You believe you witnessed wrongdoing in the federal public sector
"Choosing to report wrongdoing is not an easy decision. But it is the right thing to do."
Witnessing wrongdoing is a difficult experience. Choosing to report it is not an easy decision. But it is the right thing to do.
Ignoring wrongdoing won’t make it disappear. Telling someone who can address it is in the public interest and helps the organization where the wrongdoing occurred.
Anyone can report wrongdoing to our Office. If you are a federal public servant, you can choose to make a disclosure of wrongdoing to our Office, your supervisor, or a designated Senior Officer. The law protects you from reprisal in the workplace if you do so.
We all rely on our federal public institutions, and we all have a stake in ensuring they remain strong, accountable, and effective.
Before you report wrongdoing, review the following questions:
Is it really wrongdoing?
Some things may be wrong but not wrongdoing. Our Office investigates wrongdoing as defined under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. There are six definitions:
2: A misuse of public funds or a public asset, such as expenditures made without following proper procurement procedures or that are wasteful;
3: A gross mismanagement, which means cases that go beyond minor wrongdoing or negligence;
5: A serious breach of a code of conduct that can have significant impact on an organization’s employees and the public’s trust;
You may be wondering: “What about harassment and workplace grievances?”
The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act is not intended to address matters of a personal nature, such as individual harassment complaints or individual workplace grievances. These matters should continue to be addressed through procedures available to deal with such concerns.
Does our Office have jurisdiction over the organization where the alleged wrongdoing occurred?
Our Office can investigate most federal public sector organizations, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Crown Corporations.
The Commissioner does not have jurisdiction over:
- The Canadian Forces
- The Canadian Security Intelligence Service
- The Communications Security Establishment
- Elected officials or their staff
- Employees of the House of Commons and the Senate
- Political parties
- Organizations falling under provincial, territorial, regional and municipal legislation, such as hospitals or schools
- The private sector
Is our Office the right fit for this investigation?
Our Office investigates cases of wrongdoing that pose a serious threat to the integrity of the public service. In other words, cases that could shake public confidence if not reported and corrected.
Our Office does not investigate individual harassment complaints or workplace grievances. Harassment is a serious matter. However, it is generally not considered wrongdoing under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. Individual harassment complaints are more appropriately dealt with under your organization’s harassment policy or Treasury Board Secretariat’s Directive on the Prevention and Resolution of Workplace Harassment and Violence.
Have you gathered enough information?
Ensure that you can clearly describe what happened and identify the alleged wrongdoer(s).
You will have to:
- name who (name, title, and contact information) you believe committed wrongdoing;
- describe specific allegations; and
- specify when and where (which federal department/organization) the alleged wrongdoing occurred.
You should mention any applicable acts, regulations, policies or directives relating to the wrongdoing. For example, if the wrongdoing you are reporting refers to the contravention of an act, indicate which act.
Have any documents that support your allegations ready to attach to your submission. Electronic documents can be uploaded via the online form. Online submissions accept documents in the format of PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, XLS, and XLSX files. File size limit is 10 MB. Any files over this limit or in other formats may be submitted by mail.
If you have already raised your concerns through another mechanism, be prepared to tell us when and to whom you reported your concerns, what the outcome was, and to provide copies of any related documents.
Do not include Cabinet confidences—documents containing information that concerns the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy—or information that is protected by solicitor-client privilege. Do not include protected personal information, such as immigration applications, tax forms or medical documents.
How do you want to submit your disclosure?
You can submit your disclosure online, or by mail. Do not submit your disclosure by email.
If you need accommodations to access the form or to report wrongdoing, contact our Accessibility Representative.
Federal public servants have the choice to report wrongdoing to our Office, or to their supervisor or a designated Senior Officer in their organization.
Do not make a disclosure via the media or directly to the public. Public disclosures are only protected under limited and exceptional circumstances.
Do you want to be assisted or represented?
Proceedings under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act are meant to be as informal as possible. Although not required, you have the right to be assisted or represented by any person of your choice, including a counsel or a union representative, when making a disclosure of wrongdoing.
Our Office may provide up to $3,000 for legal advice, if you do not already have access to legal advice at no cost to you.
If you are being represented, will be asked to provide your representative’s coordinates.
How does our Office investigate?
The purpose of investigations into disclosures is to bring the existence of wrongdoing to the attention of the organization’s chief executive and to make recommendations for corrective action.
We carefully review every disclosure. The Commissioner may start an investigation if there is reason to believe that wrongdoing may have occurred.
Whether or not the Commissioner decides to investigate the allegations, the whistleblower is notified in writing of the reasons for the decision.
When starting an investigation, we advise the head of the organization involved. We also advise persons against whom allegations have been made. They will have fair opportunity to respond.
During the investigation, our team may review documents, videos, or other evidence. They may also conduct interviews with witnesses and alleged wrongdoers.
Although not required, any person involved in the investigation may choose to be represented by someone else, like a union representative or a legal counsel. This individual can attend any interviews with the represented party.
At the end of the investigation, the Commissioner will determine whether wrongdoing occurred. The decision is made on the balance of probabilities test, which means that it is more likely to be true than not true.
Confidentiality
The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (the Act) provides that whistleblowers are protected through confidentiality. The alleged wrongdoer and the head of the investigated organization only receive the information necessary to understand the allegations and provide evidence. In cases where it is necessary to do so, the Office will share witness statements for corroboration or comment. The Office will not provide information about the discloser to the alleged wrongdoers or the head of the organization.
The investigations conducted under the Act are neither criminal investigations nor court proceedings. The purpose of investigations into disclosures is, according to the Act, to bring the existence of wrongdoing to the attention of the organization’s chief executive and to make recommendations for corrective action.
All disclosures are subject to a thorough analysis. An investigation is launched when the Commissioner has sufficient grounds to believe that wrongdoing may have occurred.
Whether or not the Commissioner decides to pursue an investigation into the allegations, the discloser is notified in writing of the reasons for the decision.
When starting an investigation, we advise the head of the organization involved. We also advise persons against whom allegations have been made. They will have fair opportunity to respond.
During the investigation, our team may review documents, videos, or other evidence. They may also conduct interviews with witnesses and alleged wrongdoers.
Although not required, any person involved in an investigation may choose to be represented by someone else, like a union representative or legal counsel. This individual can attend interviews with you.
At the end of the investigstion, the Commissioner will determine whether wrongdoing occurred. The decision is made on the balance of probabilities test, which means that it is more likely to be true than not true.
What comes next?
Following an investigation, a preliminary investigation report is shared with the head of the investigated organization and alleged wrongdoers. Any responses to the report are considered by the investigator. Following this process the investigator will make a recommendation to the Commissioner whether wrongdoing has occurred.
Founded cases of wrongdoing are shared with the head of the affected organization and the alleged wrongdoers. Our Office will produce a case report with details about the allegations and recommendations for corrective action. The report includes recommendations for corrective action. The organization has the opportunity to respond to the recommendations.
The final report with the organization’s responses is tabled in parliament within 60 days of the Commissioner’s decision.
After tabling of the case report in Parliament, it will be made public on our Office’s website. There will be a news release, and typically a short video of the Commissioner explaining her findings will be published on the Office’s website.
How long does it take?
Our Office has a published service standard of one year for the completion of investigations. This standard is only a target as each case is unique, it is not possible to set out a specific timeframe for the conclusion of an investigation.
Factors that affect the length of time the process can take include:
- availability of documentation and key witnesses;
- complexity of issues; and/or
- whether specific expertise or research is needed.
Can our Office refuse to investigate?
In some cases, the Commissioner decides not to investigate. Some of the factors considered when making this decision include:
- whether the information disclosed has been properly and adequately dealt with, or could more appropriately be dealt with, according to another procedure (for example, human rights violations can be dealt with by the Canadian Human Rights Commission);
- the length of time that has elapsed since the events occurred (after a certain amount of time, it may serve no useful purpose to deal with the disclosure); and
- whether the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner.
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