Long Service Awards at the BC Public Service

The Long Service Awards (LSA) program celebrates and commemorates the long-term commitment and loyalty of BC Public Service employees.

Initiated in 1956, the Long Service Awards program (IDIR restricted) recognizes significant milestone years of service for 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years of employment.

Each fall, award recipients are honoured with a special evening in Victoria.

On this page

• Eligibility
• Calculating years of service
• Registration

Eligibility

Who is eligible for a Long Service Award?

• Employees under the BC Public Service Act who meet the minimum service requirement of 25 years or more, in 5-year increments
• Employees of agencies or corporations that have a merger agreement with the B.C. government where past service time was recognized at the time of the merger
• Employees who have reached one of the Long Service Award milestones but have not previously been recognized

Qualifying years of service

Qualifies service includes:

• Any time spent working for an eligible organization within a calendar year (regardless of the number of days) qualifies as one year of LSA recognition time
• Leaves of absence with pay counts towards LSA recognition time. This includes maternity, paternity, pre-adoption, extended childcare, and deferred salary leave
• Time spent on Short Term Illness and Injury Plan (STIIP) counts towards LSA recognition time
• Time spent on long-term disability benefit, up to a maximum of two years, counts towards LSA recognition time

Qualified service does not include:

• Leaves of absence without pay (that span an entire calendar year) do not count towards LSA recognition time
• Time spent working as a contractor

Calculating years of service

Long Service Awards are based on cumulative service time rather than continuous and eligibility is calculated differently than seniority and pensionable time.

To calculate your eligibility:

• Count calendar years
• Include the year you started and the current working year. If you have worked part of a year, it counts as one year, regardless of the month or day
• Include the years you worked as a seasonal, co-op, part-time or auxiliary employee
• Include the years worked before a break in service

The eligibility calculator (XLS, 90KB) calculates your years of service.

Registration

To attend a Long Service Awards ceremony or to receive a Long Service Award, you must register. Registration opens each year in March and closes at the end of April.

Current employees who have missed a milestone can register to receive an award and attend the ceremony if they register before reaching the next eligible milestone.

Official invitations are emailed to registered recipients in June. 

To register or find out more about the program, connect with your Long Service Awards contact.

For general questions, contact the Long Service Awards team.

Retired employees and employees on long term disability:

• Must register within one year of their service end date to attend the ceremony and receive their Long Service Award
• Must register within two years of their service end date to receive a Long Service Award (but cannot attend a ceremony)