Question Period Note: Old Age Security payment issues

Media is reporting on delays and errors in payments to seniors in the delivery of Canada’s Old Age Security pension benefits.

• Public Services and Procurement Canada remains committed to achieving value for money under the broader Benefits Delivery Modernization program through active contract management, including rigorous cost control and oversight mechanisms
  • Public Services and Procurement Canada’s role is limited to procurement and contract management. System operation and benefit payments are the responsibility of Employment and Social Development Canada

If pressed on comparisons to SAAQclic:

• initial cost estimates for complex information technology programs are based on preliminary and an often incomplete view of the work needed to deliver solutions that operate correctly and fully protect Canadians’ personal information
• Benefits Delivery Modernization work is being procured in phases to reduce risk and regularly test the market for best value as requirements are increasingly better defined
• work to implement the Old Age Security system was competitively procured in accordance with Canada’s contract cost principles

Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) is a long-term federal initiative to replace obsolescent systems used to deliver payments to Canadians for Old Age Security (OAS), Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) supports the program by conducting competitive procurements and managing contracts on behalf of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Individual benefits are onboarded in stages to manage risk and ensure service continuity. PSPC continues to work with ESDC to apply lessons learned as additional benefits are modernized.

Through a competitive procurement process, PSPC awarded four Master Systems Integrator Contracts to four qualified Systems Integrators in Spring 2021. OAS implementation work was competed between these suppliers.

PSPC managed BDM contracts include the travel provisions to reimburse the cost of authorized travel and living expenses. All payments are subject to government audit.

• In 2021, Public Services and Procurement Canada awarded a competitive contract to IBM for Cúram software, currently valued at $135.6 million, excluding taxes
  • Implementation of Old Age Security on Cúram was contracted to Deloitte Inc. in April 2022 following a competitive procurement process. The current value of that contract is $315 million, excluding taxes
  • Old Age Security was the first benefit delivered on the new Cúram-based Benefits Delivery Modernization platform, with 7.4 million seniors receiving benefits since April 2025