Question Period Note: PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICER REPORT “OVERVIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT’S DIGITAL SERVICE TRANSFORMATION”

On September 15, 2023, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released the report titled Overview of the Government’s Digital Service Transformation in response to a request by Senator Colin Deacon to estimate the financial cost of Motion No. 107. The report highlights that while the Government has made improvements, there is still inconsistency in the ease of access and use of services. There is also no centralized information on the total amounts that have been spent or saved on these initiatives, as the latter is not universally tracked across government.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) welcomes the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report on the Government’s Digital Service Transformation.

The Department is dedicated to continuously innovating and evolving the service delivery model, building a seamless approach and enhancing digital service and functionalities.

Service Canada safeguards one of the largest repositories of personal information in the federal government, in order to provide Canadians with social programs and services.

ESDC welcomes the considerations the Parliamentary Budget Officer raises regarding financial and legislative frameworks to support the large-scale digital service transformation that is a priority for both this Government and for Canadians.

Canadians expect to access Government of Canada benefits and services online efficiently, securely, and quickly.

That is why the Department is focussed on improving service delivery for Canadians. This includes continuing to enhance the My Service Canada Account portal to meet Canadian’s expectations of services delivered online.

On May 8, 2023, the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer (PBO) requested information on various costs associated with My Service Canada Account (MSCA) in response to a request by Senator Colin Deacon to estimate the financial cost of Motion No. 107.

The response provided to PBO on June 16, 2023, was the result of collaborative work among several business lines within ESDC, and with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The response included the following costs:

Costs of enhancements to MSCA;

Annual ongoing maintenance costs;

Costs to implement identity and access management measures to protect the personal information and privacy of MSCA users;

Costs of integration with provincial partners for sign-in, and

The cost for ESDC to establish the link between MSCA and Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA’s) My Account.

ESDC was not able to provide the following costs:

Initial system implementation costs in 2005, which are unavailable;

Savings realized from implementing the service digitally, or ongoing savings realized from the digital services;

Costs to onboard financial institutions as sign-in partners, which occurred approximately 15 years ago.

Of the other federal departments questioned by the PBO for the report (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency), none was able to provide the cost savings information requested.

The December 2020 Budget of $2.2B included estimated costs for OAS, EI and CPP on the Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) Programme. BDM has delivered the foundational Benefits Platform and had their first successful release of OAS on BDM in June 2023, with plans to complete OAS on BDM in 2025. CPP on BDM will follow EI on BDM.

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