Rescinded [2012-04-01] - Policy on Garnishment

The Garnishment Attachment and Pension Diversion Act, Part I, was proclaimed on March 11, 1983. The Act was subsequently amended by Bill C-41. Effective May 1, 1997, a notice of intention to garnishee is no longer required.

Part I of the Act allows for the garnishment of salaries and other remuneration paid to government employees, as well as for the garnishment of fees paid to a contractor engaged as an individual (as opposed to a corporation) under contract for services only.

Part II of the Act allows for the diversion of pension benefits to honour financial support orders. A new and different action must be taken to divert a pension, even if a former employee's salary was subject to continuing garnishment. The onus is on the recipient of the financial support payments to apply under Part II of the Act. The Minister of Public Works and Government Services is the responsible minister for Part II of the Act.

The garnishment procedures herein apply only to organizations listed under the Public Service Staff Relations Act, Schedule I Part I (PSSRA 1.1).

These garnishment procedures do not apply to the diversion of pension benefits. Support orders for pension diversion should be sent to:

The Garnishment Attachment and Pension Diversion Act (GAPDA) applies to all employees and individual contractors engaged by Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Part I of the GAPDA applies in the following manner:

Division I applies to all employees and individual contractors engaged by organizations listed under Schedule I, Schedule I.1, and Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), and to a commission under the Inquiries Act that is designated as a department. Division I also applies to Crown corporations prescribed under subsection 6 of the Garnishment and Attachment Regulations, namely the Canadian Dairy Commission, Canadian Film Development Corporation, Canadian Livestock Feed Board, Royal Canadian Mint and Canada Post Corporation.

Division II applies to Crown corporations not covered by Division I. Division III applies to members of the Canadian Forces (non-civilians), and Division IV applies to the Senate, House of Commons and Library of Parliament.

The government is bound by provincial garnishment law, subject to the provisions of the GAPDA and the regulations made under the GAPDA. When there are inconsistencies between federal and provincial legislation, the GAPDA overrides the provincial garnishment law to the extent of the inconsistency.

These garnishment procedures are designed primarily to inform departments and agencies of the procedures that they must follow so that the employer can respond to garnishee summonses within the time limits specified in the GAPDA. They are to be used in conjunction with the Act and the Regulations, the relevant Compensation and Receiver General directives and the departmental procedures.

In these procedures, the following definitions apply.

Contractor (entrepreneur)

means any person receiving garnishable fees and engaged by any organization listed under PSSRA 1.1 as an individual, as opposed to a corporation, under a contract for services, to which the person is a party. This term does not include employees of companies that are under contract to provide services such as cleaning staff employed by office cleaning firms. Nor does it apply to individuals who have incorporated and whose corporation rather than the individual is a party to a contract. However, the term "contractor" does includes unincorporated sole proprietorships and partnerships

Employee (employé)

means any person employed in an organization listed under PSSRA 1.1

Garnisable fees (honoraires saisissable)

includes all moneys payable as fees, honoraria or similar payments to a contractor for performing a service, office or position. Except where a contract specifically differentiates between fees and expenses, such as travelling expenses, the specified expenses are not included

Garnisable salary (traitement saisissable)

means the basic pay payable to an employee for performing the regular duties of a position or office, and any amount payable as an allowance, special remuneration, payment for overtime or other compensation or gratuity, excluding any amount deemed to be excluded from that person's salary under section 5 of the Garnishment and Attachment Regulations. Amounts deemed to be excluded under section 5 of the regulations include, for example, a reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred while performing duties and compulsory deductions such as income tax, CPP/QPP contributions, Employment Insurance premiums, DI/LTD premiums and Superannuation contributions

Garnishee summons (bref de saisie arrêt)

includes any documents or court order of like import issued following a judgement

Pay period (période de paye)

as defined in the GAPDA is, "... in respect of any particular person, the period commencing on the day following the day that that person's salary cheque is normally dated and ending on the day that his next salary cheque is normally dated". In other words, "pay period" means the interval between regular pay cheques

The Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for ensuring that departments and agencies adopt procedures that will permit them to respond to garnishee summonses. These garnishment procedures were prepared to assist organizations in processing garnishments and to ensure that organizations adopt uniform procedures.

Departments and agencies are responsible for ensuring that the necessary garnishment procedures are established within their organization and for complying with garnishee summonses within the legal time limits.

To monitor and ensure systematic processing of garnishments, departments and agencies are requested to keep a log detailing the processing of garnishment documents. The log may include the following information: the debtor's name and paylist; the court or provincial enforcement agency (PEA) and the file number; the date the application for garnishment was served on the Department of Justice; the expiry date of the garnishee summons; the type of garnishee summons; the amount of the garnishee summons, and information on whether it is a percentage or a set amount, and whether arrears apply; the date the cheque was sent to the court or the PEA; the cheque amount; and the balance owing, if applicable.

Departments and agencies are to designate those positions whose incumbents will be the organization's "garnishee contact".

One garnishee contact should be designated for each province or territory, and one for the National Capital Area. It may be necessary to name the same contact for more than one province or territory. The position title, telephone number, mailing address and geographical area of responsibility of each garnishee contact, and any changes to these, are to be provided to the Department of Justice to the following address:

On receipt of a garnishee summons from the Department of Justice, it is the responsibility of the "garnishee contact" to monitor and follow up at every stage and ensure that all necessary actions are taken, including maintaining a log for each garnishee summons. See section 6. for log information. A checklist of the processing procedures is attached as Appendix C.

Upon receipt of a garnishee summons:

• immediately notify those responsible for administering the contract that a garnishee summons was received and that no moneys are to be paid to the contractor without first getting clearance from the garnishee contact. When a common service agency has entered into a contract on behalf of a client department, the client department administers these procedures;
• immediately inform the Department of Justice that the debtor is a contractor as the time limits for acting on a garnishee summons are more stringent in the case of a contractor and the amount that may be seized is different than that for an employee;
• determine the amount payable to the court or the PEA. All fees are garnishable except moneys specifically identified in the contract as cost reimbursements; and
• immediately inform the contractor that a garnishee summons was received requiring the department or agency to pay to the court or the PEA some or all of the contractor's fees.

During the period between the date the garnishee summons is served on the Department of Justice and the date Her Majesty is bound by the garnishee summons (15 days after service of documents), authorize only payments to the contractor for services already performed. No advance payments may be made without prior clearance from Department of Justice, even if called for under the contract.

Withhold all garnishable fees becoming payable on the fifteenth day following the day on which Her Majesty is bound by the summons, (i.e. the thirtieth day after receipt of the garnishee summons), and

• when the summons has continuing effect, withhold any garnishable fees that subsequently become payable, or
• when the summons has no continuing effect, withhold any additional garnishable fees that become payable⁽¹⁾  in the following 30 days, except for the amounts that are payable in this 30 day period that became owing⁽²⁾ after the first 14 days of this period.

Garnisheed moneys must be in the hands of the court or the office indicated in the garnishee summons within 15 calendar days after they are garnisheed. The cheque must clearly identify the garnishee summons, including the names of the parties and the court file number.

Information relating to garnishment is highly confidential. It must be kept in a separate file to avoid misuse of the information to the detriment of the employee. This information is not normally considered in relation to an employee's work performance but it may be a factor where security or reliability screening is required in relation to a particular position. The GAPDA specifies that "no employee may be dismissed, suspended or laid off solely on the grounds that garnishment proceedings may be or have been taken with respect to him/her."

When an employee moves within a department, to another department or to another government organization covered by Part I, Division 1 of the GAPDA, only information pertaining to active garnishments should be transferred. This information must be contained in a separate file and be sent through Personnel to the attention of the appropriate garnishee contact.

Information pertaining to inactive garnishments must be kept for six years.

Enquiries concerning these procedures should be directed to your departmental Compensation Manager at headquarters. Departmental compensation managers should contact:

For employees:
Pay administration Section
Treasury Board Secretariat
Telephone: (613) 952-3217 or 952-3211 or 952-3202
Facsimile: (613) 952-3009

For contractors:
Financial and Contract Management Sector
Treasury Board Secretariat
Telephone: (613) 957-7233
Facsimile: (613) 952-9613

For enquiries concerning GAPDA:

Contact the Department of Justice at (613) 957-4885.