Question Period Note: Tabling of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Supplementary Estimates (B) for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2026

Why is Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) requesting $20.2 million for
Benefits Delivery Modernization programme reprofiles in the Supplementary Estimates (B) for
fiscal year ending March 31, 2026?

The requested $1.0 million for the Common Benefits Delivery Platform will help
sustain operations and enhance the platform’s secure identity management
capabilities.
• The identity management solution aligns with the Government’s single sign-in
vision, as outlined in the Office of the Auditor General’s December 2024 report
Digital Validation of Identity to Access Services.
• The funding requested is not new money. It consists of previously approved funding
from Budget 2024 (for OAS on BDM) and Budget 2020 (for the Common Benefits
Delivery Platform) that the Department is seeking to carry forward into the current
fiscal year.

Total Funding for Benefits Delivery Modernization programme (CRF portion) *
Funding (in $) and Full
Time Equivalent (FTE)
Existing Funding
(Main Estimates &
Carry forward 2025-26)
Supplementary
Estimates (B) Total Funding
FTE 432 7 439
Salary 41,800,437 721,309 42,521,746
Operating and
maintenance 95,301,442 19,521,297 114,822,739
Total Operating
(Vote 1) 137,101,879 20,242,606 157,344,485
Employee benefit plans 0 0 0
Total Funding 137,101,879 20,242,606 157,344,485
*Benefits Delivery Modernization Programme is funded by three sources of funds: EI, CPP and CRF. Only CRF is
presented in the table above.
• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is undertaking a major
transformation through the Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) Programme, the largest
IT transformation initiative in the Government of Canada. This multi-year effort will
modernize the delivery of Old Age Security (OAS), Employment Insurance (EI), and the
Canada Pension Plan (CPP) through a single, integrated digital platform by 2030–31.
• The Common Benefits Delivery Platform is the digital foundation of this transformation. It
will unify the delivery of OAS, EI, and CPP under one modern system, streamlining
operations, improving service efficiency, and enhancing accessibility for Canadians. This
shift supports faster processing, integrated service delivery, and long-term sustainability.
• In March 2025, ESDC successfully migrated the OAS program from its legacy system to
the new platform, which now serves 7.4 million seniors. The system is currently in a
stabilization period, ending in December 2025. During this time, ESDC is monitoring
system performance, addressing feedback from processing representatives, and
evaluating training and operational procedures to identify opportunities for updates and
improvements.
• Key deliverables in the coming fiscal year include the planning and proof-of-concept
phases of the Identity Services and Access Management Solution (iSAMS) project, which
will enhance secure access to departmental programs and services. Additional
deliverables include ongoing work and maintenance of the Common Benefits Delivery
Platform —such as cloud infrastructure, software licensing—and the advancement of
required ancillary technologies to support continued modernization.
Key Quotes
NIL
Prepared by Key contact Approved by Date
Carolyn Boutin-Time
Senior Policy Analyst
Gerard Baetens
Director General
613-552-5516
Brian Hickey
Assistant Deputy
Minister
613-462-2595
John Ostrander
Deputy Minister
October 9, 2025

The requested $20.2 million includes two reprofiles: $19.2 million for the Old Age Security
(OAS) on Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) project and $1.0 million for the Common
Benefits Delivery Platform.
• The requested funding of $19.2 million for the OAS on BDM project will provide
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) with the capacity and continuity to
ensure that eligible Canadians continue to receive OAS benefits on time.
• In March 2025, the OAS on BDM project successfully onboarded over 7.4 million OAS
clients to the new Common Benefits Delivery Platform, which is currently undergoing a
planned nine-month stabilization period (until December 2025). The funding will support
the implementation of essential post launch features, ongoing system monitoring for
potential enhancements, the establishment of data collection baselines, and continued
support for OAS processing representatives throughout the transition. This funding will
allow the maintenance of OAS for the remainder of the fiscal year; however, funding for
ongoing support and maintenance in future years will be required and a separate ask for
those amounts will follow.
• The requested $1.0 million for the Common Benefits Delivery Platform will support
enhancements to the platform, including the maintenance of core services and the
implementation of technological improvements. A key capability to be funded through this
reprofile is the development of a modernized secure sign-in solution—also referred to as
an identity management system—that will enable Canadians to access their benefits safely
and efficiently.