Good afternoon

We know you are all wondering about the next steps for the resumption of the Agency’s business activities and what it will mean for you. In our message of June 16, 2020, we indicated that the Agency was getting ready to transition from operating under a critical services mode to a business resumption mode on June 26, 2020.

The purpose of today’s message is to share with you the Agency’s National Business Resumption Plan (NBRP), which maps out the initial steps and the projected phases towards full business resumption. All of this work is guided by our primary priority, protecting the health and safety of employees.

The National Business Resumption Plan is designed to guide branch and regional business resumption plans. The Plan details the stages of the resumption of various program and corporate activities and operations that did not resume during the Agency’s critical services phase under the Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

First, it is worth repeating that there is no expectation for all of you to return to physical worksites beginning June 26, 2020. Though some of you are already working in your regular worksites and some of you may gradually re-integrate back to your worksites in the coming weeks, the fact is that most of you will continue working remotely until at least the fall.

We are a large and diverse Agency, with tens of thousands of employees across the country, fulfilling different roles in different locations. You are all managing different sets of circumstances, both personally and professionally. As such, there are a great number of factors under consideration and, although planning is well underway, we are only in the initial phases of the Agency’s business resumption.

Over the next several weeks and months, Assistant Commissioners across branches and regions will continue to work on setting the right conditions to resume the full operational capacity of the Agency, in a thoughtful, timely and appropriate manner.

As we move forward into business resumption mode, we would like to acknowledge all of the exceptional work across branches and regions to be flexible, innovative and dedicated to our People First philosophy. The Western Region is but one example of this: the merger of Pacific and Prairie Regions, on April 1, 2020, provided an increased capacity of expertise, experience, knowledge and a strong foundation to ensure a high level of service excellence during these uncertain times.

As we continue to adjust to living with COVID-19, there will be frequent re-calibration of the NBRP, considering the external and internal environment, to ensure your health and safety. Working towards full business resumption for the Agency will be measured in months, not days. These uncertain times can be stressful; remember you and your family members can contact the Employee Assistance Program.

There is a new Business Resumption page on Infozone with more detailed information as well as frequently asked questions, including those specific to Business Resumption. This page will continue to be updated with information over the summer and into the fall. If you have any specific questions about your own workload, we encourage you to speak with your manager.

Thank you for your continued commitment, flexibility, and patience as we navigate through these uncharted waters. As in all things, we are in this together, and we will get through this together.