Question Period Note: BENEFITS DELIVERY MODERNIZATION

Update on ESDC’s Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) Programme and $2.9B in Budget 2024.

In 2017, the Government of Canada began digitally transforming benefit delivery for key programs.

Investments, including Budget 2024, enabled the migration of 7.4 million seniors from a 60-year-old Old Age Security system in March 2024 to a modern platform that improve service and reduces risks. The platform's rollout began with the successful migration of Old Age Security in March 2025.

The Benefits Delivery Modernization Programme will build on this success with future Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan migrations.

Embracing digital technologies will lead to a more efficient and secure service delivery — enhancing productivity and engagement with Canadians.

Budget 2024 provided $2.9 billion over five years to Employment and Social Development Canada to migrate Old Age Security and Employment Insurance onto a secure, user-friendly platform, by 2030-31.

Our approach—strong governance, rigorous testing, and coordination— helps to ensure early issue detection and uninterrupted benefit delivery.

The government of Canada is reducing technical debt through modernization, simplified design, and testing to minimize delays and risks.

Then Benefits Delivery Modernization supports innovation, including Artificial Intelligence Assist tools that have been leveraged to support staff training and establish efficiencies.

The government of Canada is committed to the progression and investment in our Social Safety net ensuring stable, reliable, benefit delivery for generations to come.

ESDC is undertaking a major transformation through the Benefits Delivery Modernisation (BDM) Programme. By 2030-31, a modern common benefits delivery platform will be used to deliver OAS, EI, and CPP to Canadians.

Canada’s social services have evolved over the past half century. The Department continues to meet its service delivery mandate across a complex landscape of social programs, but aging systems limit policy agility and efficiency. Over the past decade, ESDC has spent over $1B maintaining legacy platforms with no measurable return. Without BDM, these costs will persist and grow.

Both BDM and Service Canada are actively managing delivery risks associated with legacy system complexity and service transitions for OAS, EI, and CPP. Measures include modernizing system architecture, streamlining integration, and ensuring operational readiness. Technical safeguards and communications plans are in place to protect timelines and ensure accurate, timely benefit delivery to Canadians.

The BDM Programme will simplify application processes, expand self-serve options, and improve processing efficiency. Clients will experience seamless transitions between self-service and assisted channels. The recent implementation of benefits estimators for both OAS and EI are already helping Canadians plan and manage their benefits.

BDM is the largest digital transformation initiative ever undertaken by the Government of Canada. Through a phased approach, the Programme is modernizing how the federal government delivers Old Age Security (OAS), Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits, by replacing old systems with technology fit for the digital age.

At its core, the BDM Programme is replacing outdated systems that deliver over $160 billion annually in OAS, EI, and CPP benefits to Canadians. With an estimated cost of $6.6 billion over the 10-year life of BDM, the total investment represents less than 0.5% of the projected $1.6 trillion in benefit payouts—highlighting the programme’s cost-efficiency and critical role in ensuring reliable and accurate service delivery.

As outlined in the Prime Minister’s Mandate Letter, the government is committed to “[building] the strongest economy in the G7” by “spending less on government operations”, “[becoming] more productive by deploying [artificial intelligence] at scale”, and “removing barriers” to growth. Through strategic innovation and smarter service delivery, BDM ensures the long-term “sustainability of [Canada’s] social programs” while driving a commitment to a more efficient, responsive government that delivers real results and efficiencies for Canadians.

BDM is on track to modernize OAS, EI, and CPP over three phases, with an expected completion date of 2030-31.

BDM has established a new benefits delivery platform that will ultimately provide Canadians with a single point of access for OAS, EI, and CPP benefits. The platform's rollout began with the successful migration of OAS in March 2025.

Through this new foundational platform, BDM will scale technology solutions and help address critical risks, while also leveraging technological advancements to improve the client experience, drive productivity, and increase policy agility.

BDM also seeks to enhance the user experience by replacing aging call centre technology and ensuing that clients have a safe and secure way to access services and authenticate themselves, thereby protecting individuals and their benefits.