Contracting Out of IT Work At Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne Minister of Foreign Affairs

House of Commons Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

By email: Francois-Philippe.Champagne@parl.gc.ca

December 2, 2020

Dear Minister Champagne,

I am writing on behalf of some 455 Global Affairs Canada (GAC) Information Technology specialists represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada regarding the contracting out of the work performed by the members of our Computer Systems (CS) Group.

Our representatives have prepared the attached report, “Contracting Out of IT Work at Global Affairs Canada”, an analysis of the policy grievances submitted against GAC between January 2018 and March 2020 for outsourcing of government work that could have been done internally.

The data within demonstrates how the Department is not following Article 30 of the CS Collective Agreement, which stipulates that the employer must make a reasonable effort to use existing employees or hire new full-time or term employees as needed before contracting out work to private companies or consultants.

This is an issue of critical importance not only to our members and their public service colleagues, but to the Canadians they serve on a daily basis. Outsourcing results in higher costs, lower quality services, less transparency, less accountability and the loss of institutional knowledge and skills. The GAC case study is a stark example of why Article 30 must be upheld.

I thank you for your attention to this key issue and look forward to your response. Please note that our PIPSC consultation team will also be bringing this report to the attention of GAC management for discussion in the near future.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau President,
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada