FSD 2 - Definitions

These definitions apply throughout all directives. Definitions specific to each directive are found within the definitions section to that directive.

Please refer to the Instructions at the end of this Directive for additional information or greater clarification.

Accompanied by one dependant (accompagné d'une personne à charge) means that one dependant is residing with the employee at the post for at least 8 months of any consecutive 12-month period.

Accompanied by two or more dependants (accompagné d'au moins deux personnes à charge) means that two or more dependants are residing with the employee at the post for at least 8 months of any consecutive 12-month period; one of such dependants must be a dependent child.

Annual salary (traitement annuel) means the employee's basic rate of pay or acting pay, unless otherwise specified, calculated on an annual basis, that is payable in respect of the regular duties performed by the employee in the department.

Assignment (affectation) means an assignment as defined in FSD 3 - Application.

Career foreign service employee (fonctionnaire qui fait carrière dans le service extérieur) means an employee who, as a condition of employment, served abroad pursuant to a rotational pattern throughout the span of their career. This rotational service normally involves assignments to a number of posts but occasionally, due to operational requirements, assignments may be limited to one or a few posts.

Compensation day (jour de rémunération) means any day other than the one or two days per week designated as a day or days of rest at the mission.

Cross-posting (mutation à une autre mission) means the assignment of an employee from one post to another post.

Crown-held accommodation (logement de l'État) means accommodation owned, leased, or controlled by the Crown and includes accommodation provided directly to an employee by the host government.

Day (jour) when referring to or for the purpose of computing leave or allowances, means compensation day.

Department (ministère) means a department or other portion of the public service of Canada,

(a) listed in Schedules I and IV to the Financial Administration Act;

(b) listed in Schedule V to the Financial Administration Act and which is a member of the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada and for which the Foreign Service Directives form part of their collective agreements.

Dependant (personne à charge) means

(a) the spouse or common-law partner of an employee, or

(b) a natural child, adopted child, stepchild or legal ward of an employee (or of an employee's spouse or common-law partner) who resides with the employee at the post, and

(i) is under 21 years of age and continues to be in a dependent relationship with the employee (or with the employee's spouse or common-law partner), or

(ii) is 21 or more years of age, and is dependent upon the employee (or upon the employee's spouse or common-law partner) by reason of mental or physical disability;

(c) subject to the definition of "spouse or common-law partner" any other individual who resides with the employee at the post and who, in the opinion of the deputy head, is dependent upon the employee (or upon the employee's spouse or common-law partner) due to exceptional circumstances; where the deputy head exercises discretion under this section, the details shall be reported to the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee.

Dependent student (élève ou étudiant à charge) except as provided for in FSD 51.6 means a dependant, within the meaning of (b) and (c) of the definition of "dependant", who is not residing with the employee because that student is in full-time attendance at an educational institution.

Deputy head (administrateur général) in relation to a department, except where specified otherwise, means the deputy minister of the department, and in relation to other portions of the public service of Canada, means the chief executive officer thereof, or, if there is no chief executive officer, such person as the Governor in Council may designate as the deputy head for purposes of the directives.

Employee (fonctionnaire) means a person to whom the Foreign Service Directives apply in accordance with FSD 3 - Application.

Employee-couple (couple de fonctionnaires) means two individuals assigned to the same post, or to different posts, who are married to each other or who have signed the declaration in Appendix A to this directive where:

(a) both individuals are employees; or

(b) one individual is an employee and the other is eligible to claim foreign service entitlements from the Government of Canada (e.g., military personnel).

Specific application of the Foreign Service Directives to employee-couples is found in FSD 3 - Application.

Foreign assignment employee (fonctionnaire affecté à l'étranger) means an employee who has made no commitment to serve abroad throughout the span of their career pursuant to a rotational pattern, but who serves an occasional assignment at a post.

Headquarters (bureau principal) means the employee's normal place of duty in Canada as determined by the deputy head at the time the employee is assigned to duty outside Canada; for career foreign service employees, the headquarters city is Ottawa-Gatineau.

Household effects (effets mobiliers) means the furniture, household equipment and personal articles of employees and their dependants (including motorcycles) but does not include other private motor vehicles (PMV), livestock or pets.

Leave (congé) means authorized absence from duty and includes vacation leave, sick leave, special leave, compassionate and foreign service leave authorized under the FSDs and leave of any other type:

(a) authorized under the Directives Respecting the Terms and Conditions of Employment for Certain Unrepresented Employees in Certain Parts of the Public Service; or

(b) authorized under any Act, in the case of an employee employed under that Act; or

(c) authorized pursuant to the terms of a collective agreement applicable to the employee, the provisions of which have been implemented in accordance with the Treasury Board General Implementation Order.

Living expenses (frais de subsistance) means actual and reasonable expenses for accommodation, meals, laundry, drycleaning and valet services and attendant gratuities.

Mission (mission) means an office of a department outside Canada.

Period of temporary duty (période de service temporaire) means the time spent on official duty at a place outside the area normally serviced by the mission where the employee is assigned, and includes travelling time from the post to the place of temporary duty and return.

Post (poste) means a city, community, or other geographic locality in which a "mission" is situated.

Senior officer (agent supérieur) for each department represented at a mission means the person at each mission designated by the deputy head as senior officer, or, if no such designation is made, the highest ranking employee of the department serving at the mission.

Spouse or common-law partner (époux ou conjoint de fait) means the person married to the employee, or an individual who, with the employee, has signed the declaration in Appendix "A" to this directive; where the declaration is used, the common-law partner shall not be considered a dependant for purposes of the Foreign Service Directives unless the acceptability of the common-law partner accompanying the employee has been agreed to by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs following consultation with the Head of Mission and the deputy head.

Travel leave (congé de déplacement) means a period of absence with pay authorized by the deputy head to cover travelling time for a journey and during which the employee is deemed to be on duty for the purpose of any applicable accident compensation.

Travelling expenses (frais de voyages) except as provided for under the Relocation Travel portion of Directive 15 for travel under that directive and/or FSD 64-Emergency Evacuation and Loss, means expenses for air transportation and local transportation to and from airports at the points of departure and destination and, when authorized in advance by the deputy head, for accommodation, meals and local transportation to and from the airport for a necessary stopover, where it is not possible or practicable to arrange an itinerary which will permit continuing travel to the approved destination.

Travelling time (temps de déplacement) means the time actually required for a journey including unavoidable or permissible stopovers referred to in FSD 15.8 but not exceeding the time required for the same journey by the most economic mode and the most direct route in the circumstances of each case as determined by the deputy head.

Unaccompanied (non accompagné) refers to an employee who is not accompanied by a dependant.

Unhealthy post (mission insalubre) means a post designated by Health Canada as an unhealthy post and listed in the Appendix to FSD 38 - Preventive medical services expenses.

Instructions

Instruction – General

Throughout the directives, unless otherwise specified:

(a) words in the singular include the plural, and words in the plural include the singular, and

(b) where a word is defined, other parts of speech and grammatical forms of the same word have corresponding meanings.

Subject to the definition of "spouse or common-law partner" this declaration will serve to designate an individual as a common-law partner for purposes of the Foreign Service Directives and for the relevant benefits to be accorded thereunder.

We, _________________________ and _________________________ solemnly declare that our relationship is and has been demonstrated by our cohabitation in a conjugal relationship. This relationship is and has been recognized for a period of at least one year in the community or communities in which we have lived.***

Where these conditions cease to exist we acknowledge the right of the deputy head to cease payments made on the basis of the existence of such conditions.

Where these conditions do not in fact exist we acknowledge the right of the deputy head to recover the amounts of money paid on the basis of the existence of such conditions.

*** In specific cases, this declaration may be used where there has been a break in the period of cohabitation for reasons beyond the control of the employee or the individual to be designated as common-law partner. See Appendix B.

Signed _____________________________ Employee

___________________________________ Common-law partner

___________________________________ Date

Signed _____________________________ for the deputy head

___________________________________ Date

1. Agreement has been reached in the National Joint Council (NJC) to interpret the Declaration in Appendix A to recognize a conjugal relationship in certain situations where there has been a break in the qualifying period of cohabitation.

2. The NJC Committee on Foreign Service Directives will consider individual cases where cohabitation started prior to the posting or cross-posting, but the one-year qualifying period was disrupted when the person to be designated as the common-law partner was unable to accompany the employee to post.

3. The separation must be for reasons beyond the reasonable control of the employee or the individual to be designated as the common-law partner. Such reasons may relate to education, health, disposal of a principal residence, custody disputes and contractual obligations. The circumstances for which Special family separation assistance (FSD 18) may be authorized, will be used as a guide.

4. It will be the responsibility of the employee to demonstrate that a continuing conjugal spousal relationship has been established and that this relationship has been recognized for a period of at least one year, including the approved period of disruption, in the community or communities in which they have lived. The NJC FSD committee may request evidence or information to corroborate the statements provided by the employee.

5. In general, a person to be designated as a common-law partner shall be placed in neither a more nor a less favourable situation than a spouse.