bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, p. 3
I have perused recent issues of the bout de papier and in particular, the Fall 1995 edition on Immigration.
As a retired Foreign Service Officer of the Social Affairs Stream, I wish to compliment the Editorial Board and the authors of the articles for their insightful overview of the evolution of immigration. In reading the articles I felt I was looking into a rear view mirror on a not unfamiliar road. Based on my experience, however, I would like to correct an erroneous impression left with the reader concerning the creation of the permanent career Foreign Service and the vicissitudes of those early years.
The active immigration policy of the fifties promoted the selection of individuals suitable in terms of the social, economic and labour conditions of Canada. With it came the realization that a career service was needed to implement policy and deal with the influx of applicants.
In 1957, the Civil Service Commission introduced in its Foreign Service recruitment campaign and its related brochure an invitation to university graduates to apply for “a distinguished career in the foreign service of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration”. Selection would be based on “a written test to assess your general knowledge and your ability to write expressively and an interview to determine your personal suitability”. The salary ranged from $3,900 for an FSO I to $9,500 for an FSO 6 with the FSO 2 grade being considered the basic rank. Over thirty applicants were selected that year to undergo a two year training period prior to assignment to one of the 26 centres abroad — all located in Europe excepting New Delhi and Hong Kong. The posting letter included the exhortation: “You are among the first of the new Foreign Service Officers to be assigned abroad. I need not emphasize that the Department has great faith in your ability and the success of this new series will depend, in no small measure, upon the performance of the officers who are paving the way.”
Up to that point the Overseas Service had been staffed by Canada-based officers of the Immigration Branch on a one or two tour basis. It is not surprising if there was initial resentment from these persons who were called upon to share their experience through on-the-job training with FSOs designed to replace them in large part. Similarly, ESOs of the other Departments were quick to scrutinize and judge the new arrivals who hazarded to hold their same classification. The annual intake of FSOs continued and in 1961 a further consolidation took place by making all assignments to the Overseas Service permanent and accessible only through competition.
By 1964 many ESOs who had assumed responsibilities beyond the FSO 2 rank found themselves frozen at this basic level because the FS classification was not accessible to Immigration. Consequently, the creation of the Canadian Immigration Affairs Officers (CIAOs) category provided the career structure and advancement opportunities essential to the, by then, well established immigration service abroad. Two years later, as a result of the Classification Revision program, CIAOs were converted to the Program Administration Series and became known as Program Managers (PMs).
In 1972, after the creation of the Department of Manpower and Immigration, and the assumption of an expanded and officially recognized reporting role, Treasury Board sanctioned conversion to the Foreign Service Group. With it came diplomatic accreditation for all officers and administrative integration of posts abroad under External Affairs. The Social Affairs Stream evolved from the continuation and final consolidation of the Foreign Services in 1981. Officers recruited for the immigration service in the early years thus found themselves once more in their original category of FSOs. But attrition had been high and many of the pathfinders had dropped out along the way discouraged in part, by the transformations.
Notwithstanding the number of Departments for whom they have worked, the names by which they have been known, and the logic or not behind it all, past and present Officers of the Immigration Foreign Service can remain proud in the knowledge they have served their country with integrity and loyalty as they participated in the process of building Canada’s future.
Miss Elsa M. Amadio Ottawa
P.S. A copy of this letter and of the 1957 Civil Service Commission recruitment brochure is being sent to the Canadian Immigration Historical Society for their archives.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1996) — Fall 1996 // Automne 1996, p. 3. Read the rest of this issue →
