2018 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES)

Narrative Executive Summary

Prepared For:
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer

Contract Information

For more information on this report, please contact PSES-SAFF@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.

Summary

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has conducted the comprehensive Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) every three years since 1999. Beginning with this 2018 PSES, The Government of Canada will conduct the survey annually.

The objective of the PSES is to provide information to support the continuous improvement of people management practices in the federal public service. The PSES provides federal departments and agencies with ongoing evidence on key people management issues and allows them to address these issues in a timely manner. Topics covered by the 2018 survey relate to Treasury Board policies and government priorities, such as harassment and discrimination, performance management, leadership competencies, respectful and ethical practices and workplace well-being.

The target population was all active Government of Canada employees of departments and agencies in the core public administration and of participating separate agencies listed in Schedules I, IV and V of the Financial Administration Act. The target population included indeterminate, term, seasonal, casual and student employees, as well as Governor in Council appointees. Minister’s exempt staff, contracted individuals and employees on leave without pay were not included.

The 2018 PSES was a voluntary census and was completed by employees online, on paper (mailed back to Advanis), or by phone (calling in to speak to an Advanis interviewer).

A total of 84 departments and agencies chose to participate in the 2018 PSES, representing 99% of the federal public service population. Of the 282,615 employees eligible to participate, 163,121 completed the survey, for a response rate of 57.7%. 137,991(85%) completed the survey in English and 25,130 (15%) completed in French. 160,291 (98.3%) completed the survey online, 2,824 (1.7%) completed it via paper, and 6 (0.004%) completed it via the phone. Considering that the survey was administered as a census, the results can be extrapolated to the broader population of employees within the core public administration and participating separate agencies.