Question Period Note: Parks Canada Pay System

Parks Canada Pay System

• In managing national parks [or historic sites], Parks Canada maintains or restores ecological [or commemorative] integrity, and provides Canadians with opportunities to discover and enjoy these treasured places.
• Parks Canada fully understands the challenges employees face any time pay is affected. The Agency is committed to addressing pay errors as fast and efficiently as possible to ensure that all employees receive pay and ensure that all get paid properly.
• Approximately 8,100 current and former Parks Canada employees (53%) have experienced pay issues since the launch of Phoenix.
• Two thirds of Parks Canada’s team members work less than 12 months in a year. There are measures in place to on-board and off-board approximately 4,000 team members (e.g., seasonal, term, and student employees) each operating season.
• One of the measures put in place to address pay issues is the establishment of a pay team (a.k.a. pod) dedicated to Parks Canada. The Agency has been served by a dedicated pay pod since February 2019 and 47% of pay issues pending action have since been resolved.

• Parks Canada has one of the most complex pay environments within the federal government. The nature of the Agency’s workforce is seasonal, with measures in place to on-board and off-board students and seasonal team members. Parks Canada is committed to addressing pay errors and ensuring that all employees receive pay.
• One of the measures put in place to address pay issues is the deployment of a pay pod system dedicated to Parks Canada. The Agency has been served by a dedicated pay pod since February 21, 2019. The Pod service delivery model addresses current and future pay transactions as a priority, so that the backlog of pay actions does not increase (‘new never gets old’). Since the inception of its pay pod, the Agency has experienced a decrease of more than 7,300 (47%) pay issues pending action and more than 2,500 (37%) of current and former employees have had their pay issues resolved.
• Parks Canada has taken a proactive approach to addressing the backlog of pay issues awaiting resolution, such as setting up a special project team to address the acting pay backlog and current intake; streamlining business processes (hirings; actings) and developing automated solutions to reduce paperwork, improve data accuracy and timeliness of pay transactions.
• Corporate Compensation and HR Systems staff at Parks Canada have been fully engaged in various pilots related to pay within the federal government, so that proposed solutions will address the Agency’s needs and complex environments.

Question Period notes as provided by the Department to the Minister’s Office