The rules that federal government employees must follow for smoking pot will depend on which department they work for, various officials said Wednesday.

Cannabis will become legal in Canada on Oct. 17. There are approximately 262,000 Canadians who are employed as federal public servants and 1,218,000 who are employed in the federally regulated sector, which represents eight per cent of the entire Canadian workforce. The federal government employs workers in industries that include transportation, agriculture, banking, energy production, telecommunications and broadcasting, community services and the federal public service.

Government officials from a range of departments spoke to reporters on Wednesday about how legalization will affect them in their workplaces. Their comments were not to be attributed directly.

Each department was asked by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to review its regulations governing how employees can use drugs on and off the clock. An official from TBS said departments were not required to report back after they had reviewed their policies, nor were they required to change their existing policies in any way.

[READ MORE: Questions remain about drugged-driving enforcement]

“Impairment is not a new issue in workplaces,” an official from Employment and Social Development Canada told reporters. “And where impairment does create a hazard or risk in the workplace, the workplace parties have already developed policies.

“What they’re being encouraged to do is revisit their policies, based on the legalization of cannabis, and take whatever measures are necessary to adjust their policies, their training, their approaches to impairment in the workplace to ensure those risks are minimized.”

An official with the Treasury Board said the department is still reviewing its cannabis policy.

Transport Canada won’t be changing its policy, which only requires employees to be “fit for duty,” an official said. The Criminal Code prohibits anyone from operating a vehicle while impaired. Transport Canada also requires its operators to acquire a medical certificate qualifying them to be fit to operate a vehicle.

Employees with Canada Border Services Agency who are in “security-sensitive” positions can’t consume cannabis 24 hours before work, an official from the department told reporters in French. He said an employee is in a “security-sensitive” job if he or she is armed or uses detection devices at the border.

RCMP employees whose jobs involve emergency duty, or who come into contact with hazards, must also refrain from using cannabis for 28 days before a shift. Other RCMP employees are not restricted in their consumption, aside from being required to report for duty in a non-impaired state.

The Department of National Defence’s policy on cannabis was made public about a month ago. All members of the Canadian Armed Forces are prohibited from consuming cannabis eight hours before duty. Anyone handling weapons or ammunition, or conducting firefighting or medical response, must limit consumption to 24 hours before duty. Anyone in positions described as “safety-sensitive” are prohibited from consuming cannabis 28 days before a shift. While on deployment, members of the military are banned from consuming cannabis altogether.

[READ MORE: Police officers decry ‘offensive’ restrictions on off-duty cannabis use]

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) made its marijuana policy public on Wednesday, as well. Employees in “safety-sensitive” positions must refrain from consuming cannabis 24 hours before working. This applies from correctional officers, up through the CSC chain of command.

An official from Employment and Social Development Canada said the government has not sought legal guidance on developing a drug-testing policy for its employees. Officials would not say what methods or equipment could be used for such testing, should it be required by certain departments.

The Canada Labour Code, which covers all federally regulated industries, remains unchanged on the eve of pot becoming legal: It recommends alternatives to drug-testing, such as using observation, supervision, and frequent face-to-face conversations to determine if an employee is impaired.

[READ MORE: Ontario announces pot-education campaign for youth]

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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that there are 1,218,000 Canadians employed directly by the federal government. iPolitics apologizes for this error.