PWGSC Contract #24062-170186/001/CY
POR Registration # 085-16
Contract Award Date: December 20, 2016
Delivery Date: September 11, 2017

Data Collection of the Public Service Employee Annual Survey

Final methodology report

Submitted to:

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
PSES-SAFF@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Prepared by:

EKOS Research Associates Inc.
September 2017

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.

EKOS Research Associates

Ottawa Office
359 Kent Street, Suite 300
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R6
Tel: (613) 235 7215
Fax: (613) 235 8498
E-mail: pobox@ekos.com

www.ekos.com

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
  • 1.1 Survey Background and Objectives
  • 1.2 Sampling
  • 1.3 Questionnaire Development and Testing
  • 1.4 Survey Administration
  • 1.5 Data Base Management
• Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire
• Appendix B: Response Rates by Organization
• Appendix C: Method of Response by Organization

Executive Summary

The Public Service Employee Annual Survey (PSEAS) is a short survey that complements the more comprehensive survey that is done every three years. The 2017 PSEAS focused on current government priorities and measured employees’ opinions on different aspects of employee engagement, as well as on diversity, workplace well-being, harassment and discrimination.

Departments and agencies were invited to discuss the survey findings with their employees, and to work with them and other stakeholders to come up with and put in place solutions to issues raised in the survey. The survey results also support the Federal Public Service Mental Health Strategy and contribute to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Departmental Results Framework.

The 2017 PSEAS questionnaire was designed as an electronic survey that respondents could complete online. It was also made available as a paper questionnaire and via telephone interview.

As with the PSES, the target population for the PSEAS was all active employees of departments and agencies in the core public administration and participating separate agencies in Schedules I, IV, and V of the Financial Administration Act. Employees who are full-time workers, indeterminate, seasonal, term, casual, and student employees were eligible to participate, along with Governor-in-Council appointees.

A total of 74 departments and agencies chose to participate in the 2017 PSEAS, representing more than 95% of the federal public service population. The other 14 elected not to participate. Of the 249,764 employees eligible to participate, 129,997 responded to the survey, including 109,681 completed in English and 20,316 completed in French, for a response rate of 52.0%. Of all respondents, 128,905 (99.2%) participated online, 1,059 (0.8%) submitted paper questionnaires, and 33 (less than 0.1%) participated via phone interviews. Based on the census approach taken, covering more than 95% of the entire population of public servants, and similarity of the sample and population across known characteristics the results can be extrapolated to the broader population of public servants within the core public service.

The total contract value for the public opinion research project was $249,843.00 (including HST).

This certification is to be submitted with the final report submitted to the Project Authority.

I hereby certify as Senior Officer of EKOS Research Associates Inc. that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leader.

Signed by  Susan Galley, Senior Vice President

EKOS Research Associates Inc.

1. Methodology Report

1.1 Survey Background and Objectives

The Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) is a triennial survey conducted since 1999, in which the views of federal public service employees are collected regarding employee engagement, leadership, the workforce and their workplace. Results of the survey highlight areas where organizations are doing well and areas for improvement, which allow organizations to develop informed action plans to address people management issues. Findings provide essential information for the Management Accountability Framework, and inform policy related to values and ethics, official languages, staffing, training, and other key people management areas.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has identified the need to increase the frequency of public service-wide surveys in an effort to collect up to date opinions on emerging issues and to note issues and changes in a timelier manner. Many provincial and territorial governments conduct frequent employee surveys, as do international governments, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, that conduct public service employee surveys on an annual basis. TBS developed a short survey, containing a subset of questions from the upcoming 2017 PSES. The intent is to conduct the shorter annual survey in the years between iterations of the triennial survey, in order to more frequently gather the opinions of public employees on key issues.

Key issues to be included in the Public Service Employee Annual Survey (PSEAS) were: workplace well-being, employee engagement, innovation, respect, diversity, harassment and discrimination. Previous employee research suggests that focusing on employee well-being and engagement could result in broader benefits for Canadians in the form of improved productivity in the public sector and stronger client satisfaction. Employee perceptions on people management and practices will also be used to inform process improvements, translating to better service delivery for Canadians.

a) Objectives of the Survey

• Provide key evidence-based people management information to increase engagement and improve productivity in the public service.
• Track progress of people management practices over a shorter timeframe to gain more relevant insights to be used as a basis of policy change;
• Make the PSEAS available to employees in approximately 74¹ federal public service departments and agencies, and garner similar response rates to the triennial survey (50-70%);
• Develop a subset of 34 questions from the PSES, including 17 opinion and 17 demographic questions that align with the Clerk’s 23rd Annual Report to the Prime Minister and the TBS President’s Mandate letter (questions focused on respect, diversity, mental health, and harassment and discrimination).

1.2 Sampling

As with the PSES, the target population for the PSEAS was all active employees of departments and agencies in the core public administration and participating separate agencies in Schedules I, IV, and V of the Financial Administration Act. Indeterminate, seasonal, term, casual, and student employees were eligible to participate, along with Governor-in-Council appointees.

As was also done with the PSES, a census approach was taken within each of the 74 departments and agencies that agreed to participate². Therefore, there is no error to be estimated as a result of sampling, although other errors related to coverage and non-response are possible. As discussed later in this report, the data have been weighted to reflect the composition of public servants within these 74 departments or agencies, based on known characteristics. The sample frame was created using the most up to date available lists of all eligible employees provided by HR contacts in each participating organization, according to a pre-specified list of variables, using an Excel template. TBS requested the employee lists from participating organizations and assembled the lists, cleaned and merged the lists, and looked for anomalous information (e.g., occupational groups for individual departments/agencies), incomplete email addresses, and duplicates.

At the request of some organizations, TBS provided all departments and agencies with 150 or more employees the opportunity to receive breakdowns of results according to second level organizational groupings. Departments and agencies wishing organizational breakdowns of results provided this information in their employee lists, in addition to employee email addresses. As such, this question was not part of the survey.

Departments and agencies were subsequently given an opportunity to correct, delete or add employee email addresses from their lists one week into the collection of the survey, based on assembled information from bounced notifications and/or to reflect new/changed status of employees.

Over the course of the survey collection period there were some subsequent requests from organizations to add, remove or revise information for employees. This information was used in revisions to create a final sample frame on which to base response rates and weights for survey responses.

The survey, originally planned for a three week collection period was also extended by one week, in part to allow for fuller participation among employees whose contact information was added or revised during the first two weeks of the survey collection period.

1.3 Questionnaire Development and Testing

While the PSES has typically included more than 100 survey questions, the PSEAS was intended to be significantly shorter. The questionnaire included 17 core questions, of which ten were repeated from the 2014 PSES, along with seven new questions that had no previous comparison. The questionnaire also featured 17 demographic questions (16 repeated from the 2014 PSES and 1 new question).

The bilingual survey was primarily conducted online, but was also available in alternate formats (paper questionnaire and telephone interview) to allow all employees the opportunity to respond to the survey. Telephone interviews were administered by a trained, bilingual interviewer. The questionnaire took an average of eight minutes to complete online.

Employees listed with an email address were sent a bilingual e-mail invitation message by EKOS Research, including a brief description of the survey and assurance of confidentiality in accordance with the Privacy Act., along with a hypertext link to the survey website. Once employees clicked on the survey link, their browser was directed to a secure website containing the survey instrument, where they completed the questionnaire page by page, in either official language, through either a traditional graphic display or through an accessible version. The latter removed much of the formatting (e.g., scaled questions presented in tabular format) so that each question was presented on its own, with a list of possible response options to follow. This accessible version enabled those using screen reading technology for the visually impaired to complete the survey. It was also an alternative method of accessing the survey for anyone using a mobile device, finding it difficult to navigate the formatted version.

Definitions of words or phrasing were included with the appropriate question, and a full list of occupational group acronyms and definitions was included in a hyperlink. Respondents were able to click a hyperlink and be returned to the same place in the questionnaire. Each screen of the survey contained options to switch to the other official language and/or the accessible version, and a hyperlink to the EKOS privacy policy. A progress bar was featured on every screen page of the online survey.

A paper version of the questionnaire was also created, in a full-sized (8.5 inches by 11 inches), bilingual tumble, booklet format. This questionnaire included the same introductory text featured in the email invitation and online survey. A full reference list of occupational group acronyms was also included at the back of the booklet. A pre-addressed, postage paid return envelope was also saddle-stitched into the middle of the booklet for ease of returning the completed questionnaire. No personal identifiers were included on the paper copy questionnaires. Paper questionnaires were delivered in the requested numbers to an appointed Human Resource contact in each individual department/agency requesting paper copies.

The survey was registered with the Research Registration System maintained by the Marketing Research Intelligence Association (MRIA). This was noted on the cover page of the online and paper copies of the survey. All work was carried out according to the specifications outlined in our standing offer arrangement with the Government of Canada, and in adherence to MRIA quality standards, as well as Government of Canada standards for quality and conduct of research using telephones. Any privacy breach will be reported, responded to, and managed in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Privacy Act.

Once programmed, the online survey was extensively reviewed by both EKOS and TBS team members, in terms of wording, response options, skip/branching errors and typos. It was also reviewed for the organization and presentation of the survey on the screen. Testers vetted the survey in both languages. Once identified issues were addressed, retesting occurred. The accessible version was also tested internally at TBS, although some subsequent issues were identified in the first week of data collection and programming was revised accordingly. This programming affected two survey questions programmed to allow for more than one response per respondent. The paper copy was also thoroughly reviewed prior to print production.

In a separate phase of survey testing, network firewalls were tested with IT contacts in each of the 74 participating departments/agencies. TBS held multiple information sessions: one with HR and communications contacts and one with IT contacts to communicate the details of the survey. EKOS assisted in the development of technical information featured in communication materials for the session with IT contacts. EKOS also attended the IT information sessions.

IT contacts were subsequently asked to participate in testing to ensure that emails could be received and appeared and functioned as intended (e.g., font, links). The test also required IT contacts to ensure that links worked and there were no firewall issues that employees across their organization might face. EKOS tracked participation and success of IT test completion and followed up with IT contacts to ensure completion, and to resolve any uncovered issues as the test unfolded. In spite of this testing period, there were nonetheless several technical issues experienced with the firewall in a few departments. In one department, employees in one region could not access the survey for the first week. EKOS contacted IT staff in that region and worked with them to build a firewall rule to permit the staff in the affected areas to access the data collection servers. In several other departments, messages could not be delivered due to an issue with certain Microsoft Exchange servers³. In a few departments, undeliverable messages were not able to be returned to EKOS. EKOS followed up with departments appearing not to return undeliverable messages. Where possible, these departments provided lists of bounced email addresses for the purposes of calculating response rate.

In the testing phase, 371 IT staff across the departments accessed the testing survey, 140 of whom completed it. A number of issues were discovered relating to emails being misidentified as spam and not delivered, as well as a number of departmental firewalls that did not permit internet traffic to the survey data collection servers. These issues were corrected during the testing phase and re-tested to ensure access was permitted. In larger departments, additional IT testers were added from different geographic locations to test connectivity in different technical environments. These further tests revealed other connectivity problems involving email filtering and firewall access, which were corrected prior to the survey launch.

A number of actions were taken to ensure that EKOS had adequate server bandwidth available to handle the high number of concurrent connections completing the survey. Email invitations and survey data were sent and collected through separate servers. In addition, EKOS deployed multiple survey HTML servers to provide the survey instrument. Prior to launch, EKOS used Apache Benchmarking to stress-test servers with concurrent connection loads to measure response time (latency) in loading screens. EKOS assigned 10 front-end servers to serve the survey instrument in an efficient manner. The database of email addresses was divided in roughly equal numbers and assigned across the 10 data collection servers. Data collected by the 10 collection servers was subsequently downloaded to data storage data and merged into a single database for monitoring of data quality and sample management. It should be noted that all servers were located in Canada and no data were collected, processed or stored outside of Canada.

1.4 Survey Administration

The questionnaire was installed on 10 secure webservers and mounted using a Personal Identifier or PIN, so only individuals with a valid PIN could access it. The PIN also allowed respondents to go back into their survey at any time, provided it had not been completed and submitted.

A soft launch of the survey was conducted with TBS employees two business days in advance of the main launch in order to identify any unforeseen issues, which did not occur. A total of 476 cases were completed in the soft launch prior to the full launch of the survey. Subsequently, the survey was launched on February 27th. Invitations were sent to 250,093 employees (including 439 employees of the National Capital Commission (NCC)), distributed fairly evenly over five days. Across these five days, organizations were assigned to one specific day for the launch, with the exception of the two largest departments, which were spread over two days. Weekly reminder emails were sent to non-responding employees, with delivery using the same distribution schedule, but compressed over four, rather than five days. The client was provided with daily updates on response rates, overall and by organization, in the first week. Weekly response rate reports were provided after the first week. The online survey was initially intended to be available for three weeks, however, a decision was made in the second week to extend the survey for a fourth week. The paper questionnaire was originally to be accepted for four weeks, but this time period was extended to five weeks. The online survey closed on March 27th. Paper questionnaires were accepted until April 3rd, with the exception of employees with the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).

In the week prior to the survey launch an initial decision for the CCG not to participate in the survey was reversed. Therefore, in addition to the initial 944 paper copies requested by the Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO), another 1,850 paper questionnaires were subsequently sent to DFO for distribution in batches to CCG employees. Because most would be at sea and only docking at certain intervals, the decision was also made to extend the survey period for paper copies issued to CCG. The final deadline for accepting paper questionnaires from employees with CCG was April 28th.

Invalid email addresses identified through bounce back/undeliverable notifications were compiled into lists for each of the participating departments/agencies. HR contacts were sent these lists and given an opportunity to update, as well as add new employee records between the first and second week of the survey. In some departments there were significant additions and revisions to originally submitted employee lists.

During the survey collection period a number of regional offices with separate email delivery and firewall control protocols discovered instances of blocked access to the survey by regional firewalls. EKOS worked with IT contacts to re-program firewalls to allow access to the survey from all locations across the country.

In addition, some regional email servers were unable to deliver the invitation emails, or had limits on the number of emails that could be delivered per hour from one address. EKOS worked with email administrators to permit unlimited emails to be delivered from the PSEAS email address, and to alter spam filters and whitelist the PSEAS email account to allow the invitation emails to be delivered.

Server load was carefully monitored throughout the data collection period, and coordinated in terms of flow of the email invitation traffic, relative to the concurrent connections being used to access the survey, and need to increase or decrease the invitation flow. No excessive server load issues occurred during data collection.

EKOS maintained technical support for the survey throughout the data collection period. Both a 1-800 number and e-mail address were assigned to the survey and provided to participants in the invitation and survey launch page. Up to three trained, bilingual telephone agents were on standby each weekday of the collection period, and a bilingual team of six research professionals monitored the email inbox. Telephone calls and emails were answered on the same day. The 1-800 number and inbox were staffed weekdays between 8AM to 9PM EST.

Over the course of the four weeks, one initial invitation and three reminders were sent (one per week). The Help Desk also received 3,539 email requests, comments or inquiries, and 433 calls.

Overall, 130,738 cases were completed, however 756 completed cases were subsequently removed from the data file. This includes 230 cases that were subsequently dropped as they were out of scope based on responses regarding current employment status (i.e., indicating that they are under a temporary help services contract or other, as well as 230 requests from TBS or departmental HR contacts, and 250 NCC employees, which were not included in the public service wide results). It also includes 46 paper copy questionnaires returned by CCG employees, received after the deadline. The number of completed cases included in the final data file is 129,997, including 109,681 completed in English and 20,316 completed in French. The response rate, excluding 808 bounced emails is 52.0%. Following are details of the calculation using the formulae from the Market Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA)

The response rate for the paper questionnaire was very low. Of the 7,822 printed questionnaires sent to departments and agencies, only 1,059 were returned. This includes 891 returned from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans/Canadian Coast Guard, of the 2,794 sent⁹. Only 168 of the 5,028 sent to other departments and agencies were returned.

Details related to the calls made to the Help Desk are broken out as follows:

A breakdown of the emails received is as follows:

1.5 Data Base Management

Results were reviewed using general edit rules for inconsistent or invalid responses. This entailed removal of responses to respect skip logic where returned to earlier questions in the questionnaire. Based on consultation with the client, outlier responses related to tenure with the public service and/or department/agency were also removed, if over the value of 60 years. Occupational groups were reviewed by organization and modified or removed where appropriate. Data from the paper questionnaires received were also carefully reviewed, and any data entry errors were subsequently corrected.

EKOS calculated a weight for each employee record to adjust for non-response bias. The weight was calculated so that the respondent group and population had the same overall distribution with regard to occupational groups within each department/agency, and for departments/agencies overall. Application of this weight adjusted for over and under representation of occupational groups within departments/agencies within the survey, and for overall over or under representation of responses by department/agency. The development of this weight followed the procedure used by Statistics Canada for the 2011 and 2014 PSES, weighting all cases for a specific occupational group within a department or agency to the population (i.e., to the reported number of employees in that occupational group, for that department or agency). Where necessary, mostly due to low population counts, weights were developed for occupational groups by combining with other occupational groups in the same occupational category. The occupational category definitions are based on those used for the 2014 PSES.

In order to increase participation and maximize response rates, communications could be enhanced about the PSEAS to increase awareness of the annual nature of the survey, including the value of annual measurement, reduced response burden of the shorter questionnaire, and use of an outside collection supplier, addressing any concerns such as confidentiality, legitimacy. Timing the PSEAS exclusively in years when the PSES is not conducted as well as scheduling the collection for spring or fall may also increase participation.

A micro data file was prepared in SPSS and SAS format with variable and value labelling in English, stripped of identifiers such as names and email addresses. The micro data file also included the calculated weight for each record. This micro data file was prepared for internal use only by the TBS research team. Command files to create the survey system files included detailed statements specifying relationships between variables, and distinguishing proper non-response codes (i.e., "not applicable" value codes).

A dummy aggregate data set with data labelling in CSV format was provided in accordance with file layout specifications provided by the client in order to verify the layout and common understanding of the specifications. The survey aggregate data file was merged with the historical 2014, 2011 and 2008 PSES aggregate data files to allow for historical comparisons on the basis of organization and corresponding demographic characteristics. A final aggregate master CSV file provided overall results for the public service, as well as by department and agency, and by demographic characteristic. Separate aggregate data sets were generated for individual organizations and sent to their survey contacts by TBS. The departmental aggregate data sets contained results for the overall public service and individual organizations, broken down by demographic characteristics and organizational units.

Various confidentiality rules were applied to data made publicly available to prevent the release or disclosure of any information judged to be confidential. This was applied in all aggregate data sets and published reports. Results were suppressed according to the following rules:

• Suppress all cells with a row count of 1 to 9, and for any non-empty cell with 1 to 4 responses for sensitive questions (questions related to harassment or discrimination).
• If the total of the topline results for any second level grouping within a department or agency was 1 to 9, results were also suppressed for the second level grouping with the next fewest responses in the same question.

Survey results of micro-organizations (those with fewer than 150 employees) were only presented at the departmental level, and were not broken down demographically.

Appendix A Survey Questionnaire

Intro

2017 Public Service Employee Annual Survey

I am pleased to invite you to participate in the first Public Service Employee Annual Survey (PSEAS). The PSEAS is a short survey of federal public service employees that will complement the broader Public Service Employee Survey that is conducted every three years.

The PSEAS is an important opportunity for you to express your opinion on certain aspects of your workplace, including respect, diversity and well-being. By providing your input, you will help your organization identify what is working well and where improvements are required.

The PSEAS was developed by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). EKOS Research Associates Inc., a trusted and leading supplier of public opinion research for the federal government, is administering the survey on behalf of TBS.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary. Your identity will be safeguarded by grouping your responses with those of other respondents when reporting results. Individual responses and results for very small groups of fewer than ten respondents will not be reported or provided to organizations. If you have any concerns, please refer to our privacy statement.

Privacy Statement:

The information you provide is collected under the authority of the Financial Administration Act and will be protected in accordance with the Privacy Act. Because survey responses are not attributed to any one individual, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will not be able to provide rights to access or correction of information you have submitted. For additional information regarding this activity, please refer to Personal information Bank – PSU 938 (Outreach Activities) in Info Source. If you have any privacy concerns, please contact the TBS Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator by email at atip.aiprp@tbs-sct.gc.ca or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, should you have additional privacy concerns. This survey is registered with Marketing Research and Intelligence Association’s (MRIA) Research Registration System, and can be verified at 1-888-602-6742 ext. 8728.

The survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete. Please note that you have until March 24, 2017 to complete and submit the survey.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your views. Your opinion counts and contributes to creating a better workplace.

Anne Marie Smart
Chief Human Resources Officer
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Q1

My Workplace

My department or agency implements activities and practices that support a diverse workplace.

A diverse workplace includes everyone, regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, religion, age, language, culture, background, interests, views or other dimensions.)

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q2

Overall, my department or agency treats me with respect.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q3

I am encouraged to be innovative or to take initiative in my work.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q4

I believe I would be supported if I proposed a new idea, even though it might not work.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q5

I have support at work to balance my work and personal life.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q6

I am satisfied with my department or agency.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q7

Overall, I like my job.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q8

Workplace Well-Being

My immediate supervisor creates an environment where I feel free to discuss with him or her matters that affect my well-being at work.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q9

My immediate supervisor seems to care about me as a person.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q10

I would describe my workplace as being psychologically healthy.

(A psychologically healthy workplace is one that promotes employees’ psychological well-being and actively works to prevent harm to employee psychological health due to negligent, reckless or intentional acts.)

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q11

My department or agency does a good job of raising awareness of mental health in the workplace.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q12

Workplace Well-Being

Overall, my level of work-related stress is...

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q13

Workplace Well-Being

After my workday, I feel emotionally drained.

1 Strongly agree

2 Somewhat agree

3 Neither agree nor disagree

4 Somewhat disagree

5 Strongly disagree

6 Don’t know

7 Not applicable

Q14

Harassment is normally a series of incidents, but it can be one severe incident that has a lasting impact on the individual.

Harassment is any improper conduct by an individual that is directed at and offensive to another individual in the workplace, including at any event or any location related to work, and that the individual knew or ought reasonably to have known would cause offence or harm. It comprises objectionable act(s), comment(s) or display(s) that demean, belittle, or cause personal humiliation or embarrassment, and any act of intimidation or threat. It also includes harassment within the meaning of the Canadian Human Rights Act (i.e., based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, and pardoned conviction or suspended record).

Having carefully read the definition of harassment, have you been the victim of harassment on the job in the past two years?

1 Yes

2 No

Q15

From whom did you experience harassment on the job?

(Mark all that apply.)

1 Co-workers

2 Individuals with authority over me

3 Individuals working for me

4 Individuals for whom I have a custodial responsibility (e.g., inmates, offenders, patients, detainees)

5 Individuals from other departments or agencies

6 Members of the public (individuals or organizations)

7 Other

Q16

Discrimination means treating someone differently or unfairly because of a personal characteristic or distinction, which, whether intentional or not, has an effect that imposes disadvantages not imposed on others or that withholds or limits access that is given to others. There are 11 prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act: race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, and pardoned conviction or suspended record.

Having carefully read the definition of discrimination, have you been the victim of discrimination on the job in the past two years?

1 Yes

2 No

Q17

From whom did you experience discrimination on the job?

(Mark all that apply.)

1 Co-workers

2 Individuals with authority over me

3 Individuals working for me

4 Individuals for whom I have a custodial responsibility (e.g., inmates, offenders, patients, detainees)

5 Individuals from other departments or agencies

6 Members of the public (individuals or organizations)

7 Other

PQ18

The following questions ask for general information that will be used to better understand the survey results. To ensure confidentiality, please be advised that your responses will be grouped with those of other respondents in your department or agency. Individual responses and results for groups of fewer than ten respondents are never published or shared with government department or agencies.

Q18A

Do you work for the following department or agency?

1 Yes

2 No

Q18

Department/Agency

Please specify

1 Canada Revenue Agency

2 Employment and Social Development Canada

3 Department of National Defence

4 Correctional Service Canada

5 Fisheries and Oceans Canada

6 Health Canada

7 Public Services and Procurement Canada

8 Statistics Canada

9 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

10 Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

11 Environment and Climate Change Canada

12 Transport Canada

13 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

15 Natural Resources Canada

16 Royal Canadian Mounted Police

17 Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

18 Veterans Affairs Canada

19 Department of Justice

21 Public Service Commission of Canada

23 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

24 Department of Finance Canada

25 Canadian Grain Commission

26 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

28 Privy Council Office

29 National Capital Commission

30 Courts Administration Service

31 Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission

32 Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

33 Canadian Space Agency

35 Canadian Institutes of Health Research

36 Parole Board of Canada

37 Shared Services Canada

39 Transportation Safety Board of Canada

41 Canadian Human Rights Commission

42 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

46 Public Prosecution Service of Canada

47 Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

50 National Research Council Canada

53 Public Safety Canada

54 Canadian Transportation Agency

56 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

69 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

70 Public Health Agency of Canada

73 Office of the Secretary to the Governor General

74 Library and Archives Canada

78 Canada School of Public Service

80 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

81 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

82 Infrastructure Canada

83 Canada Border Services Agency

86 Canadian Food Inspection Agency

88 Parks Canada

91 Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

92 National Film Board of Canada

93 Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

95101 Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada

95103 Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat

95105 Copyright Board of Canada

95107 International Joint Commission

95109 Farm Products Council of Canada

95110 Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs

95111 Patented Medicine Prices Review Board of Canada

95114 Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP

95119 Military Grievances External Review Committee

95125 RCMP External Review Committee

95130 Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

95139 Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada

95140 Status of Women Canada

95143 Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada

95144 Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

95145 Polar Knowledge Canada

95147 Office of the Correctional Investigator

95149 Indian Oil and Gas Canada

95150 Veterans Review and Appeal Board

95151 Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

995 I cannot find my department or agency

Q19

What is your current employee status?

1 Indeterminate (permanent)

2 Seasonal

3 Term

4 Casual

5 Student

6 Contracted via a temporary help services agency

7 Governor in council appointee

8 Other (e.g., minister’s exempt staff)

Q20

Please indicate your occupational group.

(If you are in an acting position, specify the group of the acting position.)

1 AB

2 AC

3 AD (NFB)

4 AD (NRC)

5 AG

6 AI

7 AO

8 AR

9 AS

10 AS (NFB)

11 AU

12 BI

13 CH

14 CIASC

15 CIEXC

16 CIPTC

17 CISPC

18 CM

19 CO

20 CR

21 CS

22 CX

23 DA

24 DD

25 DE

26 DE (NFB)

27 DM

28 DS

29 EC

30 EC (CRA)

31 ED

32 EG

33 EL

34 EN

35 ES

36 EU

37 EX

38 EXPCX

39 FB

40 FI

41 FO

42 FR

43 FS

45 GL

46 GR

47 GR-EX

48 GS

49 GT

50 HP

51 HR

52 HR/RH (CRA)

53 HS

54 IM

56 IS

57 LC

58 LI

59 LIB

60 LP

61 LS

62 MA

63 MD

64 MG

65 MGT (CNSC)

66 MGT (NRC)

67 MT

68 ND

69 NU

70 OE

71 OM

72 OP

73 OP (NRC)

74 OP (NFB)

75 PC

76 PE

77 PG

78 PH

79 PI

80 PL

81 PM

82 PM-MCO

83 PO-IMA

84 PO-TCO

85 PR

86 PS

87 PY

88 RCO

89 RE

90 REG

91 REX

92 RLE

93 RO

94 RO (NRC)

95 SC

96 SE

97 SG

98 SI

99 SO

100 SP (CRA)

101 SP (NFB)

102 SR

103 ST

104 SW

105 TC

106 TI

107 TO

108 TR

109 UT

110 VM

111 WP

112 Other

Reference List

Occupational Group Definition of Occupational Group

AB Indian Oil and Gas Canada

AC Actuarial Science

AD (NFB) Administrative and Foreign Services (National Film Board of Canada)

AD (NRC) Administrative Support (National Research Council of Canada)

AG Agriculture (includes AG group at Canadian Food Inspection Agency)

AI Air Traffic Control

AO Aircraft Operations (includes subgroups CAI, ETP, HPS)

AR Architecture and Town Planning

AS Administrative Services

AS (NFB) Administrative Support (National Film Board of Canada)

AU Auditing

BI Biological Sciences

CH Chemistry

CIASC Administrative Support: Grades 1-5 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

CIEXC Executive: Grades 13-16 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

CIPTC Professional and Technical: Grades 6-10 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

CISPC Senior Professional: Grades 11-12 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

CM Communications

CO Commerce (does not include COOP students)

CR Clerical and Regulatory

CS Computer Systems

CX Correctional Services

DA Data Processing (includes DAPRO and DACON)

DD Drafting & Illustration

DE Dentistry

DE (NFB) Executive (National Film Board of Canada)

DM Deputy Minister

DS Defence Scientific Service

EC Economics and Social Science Services

EC (CRA) Executive (Canada Revenue Agency)

ED Education (includes subgroups EDS, LAT, EST)

EG Engineering & Scientific Support

EL Electronics

EN Engineering & Land Survey (includes subgroups ENG, SUR)

ES Economics, Sociology and Statistics (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Parks Canada & Canada Revenue Agency)

EU Educational Support (includes subgroups PEI, TEA)

EX Excecutive

EXPCX Executive (Parks Canada)

FB Border Services

FI Financial Management

FO Forestry

FR Firefighters

FS Foreign Service

GL General Labour and Trades (includes subgroups AIM, COI, EIM, ELE, GHW, INM, MAM, MAN, MDO, MOC, MST, PCF, PIP, PRW, SMW, VHE, WOW)

GR GR group (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)

GR-EX Executive (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)

GS General Services (includes subgroups BUS, FOS, LAS, MES, MPS, PRC, STS, LE-GS)

GT General Technical

HP Heating, Power and Stationary Plant Operation

HR Historical Research

HR/RH (CRA) Human Resources (Canada Revenue Agency)

HS Hospital Services (includes subgroups HDO & PHS)

IM IM group (Parks Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency)

IS Information Services

LC Law Management

LI Lightkeepers

LIB Library Science (National Research Council of Canada)

LP Law Practitioner

LS Library Science

MA Mathematics

MD Medicine (includes the subgroups MOF and MSP)

MG Management (Canada Revenue Agency)

MGT (CNSC) Director (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission)

MGT (NRC) Management (National Research Council of Canada)

MT Meteorology

ND Nutrition & Dietics

NU Nursing (includes subgroups EMA, CHN and HOS)

OE Office Equipment (includes subgroups DEO, MEO)

OM Organization and Methods

OP Occupational and Physical Therapy

OP (NRC) Operational group (National Research Council of Canada) (includes sub-groups BLDG, CONT, ELEC, HP, HVAR, LSA, MECH, MECL, PLA, PR, PSF, RAC)

OP (NFB) Operational (National Film Board of Canada)

PC Physical Sciences

PE Personnel Administration

PG Purchasing and Supply

PH Pharmacy

PI Primary Product Inspection (Canadian Grain Commission) (includes PICGC)

PL Leadership Programs Group

PM Programme Administration

PM-MCO Mediation and Conciliation

PO-IMA Intercept Monitor Analysts (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

PO-TCO Telecommunication Operators (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

PR Printing Operations (includes subgroups BIN, COM, OFO, PRC)

PS Psychology

PY Photography

RCO Research Council Officer (National Research Council of Canada)

RE All employees at Financial Consumer Agency of Canada and National Capital Commission

REG All employees at Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

REX Executive (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada)

RLE Executive (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission)

RO Radio Operations

RO (NRC) Research Officer (National Research Council of Canada)

SC Ships’ Crews (includes subgroups DED, ERD, SPT, STD)

SE Scientific Research (includes subgroups REM, RES)

SG Scientific Regulation (includes subgroups PAT, SRE)

SI Social Science support (Canada Revenue Agency)

SO Ships’ Officers (includes subgroups FLP, INS, MAO, RAD)

SP (CRA) Services and Programs (Canada Revenue Agency)

SP (NFB) Scientific and Professional (National Film Board of Canada)

SR Ship Repair (includes subgroups APC, APD, APP, BOB, CPS, DNT, EEW, ELE, EME, INM, MAC, MAM, MDO, MGT, PIP, PLE, PRW, QCW, SMW, SPS, WOW)

ST Secretarial, Stenographic and Typing (includes subgroups OCE, SCY)

SW Social Work (includes subgroups CHA, SCW)

TC Technical (National Film Board of Canada)

TI Technical Inspection

TO Technical Officer (National Research Council of Canada)

TR Translation

UT University Teaching

VM Veterinary Medicine

WP Welfare Programs

Other Other

Q21

Please indicate your level.

(If you are in an acting position, specify the group of the acting position. (e.g., for FI-03, indicate "03".))

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

99 Don’t know

Q22

With which of the following communities do you most closely identify in relation to your current job?

(Mark one only.)

(A community is made up of employees who share common work purposes, functions and professional interests. While many employees identify with at least one such community, not all employees do.)

1 Client contact centre

2 Health care practitioners

3 Federal regulators

4 Compliance, inspection and enforcement

5 Communications or public affairs

6 Access to information and privacy

7 Security

8 Science and technology

9 Library services

10 Legal services

11 Administration and operations

12 Human resources

13 Financial management

14 Procurement

15 Real property

16 Materiel management

17 Information management

18 Information technology

19 Internal audit

20 Evaluation

21 Data sciences

22 Policy

23 Project management

24 Other services to the public

25 None of the above

Q23

Are you a supervisor?

1 Yes

2 No

Q24

In total, how many years have you been working in the federal public service?

98 Less than one year

77 If one or more years, please indicate the number of years :

Q25

In total, how many years have you been working in your current department or agency?

98 Less than one year

77 If one or more years, please indicate the number of years :

Q26

Do you currently work according to any of the following flexible working arrangements?

(Mark all that apply.)

1 Compressed workweek

2 Flexible work schedule (i.e., variable start and end times)

3 Telework

4 Job sharing

5 Income averaging

6 Pre-retirement transition leave

OR

7 I do not work according to one of these flexible working arrangements

Q27

What is your first official language?

1 English

2 French

Q28

In which province or territory do you work?

(Mark one only.)

1 National Capital Region

2 Ontario (excluding National Capital Region)

3 Quebec (excluding National Capital Region)

4 Northwest Territories

5 Nunavut

6 Yukon

7 British Columbia

8 Alberta

9 Saskatchewan

10 Manitoba

11 New Brunswick

12 Nova Scotia

13 Prince Edward Island

14 Newfoundland and Labrador

15 Outside Canada

Q29

What is your age group?

1 24 years and under

2 25 to 29 years

3 30 to 34 years

4 35 to 39 years

5 40 to 44 years

6 45 to 49 years

7 50 to 54 years

8 55 to 59 years

9 60 years and over

Q30

What is your gender?

1 Male

2 Female

Q31

Are you an Aboriginal person?

(An Aboriginal person is a North American Indian or a member of a First Nation, a Métis or an Inuk (Inuit). North American Indians or members of a First Nation include status, treaty or registered Indians, as well as non-status and non-registered Indians.)

1 Yes

2 No

Q32

Are you a person with a disability?

(A person with a disability has a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and considers himself or herself to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or believes that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider him or her to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment. Persons with disabilities are also those whose functional limitations owing to their impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace.)

1 Yes

2 No

Q33

Are you a member of a visible minority group?

(A member of a visible minority in Canada may be defined as someone (other than an Aboriginal person) who is non-white in colour or race, regardless of place of birth. For example: Black, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian or East Indian , Southeast Asian, non-white West Asian, North African or Arab, non-white Latin American, person of mixed origin (with one parent in one of the visible minority groups in this list), or other visible minority group.)

1 Yes

2 No

Q34

Have you ever served in the Canadian military?

(Canadian military service includes service with the Regular Force or Reserve Force as an Officer or a Non-Commissioned Member. It does not include service with the Cadets.)

1 Yes

2 No

Thnk

Thank you for completing this survey.

Appendix B Response Rates by Organization

Appendix C Method of Response by Organization