Whether you realize it or not, multiple aspects of the public service in Canada have a direct effect on our lives. It is massive and far-reaching.

In line with this, the federal government and the Institute of Public Administration of Canada are holding a national competition on the future of public service in Canada for all students enrolled in master’s-level programs.

Queen’s School of Policy Studies (QSPS) is co-ordinating the project for a second straight year and is looking for local submissions, in particular. Last year, Ian Moore, now a QSPS alumnus, won the People’s Choice Award.

The field is wide open with submissions being accepted no matter the area of study.

“All grad students are eligible, so if someone in chemistry has a great idea around science, that’s maybe their particular interest or if they’re just interested in public service that may have some particular niche, they are more than welcome to participate,” says Andrew Graham, Adjunct Professor at QSPS and the co-ordinator for the competition.

Students are asked to identify practices and approaches that could help the public service improve in areas such as change management and innovation as well what can be learned from others in Canada and around the world.

“Different people look at government in different ways depending on their experience,” says Mr. Graham. “The simple thing is that, like every other industry, like every other part of the world, things are changing. The costs go down, there are new modalities of delivery coming into play today and there’s new ways of thinking and government desperately needs new ideas to make it more efficient, more user-friendly, more relevant.”

The focus this year is on how to implement the results of the ideas arising out of last year and brought together in a paper called Destination 2020 that can be found at clerk.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?pageId=378.

Submissions are due in mid-December.

For more information, contact Professor Graham at andrew.graham@queensu.ca.