuals at every level of the organization as well as in its formal policies, programs, and practices.
 

Our attention to diversity enables us to attract and retain a representative workforce. We recognize that our success relies on the quality and ability of our employees and also the sustainability of our workforce. To that end, we encourage women (especially in non-traditional occupational groups), Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities to join our workforce. We welcome applications from all individuals who have legal status to work in Canada and we do not give preference to Canadian citizens for purposes of employment. We also accept foreign education credentials, as long as written documentation to substantiate equivalency is provided. More details on how to do this are available at the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials.

At the CFIA, we make a conscious effort to combine our differences and to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of all our people. More specifically, we aim for an environment that, among other things, offers adequate and timely learning opportunities, promotes diversity, and ensures that processes and practices are in place to resolve workplace issues. Embracing diversity is a fundamental principle that underlies the way we do business.

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Language Training

The CFIA recognizes that obtaining and maintaining a second official language is beneficial for the employee as well as the organization. The Agency has developed tools to assist and support its employees who are required to use their second official language. Official language training is also available free of charge to all employees through the Canada School of Public Service's Campusdirect website, an e-learning environment which offers a comprehensive set of online courses and resources.

The CFIA Developmental Fund supports employees who wish to maintain or improve their language skills during non-working hours, providing up to $800 per year toward books and language training at a local institution. Funding is provided on a first come first serve basis, and management pre-approval is required.

In addition, the CFIA's intranet site provides reference and self-learning tools that allow employees to improve their language skills and the quality of their bilingual communications.

Linguistic Duality

The CFIA recognizes English and French as its official languages. It is committed to taking concrete and positive measures to serve the Canadian public in the official language of its choice, to build an exemplary workplace respectful of Canada's linguistic duality, and to actively promote its official languages.
 

The CFIA ensures that the work environment is conducive to the effective use of both official languages by enabling its employees to use either official language in designated parts of the country. This means that the CFIA respects the right of employees to work and communicate in the official language of their choice, and that the Agency ensures that communications with and services to employees are in both official languages, simultaneously and of equal quality.

Occupational Health & Safety

The CFIA provides a safe and healthy working environment for all of its employees. Promoting occupational health and safety is an integral part of our corporate culture, as is integrating Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) into our management and business decision-making processes.

There are many good reasons to make health and safety a top priority. The primary reason is to protect workers, but OHS also makes good business sense by dramatically reducing the cost of accidents, injuries, and occupational illness.
 

Because many of our workplaces bear an inherent level of risk (the laboratory environment is a good example of this) we take extra precautions and have a variety of OHS prevention programs, a network of OHS committees, a commitment to ensuring that safe work practices are included in work procedures, and that we regularly provide OHS program information and training.

Rewards & Recognition

At the CFIA, we honour our people and their accomplishments through several awards programs at the local, organizational and national levels. Our employees have also been recognized externally with awards from other public and private-sector organizations. We are committed to recognizing and rewarding employees, both individually and as team members, for their quality, excellence, innovation, and creativity in performing tasks that are in line with the Agency's business objectives, values, and ethics.
 

The CFIA Youth Network

Created in 2006, the Youth Network is a nation-wide forum that lets members share their ideas and actively contribute to the Agency decision-making process. The aim of the Youth Network is to provide all employees, regardless of their employment status or category, with the opportunity to learn about the Agency, exchange information, develop a network of contacts with colleagues, and enhance their contribution to the Agency. The Youth Network promotes networking opportunities, professional development and learning opportunities, social activities, charitable events, and sports teams.

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One of the NCR's Top 25 Employers

In 2009-2010, the CFIA was selected as one of the National Capital Region's Top 25 Employers. This annual competition evaluates organizations who offer the most progressive and forward-thinking workplace and whose head office is in the NCR. The competition recognizes Canada's best places to work based on employee retention and recruitment.

The 2010 winners were announced by the Ottawa Citizen and published in their newspaper on October 21, 2009. To read more about the results of this competition, please visit the NCR's Top 25 Employers website.
 

Learning and Career Development

CFIA employees have access to a wide range of professional development programs that are available through e-learning and classroom sessions and other methods. Learning topics range from boosting management and leadership skills to honing other specialized and critical skills. Formal training is supported by ongoing opportunities to continually upgrade and diversify your skill set through lateral career moves, on-the-job training, and education assistance programs for formal training at external learning institutions.
 

Access to Continuous Learning: At the CFIA, you will find experiences and programs that encourage learning and help you to build a successful career. We offer courses in the latest technology, communication, interpersonal skills, management, and English or French as a second language - all aimed at increasing your employability.

Employees are also encouraged to take advantage of self-directed learning opportunities. Campusdirect, a public service-wide e-learning tool with a library of self-directed courses, is available to all employees. Sample courses include negotiation, conflict management, second-language training, and Microsoft Office training.

On-the-Job Training: Regular feedback through coaching and mentoring from your manager, attendance at conferences, and participation in workshops are practices promoted as part of the CFIA learning culture to help support your professional development.

Coaching and Mentoring: The CFIA encourages employees at all levels to build and share their knowledge. In addition to formal courses and learning options, our working environment is designed to make continuous learning, coaching, and mentoring an integral part of the organization.

The Individual Learning Plan (ILP): The ILP is an employee's written plan for developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities that he or she requires to perform in his or her current position, as well as for career development purposes. It is a way to organize and set priorities for learning and development.

The Developmental Fund: The CFIA created the Developmental Fund in 2003. It has invested millions of dollars since then and continues to do so in support of knowledge transfer, management development, developmental second official language training, and to complement regularly budgeted training programs and learning activities.

Performance Feedback and Review (PFR): Performance feedback is an important and effective tool for supporting career development by fostering open and ongoing communication between employees and supervisors. It's an opportunity for all employees to discuss their performance, determine work objectives, identify learning needs, and discuss career goals.

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Work/Life Balance

At the CFIA, we strongly believe that employees must have our genuine support and must have real opportunities to balance their professional and personal lives. A balanced life is healthy, productive, and enjoyable.

As organizational experts suggest, work/life balance is about having a sense that we can control when, where, and how we work. This sense of control comes when our right to live a fulfilled life both inside and outside of paid work is accepted and respected as the norm. This approach to work and life benefits everyone: the individual, the organization, and society at large.

Our commitment to supporting work/life balance is reflected in our benefits package, through the importance we place on working in a collaborative and mutually supportive team environment, and via our support for our employees' involvement in extra-curricular opportunities.

To encourage and achieve a strong work/life balance, the CFIA offers, where operationally feasible, certain possibilities for flexible work arrangements, such as:

• Compressed work week;
• Flexible start/end times;
• Part-time work;
• Job sharing; and
• Job rotation.

Workplace Wellness

Personal wellness is affected by one's health, work environment, and work/life balance. Our wellness initiatives promote balanced living by helping managers, employees, and their families develop and maintain a superior personal and professional quality of life. We do this in several key ways:

Employee Health Initiatives

• The Employee Assistance Program;
• Ergonomics strategies;
• The CFIA fitness centre (only available in the NCR); and
• Occupational health evaluations.

A Safe, Positive, and Productive Workplace

• Benefits, insurance, and leave;
• Flexible working arrangements where operationally feasible;
• Rewards and recognition programs;
• Equity and diversity programs;
• Regular employee surveys;
• Occupational health and safety policies;
• Ongoing learning and development; and
• Regular performance feedback and review.

The CFIA monitors wellness indicators in a number of different ways to ensure that the program is effective.