Question Period Note: OLD AGE SECURITY ON BENEFITS DELIVERY MODERNIZATION

 What is the status of OAS on BDM?

Employment and Social Development Canada has successfully implemented the Old Age Security on Benefits Delivery Modernization project, delivering a modern solution that meets Canadians’ service expectations.

In 2023-24, $76.1 billion in Old Age Security benefits were provided to 7.3 million beneficiaries. It is expected we will reach 9.8 million beneficiaries by 2035.

On March 17, 2025, over 7.4 million Old Age Security clients were migrated to a new system without interruption.

The system introduces online self-service features, allowing Canadians to report life events and submit applications without needing to call or visit an office. Applications previously required 10 minutes of manual entry by employees; these new functions have already saved Employment and Social Development Canada more than 3,000 hours.

The goal is to replicate this success for Employment Insurance and for the Canada Pension Plan, offering a unified platform for core benefits.
USER ADOPTION:

Employment and Social Development Canada recognizes the significance of this change for Old Age Security employees and is committed to ensuring they have the tools and training required to be successful.

Refresher training remains available on an ongoing basis and dedicated support teams have been established to provide support and guidance to employees, as needed.

In addition, Employment and Social Development Canada’s first generative Artifical Intelligence-powered chatbot (called; Assist-Me) provides accurate, real-time answers to over 90% of staff enquiries, allowing employees to be more productive through the deployment of Artifical Intelligence.

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 $1 billion maintaining legacy platforms with no measurable return. Without BDM, these costs will persist and grow.

ESDC is investing in the BDM Programme, which will culminate in the migration of OAS, EI and CPP to a modern processing platform, and with new capabilities added over time, transforming service delivery.

In alignment with best practices and lessons learned from other large transformation projects, OAS on BDM was implemented incrementally across three (3) releases:

Release 1 (June 2023) migrated 600,000 International Agreement Foreign Benefit clients to the new system, demonstrating its security and stability.

Release 2 (February 2025) was a full Non-Production Pilot that tested end-to-end functionality of the new system and how prepared the Business was to use the new solution.

Release 3 (March 2025) was the full implementation, which successfully moved all 7.4 million clients to the modern solutions.

Further system patches and updates will occur within the nine-month stabilization period. These will fix technical issues identified post-release, and introduce additional functionalities for clients, such as optional notifications, tax-related options for Quebec residents, and additional self-serve options. These updates will also positively impact employees, further simplifying processes and improving their access to historical tax data.

Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) is the largest IT transformation initiative ever undertaken by the Government of Canada with the goal of modernizing the technology that administers Old Age Security (OAS), EI and Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

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 for Canadians.

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

Old Age Security is the first of three benefits being moved to this new platform – Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will follow, providing Canadians with a single point of access for all core benefit needs.

The first OAS on BDM release occurred on June 12, 2023, when 600,000 OAS Foreign Benefits clients were migrated to the modern system. This release demonstrated the stability and security of the system and affirmed the Government of Canada’s capacity to transform and modernize technology.

On March 17, 2025, all remaining 7.4 million OAS clients were successfully migrated to the new benefits delivery system. The first full payment run issued by the new system occurred on April 28, 2025, delivering the benefits that millions of Canadians depend on accurately and on time.