Civil Service Act 1918

Former Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden

The Civil Service Act 1918 was a piece of legislation passed by Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden following the First World War. The act called for a number of reforms to be made to the Canadian civil service, and had implications on how Canadian public administration unfolded over the following decades.

Circumstances leading to the Act

In 1911, a number of members of the Ontario business community made a proposal to the then leader of the opposition, Robert Borden. In the proposal, they agreed to support Borden in the upcoming election if he instituted reforms in the civil service.

Those who lobbied for the reforms made the argument that until then the Canadian civil service has been inefficient largely as a result of patronage. Under a patronage system, the civil service had a tendency to go through a larger turnover than otherwise, as it is largely replaced following the formation of every new government. The direct result of this is a more limited expertise on the part of those occupying important government positions, decreasing productivity and efficiency in government.

Specifically the Ontario business community argued that this inefficient organization of the civil service reduced the international comparative advantage of Canada, having negative implications on the financial interests of Canadian businesses. They saw a more professional and skilled civil service as being conducive with these interests.

Reforms

As noted, since Confederation, the Canadian civil service had been predominantly made up of officials who had been appointed through patronage; that is, officials appointed by the Prime Minister as a 'handout' - for example, political supporters, friends and family. A cornerstone of the Act was to shift away from these patronage-based appointments, towards merit-based appointments to the civil service. Specifically, the Act called for the Civil Service Commission (later renamed the Public Service Commission) to oversee all appointments to the public service, as means of detaching the politicians from the appointment process.

Competitive exams were introduced with the Commission to ensure competentcy among the service. In addition, much of the civil service was reorganized, and the job-classification system was overhauled.

Implications

The most important long term implication of the Act was a more professional, competent and skilled Canadian civil service. Moreover the decreased turn-over associated with merit-based civil service results in a bureaucracy with interests more aligned with national, as opposed to partisan-political, well being.

See also

• List of Acts of Parliament of Canada