# Canada Civil Service Act, 1868

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Schedules:
* Schedule A: Deputy Heads of Departments
* Schedule B: Oath
Source: Early Canada Online
31 Victoria, c. 34 (Canada)
An Act respecting the Civil Service of Canada.
[Assented to 22nd May, 1868.]
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and house of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1. The Departmental Staff of the Civil Service of Canada, at the Seat of Government, shall consist of,—
    Deputy Heads of Departments,—
    Officers or Chief Clerks,—
    Clerks,—and
    Probationary Clerks.
2. The Outside Service of the several Departments requiring such service, shall be organized and classiﬁed as hereinafter provided.
subject to the following exceptions:
(1) A person over the age of twenty-ﬁve years may be appointed to any offce or clerkship upon the application and report of the Head of the Department, specifying the reasons therefor; but if the appointment is contemplated on the ground that special attainments are required, the person whom it is proposed to appoint, may be subjected to a special examination in that respect; and if the person appointed is over the age of forty years, a report of the appointment and the reasons thereof, shall be submitted to Parliarnent at its then next Session; and
(2) Any person may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, be appointed as the Private Secretary of the Head of a Department, but the salary or emoluments of any such Private Secretary payable out of public monies, shall not exceed the rate of six hundred dollars per annum, he shall not by virtue ofsuch appointment be a member of the Civil Service, and his appointment shall cease on the retirement of the Minister who appointed him.
4. No appointment or promotion shall be made, except under the authority of the Governor in Council, upon the application and report of the Head of the Department, in which it is to be made.
5. Every appointment, whether by Commission or otherwise, shall be during pleasure.
Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent any special examination being held as to persons to be appointed or promoted in the Outside Service of the Department of Customs, Inland Revenue, Public Works, or Post Office Department, or other outside service, under the supervision of the Department towhich such service belongs.
7. A Probationary Clerk shall enter the Service at a salary of three hundred dollars per annum, and shall serve in that capacity and at that rate of salary, for at least one year before being eligible for permanent appointment as a Third Class Clerk:—
But such permanent appointment may be deferred by the Head of the Department; and in such case additional salary, at the rate of ﬁfty dollars per annum, may be allowed; and
lf such Probationary Clerk be not at the end of two years, found ﬁt for appointment as a Third Class Clerk, his employment in the Civil Service shall cease.
8. Clerks shall be divided into three Classes: First, Second and Third.
9. A Third Class Clerk shall receive a salary of four hundred dollars for his ﬁrst year’s service as such, an may thereafter have an annual increase of ﬁfty dollars per annum, until his salary is six hundred and ﬁlly dollars per annum; but he shall not be eligible for promotion into the Second Class until after ﬁve years service in the Third Class.
10. Second Class Clerks shall he subdivided into Junior Second Class, and Senior Second Class:
A Junior Second Class Clerk shall receive a salary of seven hundred dollars for his ﬁrst year’s service as such, and may thereafter have an annual increase of ﬁfty dollars per annum, until his salary is one thousand dollars per annum, but he shall not be eligible for promotion into the Senior Second Class, until after ﬁve years’ service in the Junior Second Class;
A Senior Second Class Clerk shall receive a salary of one thousand one hundred dollars for his ﬁrst year's service as such, and may have an annual increase of ﬁfty dollars per annum, until his salary is one thousand four hundred dollars per annum; but he shall be eligible for promotion into the First Class at any period of his service in the Senior Second Class.
11. A First Class Clerk shall receive a salary of not less than one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, and may have an annual increase of ﬁfty dollars per annum, until his salary is one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum:
Proviso But if any Clerk promoted into the First Class, has at the time of such promotion, a higher salary than one thousand two hundred dollars per annum, he shall continue to receive such salary until by length of service in the First Class he has a right to that amount as a First Class Clerk, from which time he shall receive the annual increase until his salary is one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum;
A First Class Clerk shall be eligible for promotion at any period of his service in the First Class.
12. There may be in each Department of the Civil Service, one or more Officers or Chief Clerks, who shall receive such salaries respectively as may be ﬁxed and determined by the Governor in Counci , as hereinafter provided.
13. If, in any Department, there are no special duties requiring or assigned to an Officer or Chief Clerk, an additional salary, not exceeding four hundred dollars per annum, may be given by Order in Council to one or other First Class Clerks in such Department, who shall have the rank of Chief Clerk.
and shall receive such salaries respectively as may be assigned to them by the Governor in Council as hereinafter provided:
In the absence of any Deputy Head, the Head of the Department may empower any Ofﬁcer or Chief Clerk thereof, to perform the duties of such Deputy Head;
It shall be the duty of the Deputy Head of each Department, and he shall have authority (subject always to the Head of the Department) to oversee and direct the other Oﬁicers, Clerks and Servants of the Department; he shall have the general control of the business of the Department, and such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor in Council; and in the absence of the Minister, and during such absence, may suspend from his duties any Oﬁicer, Clerk or Servant of the Department who refuses or neglects to obey his directions as such Deputy.
and such classiﬁcation shall be submitted to Parliament, not later than the ﬁrst week of the session of Parliament next ensuing, and the estimates of the following year shall be based thereon; and after such classiﬁcation has been submitted to Parliament, no ﬁrst class Clerk, and no Officer or Chief Clerk shall be appointed, nor shall any person be rated at a salary higher than the maximum of the ﬁrst class, except (1) upon a vacancy, or (2) upon the creation of an additional ﬁrst class Clerkship or Oﬁice, or Chief Clerkship by a special Order in Council, and upon the approval by Parliament of the salary thereunto attached, as a separate item in the estimates o the year in which such ﬁrst class Clerkship or Office, or Chief Clerkship is created.
16. If the number of Clerks attached to any Department, as Staff or as Outside Service, at the date of such classiﬁcation by Order in Council, and entitled according to the amounts of their salaries to rank in any class mentioned in such Order, be greater than the number of such class thereby allowed to the Department, as Staff or as Outside Service, then the Head of the apartment shall name the persons to ﬁll the several offices, and the remainder shall be Supernumerary Clerks of that class respectively in which their then salaries entitle them to rank; and every such Supernumerary Clerkship shall lapse upon a vacancy and shall not be filled.
17. No appointment shall be made of any person as messenger who is over thirty-ﬁve ears of age, or until he has been nominated by the Head of a Department, and has produced such certiﬁcates and passed such examination as shall be prescribed by the Civil Service Board and approved of by the Governor in Council.
18. A messenger shall enter the Service at a salary to be fixed by the Governor in Council, not exceeding three hundred dollars for the ﬁrst year, and may thereafter have an annual increase of thirty dollars per annum, until his salary is ﬁve hundred dollars per annum.
No resident male Office Keeper shall be paid more than ﬁve hundred dollars per annum.
except only that if such Extra Clerk be an Accountant, a Book-keeper or a person of special attainments, and employed as such, he may be paid at a rate not exceeding four dollars per diem:
But any Extra Clerk may, under an Order in Council, made on the application and report of the Head of the Department, that the same is requisite, be employed for a longer riod than one month, but not exceeding six months, and he shall during such period be borne on the pay-list of the Department;
After the end of the six months such Extra Clerk shall only be retained in the Department as a Probationary Clerk, if nominated, examined and appointed as such in the manner required by this Act; but if so appointed, the time during which he has served as an Extra Clerk, may be counted in his service as a Probationary Clerk.
20. No allowance or compensation shall be made for any extra service whatsoever which any officer or clerk may be required to perform in the Department to which he belongs.
21. No Clerk shall have an absolute right to the annual increase of salary authorized by the Act; but the same may be suspended and subsequently restored by the Head of the Department, but without payment of arrears:
The annual increase of salary shall be payable from the ﬁrst day of the quarter next succeeding the date at which from his length of service any Clerk may be eligible for such increase;
In case of promotion, the increase of salary shall become payable from the ﬁrst day of the month next succeeding the date at which such promotion took place.
22. Nothing in this Act shall affect the salary or emolument of any Officer or Clerk in the Civil Service at the time of the passing of this Act, so long as he shall be continued in office; but no provision herein contained shall be construed to impair the power of the Governor to remove or dismiss any such Officer or Clerk.
23. When the Clerks on the Staff or on the Outside Service of any Department cannot, with sufficient speed, perform the duties required on any emergency, the Deputy Head of such Department may require from the Deputy Heads of any other Departments the temporary services of any number of Clerks as may not be then actively engaged in services of their own Departments, but without additional remuneration.
24. The Head of every Department may, at such times as may be convenient, grant to every Ofﬁcer or Clerk leave of absence for recreation for any period or periods not exceeding in the whole three weeks in each year, and may in cases of illness or other pressing necessity, grant such extended leave not exceeding twelve months and on such terms as the Governor in Council may think ﬁt.
25. There shall be a Board to be called the Civil Service Board, and to be composed of the persons who for the time being fill the offices named in the Schedule A:
Five of the members of the Board shall be a quorum, and may exercise all the functions of the Board;
A Chairman and Secretary shall be chosen annually from amongst themselves, and minutes of their proceedings shall be kept.
The duties of the Board shall be,—
(1) To frame and publish Regulations to be observed by candidates for employment in the Civil Service of Canada, and the subjects of such examination, (varying for each Department according to the peculiar nature of its general functions and duties,) and to alter the same, from time to time, such Regulations being first approved by the Governor in Council;
(2) To examine all candidates who present themselves upon anomination for office, as hereinbefore mentioned, and in accordance with the regulations of the Board, and any other regulations or restrictions provided under this Act;
(3) To keep a record of the candidates for examination, shewing the name, age, race of birth, and residence of each candidate, by what Head of a Department nominated, and the result of his examination;
(4) To grant certiﬁcates of qualiﬁcation to candidates whose examination as to ﬁtness and capacity, and whose testimonials as to moral character, have been found satisfactory;
(5) To investigate the length of service of any person claiming to be entitled on such ground to promotion from any one class to that next above it, and to report thereon to the Head of the Department;
(6) To report in the month of January in each year, to the Governor in Council, all cases in which there has been any departure, during the previous year, from the Rules and Regulations prescribed by this Act.
and it shall have power and authority to summon and examine witnesses and to call for and obtain papers.
26. Immediately after the passing of this Act, the Deputy Heads of Departments and all Officers or Chief Clerks, Clerks and Messengers of the Civil Service shall take and subscribe before the Clerk of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, the oath of Allegiance and that which is contained in Schedule B of this Act; and the Clerk of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada shall keep a register of such oaths, and every Deputy Head, Officer or Chief Clerk, Clerk or Messenger who shall hereafter be appointed, shall, before entering upon the duties of his ofﬁce, take and subscribe the same oaths respectively.
27. In this Act the expression “Head of a Department” means the Minister of the Crown for the time being presiding over such Department.
28. his Act may be cited as “The Canada Civil Service Act, 1868.”
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