The Government of Canada remains committed to resolving outstanding pay issues for public servants while moving toward modernizing processes and systems to improve the overall human resources (HR) and pay experience for employees. Pay issues that employees continue to face are not acceptable and it is our responsibility to fix them.
As part of Budget 2024, the Government of Canada allocated an additional $135 million to expand testing and design of a new HR and pay solution for the public service. This decision supports the eventual replacement of the Phoenix pay system and its HR systems.
Today, the Government of Canada provided an update on ongoing progress related to HR and pay through its first quarterly progress report. The report highlights projects related to current operations and exploring a new HR and pay solution. The report includes details on:
- Ongoing efforts to standardize and simplify our processes, practices and systems for managing pay and HR across the public service;
- The Pay Centre 2024-25 pay operations strategy to reduce the backlog of pay transactions;
- The Data Hub initiative;
- Leveraging artificial intelligence in our operations;
- Begin the configuration of the new HR and pay solution; and
- 2024-25 costing for ongoing operations and transformation projects.
The Government of Canada continues to expand testing for the new HR and pay solution and designing the system to its specific needs. User awareness sessions will take place this fall 2024 to provide public servants with an opportunity to try the Dayforce solution and provide feedback.
As part of its efforts to increase transparency and information sharing, the Government of Canada also recently launched a new GC Employee Pay and Benefits Facebook page to inform and provide support to employees with HR and pay questions.
Going forward, the Government of Canada will continue to proactively disclose information and engage stakeholders in decisions on the future of HR and pay within the federal public service, as part of the Government’s commitment to providing greater transparency for Canadians.
Quotes
“We are improving our current operations to better serve public servants, while also working towards a system that meets the needs of the Government of Canada now and in the future. It is our responsibility to ensure public servants are paid accurately and on time for their important work.”
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Public Services and Procurement
“All public service employees deserve to be paid accurately and on time. That is why we are supporting improvements to our systems by reducing the number of HR systems in the core public administration and facilitating automation. This first progress report shows that the Government is on track in exploring a new employee-focused HR and pay solution. We will continue working with all partners, including bargaining agents, to simplify human resources and pay processes.”
The Honourable Anita Anand
President of the Treasury Board
Quick facts
- $135 million was allocated in Budget 2024 to explore a new HR and pay solution for 2024-25, $112.1 million is allocated to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and $22.7 million is allocated to TBS. The total includes an allocation of $85 million to amend the contract with Dayforce to continue to expand testing and design the system to our specific needs.
- The current HR and pay systems are used to deliver pay to over 430,000 current and former public servants from over 100 departments and agencies. In 2023, this represented approximately 13.1 million payments, totalling approximately $36 billion.
- So far in 2024, we’ve achieved an enterprise-wide average biweekly payroll accuracy of 97.8%.
- The Public Service Pay Centre provides pay services for 49 organizations serving over 250,000 clients.
The Government of Canada is currently working to replace the controversial “Phoenix” pay system with a new system named “Dayforce.”
This change comes after years of problems faced by the “Phoenix” system since its launch in 2016, which led to significant errors in the salaries of tens of thousands of federal employees, with some being underpaid while others received overpayments.
The Canadian government has announced that, following an extensive feasibility study, it has moved to the final stage of building and testing the “Dayforce” system, developed by the company of the same name. This new system is intended to be an integrated and more modern solution for human resources and payroll management.
Implementation Phases:
The “Dayforce” system will be implemented gradually and in phases. The government will start by testing the system in a limited number of ministries and government agencies before rolling it out to all federal public sector employees. The full transition process is expected to take several years, during which the “Phoenix” system will continue to operate in parallel until the stability and efficiency of the new system are confirmed.
What is the “Dayforce” system?
“Dayforce” is a global human capital management platform based on cloud technology and artificial intelligence. The platform offers integrated solutions that include human resources, payroll, time management, talent, and analytics. The Canadian government hopes that the new system will help simplify processes, reduce errors, and provide a better employee experience.
