Federal Government Pay Scale Explained: A Complete Guide

When I got my first letter of offer from the Government of Saskatchewan (before I moved to the feds), it said my position was “EC-04 Step 1.” I had no idea what that meant. I didn't know what EC stood for, what a “step” was, or how my salary would change over time. The whole system felt intentionally opaque. It isn't — it's actually quite logical once someone explains it. Nobody just... explains it.

What Is a Classification?

Every federal public service position is assigned a classification group that identifies the type of work performed. There are over 60 classification groups, including:

• AS — Administrative Services
• PM — Programme Administration
• EC — Economics and Social Science Services
• IT — Information Technology
• FI — Financial Management
• CR — Clerical and Regulatory
• EX — Executive

Your classification determines which collective agreement covers your employment, which union represents you, and what pay scale applies. Browse all classification groups to see the full list.

What Are Levels?

Within each classification group, there are multiple levels that reflect increasing responsibility and complexity. For example, the AS group has 7 levels:

Moving from one level to the next (e.g., AS-03 to AS-04) is a promotion and usually requires a competitive staffing process. You can look up the full pay scale for any level using the salary lookup tool.

What Are Steps (Increments)?

Each level has multiple pay steps. You start at step 1 when you're appointed to a position and advance one step per year on your anniversary date, as long as your performance is satisfactory. No promotion is required — step increases happen automatically.

For example, here are the 4 steps for AS-01:

An AS-01 at step 1 earns $61,786 per year. After 3 years of satisfactory performance, they reach step 4 at $69,106 — a $7,320 increase without any promotion. After reaching the maximum step, your salary only increases when a new collective agreement provides an economic increase (raise).

How Do Collective Agreements Set Pay?

Federal public service salaries are not set arbitrarily. They're negotiated through collective bargaining between the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (the employer) and bargaining agents (unions) like:

• PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada) — covers the PA bargaining unit (AS, CR, IS, PM, WP and others), the TC group (Technical Services), the SV group (Operational Services), and the FB group (Border Services) via its CIU component
• PIPSC (Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada) — covers IT (Information Technology), NR (Architecture, Engineering and Land Survey), SP (Applied Science and Patent Examination), RE (Research), AV (Audit, Commerce and Purchasing), and SH (Health Services)
• CAPE (Canadian Association of Professional Employees) — covers EC (Economics and Social Science Services) and TR (Translation) groups
• AJC (Association of Justice Counsel) — covers LP (Law Practitioner) group
• ACFO (Association of Canadian Financial Officers) — covers CT (Comptrollership, formerly FI/Financial Management) group
• PAFSO (Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers) — covers FS (Foreign Service) group

Some federal groups are unrepresented (excluded from collective bargaining) because of the confidential or managerial nature of the work — including the EX (Executive) group, PE (Personnel Administration), and several developmental/management levels. Their pay rates are set by Treasury Board unilaterally, generally benchmarked against a related bargaining-unit agreement.

Collective agreements typically cover 3–4 year periods and include scheduled pay increases applied to all employees in the bargaining unit. When negotiations take longer than expected (which is common), employees receive retroactive pay once an agreement is signed.

How to Read a Pay Scale Table

When you look up a classification on FedPay.ca, you'll see a table like this:

• Rows = pay steps (step 1 at the top, maximum step at the bottom)
• Annual salary = your gross yearly pay before any deductions
• Biweekly = your annual salary divided by 26.088 (the number of pay periods per year)

To find your current salary: look up your classification and level (shown on your letter of offer or pay stub), then find your step number. If you don't know your step, count the number of years since your appointment date — that's approximately your step (step 1 in year 1, step 2 in year 2, etc.).

What Is Acting Pay?

When you temporarily perform the duties of a higher-level position, you receive acting pay at the rate of the higher classification. Under the Treasury Board Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment, your acting (or promotion) rate is set at the step in the higher level that is at least one full step increment above your substantive salary — not just the first step that exceeds it.

For example, if you're an AS-03 at step 3 ($79,511) acting as an AS-04, the AS-04 step increment is roughly $3,200. Adding that to your $79,511 substantive salary gives $82,711 — so your acting rate would be set at AS-04 step 2 ($83,675), the first AS-04 step at or above that threshold. AS-04 step 1 ($80,612) does exceed your substantive salary, but doesn't meet the one-full-increment promotion-formula rule.

Annual vs. Hourly Rates

Most federal classifications use annual salary rates. However, some operational groups (like GL, GS, HP, and others) use hourly rates instead. The classification page on FedPay.ca clearly indicates which rate type applies.

Next Steps

• Look up your salary by classification and level
• Calculate your take-home pay after taxes and deductions
• Compare classifications side by side
• Track your raise history against inflation