Question Period Note: BENEFITS DELIVERY MODERNIZATION

What is Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM)?

• The Government of Canada is committed to delivering easy to use, seamless, digitally-enabled services that puts the needs Canadians first.
• On April 23, 2021, ESDC began implementation of the BDM Programme, a business-led, IT-enabled transformation that will provide Canadians and employers with a modern client experience, reduced wait times, streamlined applications, and faster payment of benefits.
• BDM’s technology component will focus on replacing a suite of aging IT systems and tools with a modern, integrated technology solution that will respond more quickly to policy and other business changes, as well as support the expanding service delivery requirements of the future. In the meantime, legacy mission critical systems will remain operational and run in parallel with and interdependently of BDM.
• The BDM Programme is being implemented over four tranches, with the full-target state for EI, CPP and OAS expected to be achieved over a ten-year period ending in 2030, contingent on funding, authorities and key risks being mitigated and managed.
• The first phase of the implementation is focused on building the core platform and developing foundational capabilities that will enable the Programme to on-board benefits.
• Since March 2020, ESDC has been at the forefront of the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. An early version of the technology that will be used for the BDM Programme was leveraged to deliver the one-time payment to persons with disabilities and the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant. The two new benefit payments were delivered to Canadians in weeks, from decision to implementation.

The Government of Canada first announced the BDM Programme in Budget 2017. The BDM Programme is establishing the enterprise platform for the delivery of ESDC’s major statutory benefits – Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, and Old Age Security.

BDM is a business-led, IT-enabled transformation that will deliver tangible benefits for clients and employers through a broad range of e-services that are easy to use. Canadians will be provided with an enhanced, consistent, and modern client experience. Wait times will be reduced, applications streamlined, and delivery of benefits made more efficient with faster payment of benefits, proactive communication, and status updates to keep clients well-informed.

A long-term, multi-phase BDM Programme will establish a platform that will make the next generation of benefits processing capable of addressing dynamic client expectations, changing business, and economic environment.

The BDM Programme is following an agile approach to implementation – iterative, incremental, and progressive builds – with a strong focus on business change management and risk management. The modernized platform is being implemented incrementally in four phases, over the course of 10 years. OAS is currently set to be the first benefits program to be delivered on the BDM Foundations platform.

• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is the largest federal service delivery organization in Canada, providing $135.2 billion in direct benefits to Canadians in 2019-20 through key programs including Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and other statutory transfer payment programs.
• The Government of Canada’s current information technology (IT) legacy systems are aging and in need of modernization.
• ESDC is investing in the Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) Programme to address the risk of system failures from aging IT and to provide improved service delivery to Canadians.