Echoes my experience at local government level too (the direct approach), although I did have to - on paper - meet the job description requirements.

"on paper".

Key phrase

Ah, thanks!

On a slightly different tangent, free mental health resources not only differ enormously across Canada, but also from region to region within a province. As an example here:

30 minutes down the road from my town the basic offer is fortnightly (1 hour) group therapy (with a waiting list) in a town an hour's drive away. In my town there are 2 programmes combining individual & group therapy sessions.

A referral from a GP/psychiatrist/social worker IS key to to getting timely help.

Meds do seem to be the first stop panacea for docs here, but therapy is available, more widely than seems the case for BC.

I must try and remember to ask about how BPD is dealt with.

(Some of the above info is culled from personal experience, some from volunteering with so-called "vulnerable" parts of the population.)

Yup . Although if the mayor's wife's second cousin three times removed's friend's mate also applies, sometimes all bets are off

Is that any different from private industry though? In fact, in private industry I think it's even more about "who" you know....

Quite. The woman behind me here is leaving on Monday. All week we've been bantering about her list of people she'll try to pull after her (and the snot bubbling, spitting, illiterates she'll not be approaching).

I think the point is that the selection process for govt jobs is SUPPOSED to be a level playing field, ONCE the job is advertised to the public.

Yes but that's the same in large corporations, there's always a façade of fairness and competition, but the game is usually fixed.

That is true. I've got work for people I know and I'm in my current position because of a curry with an old mate.

The public sector is supposed to play by different rules though. The hiring process should be transparent and follow policy & procedure. In reality, it doesn't.

I imagine it is more often than not. Or at least mixed. And dependent on level of job.

I remember back in Bristol. National government advertised local vacancies and appointed externally as well as internal promotion to the grades needed.

The city council advertised but appointed exclusively from within to the higher grades and only recruited externally to replace those promoted from the lowest level.

Both government but two different policies.

Another problem with the Feds is if they decide to fill a vacancy internally but then restrict who can apply i.e. geographical area specific. I see this a lot in our Agency.
We have several regions located across the country e.g. Pacific, Prairie, Northern Ont, GTA, South West Ontario etc etc
Lets say Prairie Region need a Chief of Operations at Calgary Airport. In most cases this vacancy will only be open to employees within the Prairie Region. So if you are in the GTA Region and suitably qualified you can't apply for the job.

Is that a result of relocation expenses? I fail to see why the public should have to pay for such expenses but, if candidates are happy to pay them themselves, such a policy seems somewhat unfair.

Not exactly. In this day and age many employees are prepared to pay their own moving expenses if it means they can get the job and the Agency states no relocation expenses can be claimed. Apparently its quite legal for them to do it this way even if a candidate outside of the geographical area stated their intention to pay their own relocation expenses. Apparently it has been challenged but don't know if it was ever resolved or got anywhere.

Typical public service bullshit then. Quite why the powers that be would wish to limit the available candidates is beyond me and appears to reflect the comments made above - someone has already been selected.

I fail to see how doing the job in any location will be markedly different from doing it at another location.

Err you are making sensible comments and that is not allowed in my Agency or the Public Service.
Currently we had a competition for a Chief Of Operations that was posted and there were the geographical boundaries included. It was an Internal competition and not open to the public and there were several positions for specific locations.
If I was a betting man I would put a $1000 on who I think will get the job. Why would I do this well this person has been acting in this position albeit at different locations for the past 2 years or so. Maybe I will be wrong.