Federal government provides update on progress toward new human resources and pay solution

Jean-Yves Duclos Photo: libparl.ca

THE federal government on Tuesday provided an update on ongoing progress related to human resources (HR) and pay through its first quarterly progress report.

As part of Budget 2024, the government 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.

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 the operations;
  • Begin the configuration of the new HR and pay solution; and
  • 2024-25 costing for ongoing operations and transformation projects.

The government said it 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 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 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 said it 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 its commitment to providing greater transparency for Canadians.

“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,” said 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,” said 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 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, the government has 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.

 

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