# 2018-060 Pay and Benefits, Canadian Forces Integrated Relocation Program

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-04-15

The grievor contested the fact that there was no budget allocation for her posting to Ottawa, and that she was relocated as a dependant of her service spouse as part of her spouse's move to an Intended Place of Residence on release, rather than be transferred with a relocation entitlement during her retention period. She requested the applicable benefits under the Canadian Forces Integrated Relocation Program (CFIRP) Directive, including the posting allowance.

The Director General Military Careers, acting as Initial Authority, noted that a posting with a relocation entitlement is not usually granted during a retention period, and that the grievor would have been immediately released had she not been relocated under the budget allocation related to her service spouse's relocation. The opinion was that a fair solution had been put forward to allow the grievor to continue her retention period in Ottawa.

The Committee was unable to find a rule prohibiting relocation because of the retention period, nor was it able to find a rule allowing a member to be transferred to another place of duty as a dependant. The Committee therefore concluded that the grievor should have been treated like any other member posted to a new place of duty and should receive the relocation benefits set out in the CFIRP Directive, which cannot be arbitrarily withheld by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

The Committee recommended that the CAF grant the grievor the posting allowance and ensure that the grievor's records show Ottawa as the location to which her Dependants, Household Goods and Effects were last moved at public expense.

FA decision summary

The Chief of the Defence Staff agreed with the Committee's findings, but rather than directing specific benefits of the Canadian Forces Integrated Relocation Program be granted, as recommended by the Committee, he directed that Brookfield Global Relocation Services open a relocation file to ensure that the grievor is granted all the appropriate benefits.