2025 Spring-Summer Newsletter
President - Dean Corda, NLMCC, HRUMCC, SUMCC, IITB NUMCC
Vice President - Lynn Ohlson, SUMCC
Vice President - Yvonne Snaddon, IITB NUMCC
Communications Lead - Daniel (Shih-Ho) Shen
W-T RUMCC - Lynn Ohlson, Terri Gobeil
Ontario RUMCC - Stephanie Turkington, Nicole Beckett
Atlantic RUMCC - Carolyn Hynes, Amberly Colter
PHSC - Tanisha Coultis, Dean Corda
A Message from your Consultation Team
Return to Office (RTO): Low Connectivity Report
Your Consultation Team met with the department on May 8, 2025, and learned that the department is implementing an employee monitoring practice called the “Low Connectivity Report”.
What it really means is that they’re watching your daily logins and keeping receipts. They have already admitted that their data collection methods have many gaps. The data handlers won’t know if you’re on training and have permission to work from home or are on leave. Their stop-gap is to send your supervisor a report when the data shows that your login information doesn’t match your work arrangement schedule.
There was no opportunity for consultation, and the department was unbending with our suggestions during the meeting. We anticipate that your supervisor will have to deal with plenty of false positives and incorrect attributions. If the reason for non-compliance is approved leave, you should remind your supervisor to check PeopleSoft for that information.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidelines:
ESDC has a broad definition of AI. It includes Robotic Process Automation, the EVA chatbot, the EVA Domain Assistant and Microsoft Copilot. Information about these tools has been shared, and training is available internally on their use.
We want to highlight the appropriate use of AI in your work and your responsibility when using the results. AI does make mistakes, so it is your responsibility to verify the accuracy of the AI results. You will be held responsible if AI mistakes are included in your work.
Microsoft Copilot is not cleared to use protected information. Do not, under any circumstances, provide Copilot with Protected A, B, or higher information. It is your risk when using this tool.
EMA report: Update from the Vice-President of Consultation
Hello, Service Canada EMAs. My name is Lynn Ohlson. I am the Vice-President of Consultation serving the MA community. I am also the President of the SH group and the EMA representative on the SH Executive. So, I am very well tuned in to most of the issues affecting the MA community.
Your consultation team is following many important issues affecting EMAs.
A primary concern is RTO, as outlined earlier in the newsletter. You have access to Duty to Accommodate legislation. If you’re considering this option, please submit your documentation as soon as possible. You do not need to provide specific medical information to the employer, just a full description of your limitations. Please reach out to a steward if you require assistance in this area.
The Atlantic region has introduced a policy demanding that all processing staff, including EMAs, start work no earlier than 8:00 AM. Our collective agreement states that core public service hours are 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Over 80 grievances have been filed regarding this initiative, but with no results yet.
The National Time Scheduling Tool isn’t being used to measure productivity yet. This is disappointing given the increased focus on productivity, and we are following up with the department. Although the document requires prescriptive detail of how the MA spends their time, it helps to remove the non-productive aspects of your day and makes your productivity stats more accurate.
For example, if your scheduled day is 7.5 hours but you were only available for 4 hours to make a decision due to meetings or special projects, that is the number used to calculate your productivity. It recognizes that the number of decisions made will be proportionate to your potential productive time available.
We are pleased to now have a steward in the Edmonton office and are looking forward to welcoming a new steward in Victoria in June 2025. The offices were without a steward for some time, so this is a wonderful improvement.
Communication Report: Update from the ESDC communications lead
My name is Daniel (Shih-Ho) Shen, the communication lead at the ESDC Consultation Team.
The e-bulletin board revival is in progress. Members can now find the most up-to-date social media posts from the PIPSC Facebook and Instagram pages in both official languages via the e-bulletin board. More updates will roll out over the year.
We’re planning quarterly engagement with regional stewards and employee relations officers to keep the Consultation Team connected with first-hand information in the workplace.