It was in that specific context. We're not having difficulties generally across the board with recruitment, except, I would say, in certain areas of the country. You can appreciate that recruiting a senior lawyer to work in Nunavut is quite difficult. In some areas we have taken on an exercise where we really are trying to sell not just the PPSC but also the work environment and the community in which the lawyers would be practising. We've started to experiment with it. This is a new undertaking. We decided to launch it at our managers meeting last fall, so it's quite new.
I think we want to make sure, when we are going out to try to recruit young lawyers and also experienced lawyers, that we're able to properly explain to them the mandate and the exciting work of the PPSC, as well as the role in the justice system, which I think is quite important. I think sometimes we undersell the importance of the work. We refer to that as “branding”. We're trying to really brand ourselves as an employer of choice, based in large part on the kind of work we're doing, but also sometimes on the environment in which people would be working.
We've also started to look at developing our own articling program. In many regions we still are partnering with Justice Canada. That's not a bad thing. It's actually served us quite well. But in some of our larger centres, we think we would be able to recruit articling students who, rather than doing a rotation with us, would spend a year with us. In places like Old City Hall in Toronto, which I believe is the busiest court in Canada, it's quite crucial for us.
The other thing I would say is that four years ago, we developed the federal prosecutor development program, or FPDP. It is a very novel program. I don't believe any of my provincial colleagues have it. When we hire a young lawyer, we set out for them a program of learning that will have them move from the hiring level into what we call a working level, and that comes with a substantial raise. We can move lawyers through that in usually three to four years. The reason it's different is that we do it without any competition. Once we decide that you've met the competencies required for our working level, you're simply promoted, without having to compete for a new job.
We have a number of programs. The branding is much newer. I think in a year from now, when I'm back here for main estimates or something else—presuming I am back here after today—I'll be in a position to tell you how that went.