Strategic Human Resources Plan 2009-2012: The Canadian Coast Guard Environment

Snapshot of Our Workforce

The Canadian Coast Guard has a workforce complement of 4,459 employees (Graph A), working in 127 locations and on 116 vessels across Canada. Work is carried out across five regions (Newfoundland and Labrador, Maritimes, Quebec, Central and Arctic, and Pacific), at the CCG College in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and at National Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario. Many programs and services offered to Canadians are provided around the clock, 365 days a year.

 Graph A 
National Employment Distribution

Note: Graph A reflects a snapshot of the CCG workforce on April 1, 2008. Figures do not include the higher number of students typically employed in the summer. For example, CCG’s Inshore Rescue Boat Program hires 150 to 160 students each summer.

The proportion of seagoing (51%) to shore-based (49%) personnel has remained consistent since 2004 and is not projected to change significantly during our three-year planning period. Shore-based operations include providing environmental response, marine communications and traffic services (MCTS), operational support, technical services, instructional services, aids to navigation and business management functions.

Five occupational groups essential to operations are at particular risk – Ships’ Crew (SC), Ships’ Officers (SO), Marine Communications and Traffic Services Officers (RO), Engineers (EN)³ and Electronics (EL). These groups make up 67% of our total workforce. We continue to focus on them because, in each case, labour market pressures and specialized training requirements will make recruitment and retention particularly challenging.

Trends show that, through the years, there have been moderate fluctuations in CCG’s workforce but, overall, it has remained fairly constant. In respecting both public service values and in seeking more effective solutions for our determinate workforce, CCG has been able to decrease utilization of casual appointments. Subsequently, the use of terms has increased. (See Strategy 1 – Attracting and Retaining a Skilled Workforce for a breakdown of how term appointments are being used.)

Each summer, CCG hires approximately 160 students for the Inshore Rescue Boat Program which complements the work of our search and rescue operations. Candidates are hired through the Federal Student Work Experience Program and are trained in search and rescue operations by CCG regional staff. Following successful completion of training, students are assigned as crew members to Inshore Rescue Boat stations.

Table A breaks down our workforce by tenure, from 2004 to 2008. (See Appendix A for employment tenure breakdowns by region, for the College and at National Headquarters.)

* Figures do not include the higher number of students typically employed in the summer. For example, CCG’s Inshore Rescue Boat Program hires 150 to 160 students each summer.

CCG’s operational services are carried out by approximately 84% of our workforce, with the remaining 16% in occupational groups dedicated to management, administration and technical support of operations. Although approximately 85 additional employees will be required to operate and maintain the new vessels being added to the fleet, the relative proportion of operational to support personnel is expected to remain stable, well within the expected range.

Representation for our five at-risk groups has remained fairly stable over the past five years. We see variations between -8% to +7%. The EN representation has increased slightly, while representation of the SC, SO, RO and EL groups has dropped slightly. (See Table B - Distribution by Occupational Group.)

Snapshot by Age Group

The Canadian Coast Guard faces many of the same demographic challenges as the rest of the federal public service. The average age of our employees is well above that of the Canadian labour market, with approximately 76% over the age of 40 and 40% over the age of 50. The average age of all CCG employees is 46 years, slightly higher than the public service average of 44 years. The average age of our seagoing population is 45 and of shore-based personnel is 47. The average age of our five at-risk groups is 45.

In 2008, the percentage of employees in the 50 to 59 age group (35%), was equal to those who were 40 to 49 (35%). There were significantly fewer employees in the remaining groups: 15% were 30 to 39; 6% were 25 to 29; 5% were over 60; and 3% were under 25.

Graph B represents the ratio of male to female workers within each of the noted age group ranges.

Graph B
Distribution by Age Group - Men to Women (2008)

Projected Retirements

Historical trends show that CCG employees opt to continue working for an average of 1.4 years beyond retirement eligibility. We therefore need to compare retirement eligibility to actual retirements to help estimate the number of employees eligible to retire who will choose to do so. Annually, since 2004, an average of 38% of those eligible to retire did in fact retire. This suggests that, each year, an average of 62% of those eligible to retire can be expected to continue working.

Graph C shows retirement eligibility for CCG employees from 2004 to 2008. The graph is broken down to reflect employees eligible to retire who are 60 years of age, with at least two years of pensionable service, as per Public Service of Canada (PSC) guidelines and, further, to reflect employees who are between 55 and 59 years of age, with at least 30 years of pensionable service, again, as per PSC guidelines.

Graph C
Retirement Eligibility

Table C shows the number of employees who will become eligible to retire in each year, from 2008 to 2013, broken down by the five at-risk occupational groups. It is important to recognize that figures reflect eligibility rather than intent to retire.

* Note: Percentages are based on retirement eligibility within the occupational groups, divided by the total number of employees in the occupational groups.

Attrition

Over the past five years, attrition rates (including retirement) have remained fairly consistent. However, with increasing numbers eligible to retire, these rates are expected to increase over the next five to ten years.

Table D shows actual attrition at CCG. These rates are based on five-year historical data and reflect both retirement and residual attrition (resignations, transfers out and deaths).

A number of CCG professionals, upon retirement, return in another capacity (e.g. consultants, seasonal workers or terms). This potential pool offsets attrition rates and loss of corporate memory, especially in the most vulnerable technical categories.

For seagoing employees, operationally-required certification is more important than corporate knowledge. SOs, for example, join the Canadian Coast Guard as entry level Watchkeeping Mates or Fourth Class Engineers. Individuals who continue to study and gain experience can become eligible to write exams for higher level certificates, after a minimal amount of sea time. As seasoned officers retire, they can be replaced by younger employees who possess the same certificates.

Table E below shows projected departures from 2009 to 2013. Calculations do not reflect potential workforce growth or reductions.

Additional Requirements

Understanding our demographic challenges is critical to establishing effective strategies and mitigating risks associated with increased levels of service expected by our Agency. We anticipate that approximately 199 additional employees will be needed by CCG between now and 2013. The five vessels we are commissioning will require 30 SOs, 30 SCs and 25 ENs. (See Table F.)

The Integrated Technical Services (ITS) Directorate and Major Crown Projects (MCP) Directorate will require close to 45 General Technical (GT) and Technical Inspection (TI) employees for the additional maintenance and refit work, at sea and on shore, as well as 69 additional employees to manage vessel maintenance, as outlined in the Vessel Maintenance Management Review (VMMR). (See Table G.)

Summary of Projected Requirements Over the Next Five Years

Table E identifies 1,155 projected departures in the coming five years. Including the additional requirements identified in Tables F and G, totalling 199 staff, CCG’s projected requirements amount to approximately 1,354 employees. Of these, 760 or 56% belong to the five at-risk occupational groups essential to operations.

As shown in Table H, CCG anticipates that in 2009, 207 employees will need to be hired to fill vacancies. Of these, 117 or 57% belong to at-risk occupational groups essential to operations.

Official Language Representation

The Canadian Coast Guard's official language representation has remained relatively consistent since 2005: approximately 23% of employees declare French as their first language, and 77% declare English.

As shown in Table I, with the exception of 2008 which experienced a slight decline, the percentage of employees who meet the requirements of their bilingual positions has risen year after year. There are two key impediments to our progress in this area – finding technically competent candidates who meet the language requirements of vacant positions and finding qualified teachers to deliver Canadian Coast Guard courses in French. If we cannot meet language training needs through traditional sources, CCG will need to explore non-traditional options, such as developing in-house training resources.

Diversity

The Canadian Coast Guard is fully aware that employment equity groups remain underrepresented and that gaps must be reduced. If the full benefit of diversity is to be experienced, we must show leadership, articulate a common, clear vision, establish realistic priorities and objectives, develop policies and practices that meet the particular needs of our organization, including accommodation needs, and training/support to managers and employees. The Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, co-champion of employment equity (EE) for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, encourages us to reach our EE goals. In establishing a bi-annual report card, CCG has taken an important step to ensure that our action items within the DFO Employment Equity Management Action Plan are accomplished.

Workforce availability (WFA) is an equation that determines the percentage of employment equity group members working in a specific occupational group. WFA data is provided by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer following each Statistics Canada Census and each department/ agency then calculates its own WFA based on regional demographics.

It is important to note that the gaps cited in this Plan use the 2001 Statistics Canada Census and 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey as a measure. The 2006 Census data is not yet available. However, it will likely show that gaps have increased. Representation goals will be reviewed and adjusted accordingly.

Since 2004, we have seen fluctuations in representation for all employment equity groups. The gap has been reduced by approximately 13%, with the exception of the visible minority group for which the gap has increased by approximately 6%. Management commitment to employment equity over the last year has reduced the representation gap for women by 3.5%; for Aboriginal peoples by 4.7%; persons with disabilities by 9.6%; and for visible minorities by 2.8%. With the new workforce availability numbers due to be released shortly, we will need to realign our departmental commitments to address these gaps.

Graph D shows how CCG’s efforts are helping to increase representation relative to WFA. For example, in 2008 there were 840 women employed by CCG, while the WFA for this designated group was 977. As such, CCG representation for women was 86% of WFA.

Graph D
Representation of the Four Employment Equity Groups  

It is important to note that representation figures are based on the number of employees who complete the self-identification form. Through promotion and outreach of the Employment Equity Program, representation of all four employment equity groups at CCG has increased between 2007 and 2008.

Unions

Our workforce is represented by seven bargaining agents: the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC); the Canadian Merchant Service Guild (CMSG); the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW - Local 2182); the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Professional Institute of the Public Service (PIPSC); the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE); and the Association of Canadian Financial Officers (ACFO).

Approximately 78% of CCG is represented by PSAC or CMSG. Graph E illustrates the percentage of employees represented by each bargaining agent.

Graph E
Employee Representation by Bargaining Agent

Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with these bargaining agents is essential to our operations. The CCG Union Management Consultation Committee is an executive-level body that meets regularly to consult on a variety of topics related to labour relations. We remain committed to working with unions, both formally and informally, to address issues and to resolve disputes and grievances. Effective communication with all seven bargaining agents, which have different interests and priorities, is an ongoing challenge.

Administration and scheduling of employees on vessels and in Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) Centres is complicated by the fact that the collective agreements regulating hours of work and leave entitlements vary. CCG has been working with unions to improve consistency for marine personnel by negotiating “identical wording” for work system provisions. Significant progress has been made with respect to SOs. The new collective agreement contains provisions for a common hourly rate of pay for all crewing systems, effective April 2010. This will facilitate short-term rotational assignments to shore-based management positions for SOs.

In Summary

This planning period will be one of significant change and challenge, with increasing departure levels among our most seasoned employees and the crewing of new vessels to consider. Attrition rates suggest that over the next three years, roughly 663 employees will be needed, approximately 378 of them in at-risk occupational groups, just to maintain current staffing levels.

While we must compensate for the loss of valuable experience and corporate knowledge, we have the opportunity to improve the diversity of our workforce through hiring. Human resources management and planning must continue to be our highest priority so that we have skilled people in place to fulfill our mandate.

By implementing the commitments in this Plan, we will integrate recruitment planning, succession planning and training strategies to address the high level of attrition we anticipate. We will also address the particular pressures associated with the five occupational groups at highest risk.

³ While members of the EN, EG, and SO occupational groups all have engineering skills, only ENs are eligible for certification as professional engineers in Canada.