After years of review and negotiations, federal public service unions including PSAC have secured meaningful improvements to the National Joint Council (NJC) Travel Directive that better reflect the real costs and realities of work-related travel. 

The latest improvements were awarded by a board of arbitration in a historic ruling. In over 80 years of NJC operations, the parties have never before needed third-party arbitration to resolve a dispute during the negotiation process. The arbitrator recognized the rarity of this step and intervened only where absolutely necessary. Decisions were guided by a clear principle: travel for work should neither create a financial gain nor a financial loss for employees. 

These updates are the result of an extensive cyclical review that began in 2021 and involved years of co-development and negotiation between the bargaining agents and the employer. They modernize the Travel Directive and help ensure it remains fair and responsive to employees’ travel-related needs. 

Higher allowances for members who travel 

Through arbitration, the bargaining agents secured: 

• Increased incidental expense allowance: from $17.30 to $25 per day 
• Increased declaration-based dependant care allowance: from $35 to $50 per day per household 
• Increased receipted dependant care allowance for professional care: from $75 per day per household to $100 per day per dependant 

These increases better reflect the real and rising costs members face when work takes them away from home. These allowances hadn’t been updated since 2002, meaning members were shouldering increasing expenses for more than 20 years. 

Clearer rules and stronger protections 

Other improvements agreed to during the review include clearer rules around meal timing and provisions for shift workers; flexibility to exceed meal limits in exceptional circumstances with receipts; and improved provisions for emergencies, allowing employees to return earlier or later due to personal illness, accidents, or emergency situations at home. 

Changes agreed to by the parties during the review came into effect on October 1, 2025. Changes awarded through arbitration take effect 45 days after the date of the award. 

Provisions for escort officers were referred back with a suggestion that it be dealt with in negotiations with the FB group and CBSA. 

PSAC will continue to push for fair, modern travel protections and ensure members’ concerns are addressed in these ongoing discussions. 

How the review works 

The NJC Travel Directive is updated through a cyclical review process led by the National Joint Council, not through traditional collective bargaining. 

The Directive provides a framework to reimburse employees for reasonable expenses incurred while travelling on government business. It applies to federal public service workers under Treasury Board (including the EB, FB, PA, SV, and TC groups), as well as employees of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Communications Security Establishment Canada, the National Research Council, and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. The Directive forms part of employees’ collective agreements. 

During a cyclical review, the 19 public service bargaining agents — including PSAC — develop and submit proposals collectively to employer representatives. Where the parties cannot reach agreement, unresolved issues may be referred to interest arbitration. 

Negotiations are also ongoing for several other NJC directives, including those related to relocation and bilingualism allowances.