[Canada] Auditor General to probe federal pay system modernisation

In Canada, the federal government's catastrophic move to modernise its pay system will be probed by the federal auditor general as the government begins to transition to another new payroll program, MSN reports.

This June, Ottawa announced that it had awarded a 10-year contract to Dayforce, for almost $351 million, to replace the problem-plagued Phoenix payroll system. The contract allows for a possible extension to 20 years.

The GPA documented the notorious Phoenix payroll scandal in our Phoenixed Podcast series.

Claire Baudry - a spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada - reportedly said the report is expected to be tabled in Parliament in 2026. Adding that decisions about the scope and timing of the audit were not yet available.

In June, a top federal official said that fixing the payroll problems caused by Phoenix cost taxpayers more than $5 billion and that the government would continue paying to run two public service payroll platforms at once as Ottawa extracted itself from the disastrous system.

In an email to The Canadian Press, Jeremy Link - a spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada - said that, over the next two years, the department plans to identify specific conditions that need to be met before departments can introduce Dayforce. They include a reduction in the backlog of unprocessed payments.

Mr Link reportedly said the government is trying to deploy the new system "incrementally through a number of waves," with a limited number of departments onboarding to the new system at a time.

"Based on the work completed to date, the current parameters indicate that all backlog cases must be resolved before migration," Link said, adding that the department is working to determine whether certain types of cases could be excluded.

He stated that the exact timing of Dayforce's deployment is still to be determined and will depend on how much work gets done over the next two years.

Sharon DeSousa - national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada - reportedly said the union welcomes a "deep, independent" inquiry into the federal pay system.

Ms DeSousa said this is something PSAC has been calling for "since day one."

"Nearly 10 years later, the government’s pay fiasco is still failing federal workers, and we’re still years away from a new pay system," DeSousa said. "No one should have to live with the constant anxiety of wondering if their pay is accurate, whether they can cover their rent, groceries, or bills."

"It’s long past time to fix this broken pay system. Another decade of failure is not an option.”

The auditor general has twice previously looked into Phoenix pay problems. In 2017, it concluded that Public Services and Procurement Canada failed to identify and solve pay problems in a way that meant employees got their correct pay, on time.

In 2018, after a deeper dive into how Phoenix was implemented, the auditor concluded that the Phoenix project was "an incomprehensible failure of project management and oversight." It stated that Phoenix executives had prioritised certain aspects, such as schedule and budget, over critical ones, like functionality and security.

The 2018 report found that Phoenix had not met user needs, had cost the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars and had financially affected tens of thousands of its employees.

Source: MSN

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Canada, the federal government's catastrophic move to modernise its pay system will be probed by the federal auditor general as the government begins to transition to another new payroll program, MSN reports.

This June, Ottawa announced that it had awarded a 10-year contract to Dayforce, for almost $351 million, to replace the problem-plagued Phoenix payroll system. The contract allows for a possible extension to 20 years.

The GPA documented the notorious Phoenix payroll scandal in our Phoenixed Podcast series.

Claire Baudry - a spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada - reportedly said the report is expected to be tabled in Parliament in 2026. Adding that decisions about the scope and timing of the audit were not yet available.

In June, a top federal official said that fixing the payroll problems caused by Phoenix cost taxpayers more than $5 billion and that the government would continue paying to run two public service payroll platforms at once as Ottawa extracted itself from the disastrous system.

In an email to The Canadian Press, Jeremy Link - a spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada - said that, over the next two years, the department plans to identify specific conditions that need to be met before departments can introduce Dayforce. They include a reduction in the backlog of unprocessed payments.

Mr Link reportedly said the government is trying to deploy the new system "incrementally through a number of waves," with a limited number of departments onboarding to the new system at a time.

"Based on the work completed to date, the current parameters indicate that all backlog cases must be resolved before migration," Link said, adding that the department is working to determine whether certain types of cases could be excluded.

He stated that the exact timing of Dayforce's deployment is still to be determined and will depend on how much work gets done over the next two years.

Sharon DeSousa - national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada - reportedly said the union welcomes a "deep, independent" inquiry into the federal pay system.

Ms DeSousa said this is something PSAC has been calling for "since day one."

"Nearly 10 years later, the government’s pay fiasco is still failing federal workers, and we’re still years away from a new pay system," DeSousa said. "No one should have to live with the constant anxiety of wondering if their pay is accurate, whether they can cover their rent, groceries, or bills."

"It’s long past time to fix this broken pay system. Another decade of failure is not an option.”

The auditor general has twice previously looked into Phoenix pay problems. In 2017, it concluded that Public Services and Procurement Canada failed to identify and solve pay problems in a way that meant employees got their correct pay, on time.

In 2018, after a deeper dive into how Phoenix was implemented, the auditor concluded that the Phoenix project was "an incomprehensible failure of project management and oversight." It stated that Phoenix executives had prioritised certain aspects, such as schedule and budget, over critical ones, like functionality and security.

The 2018 report found that Phoenix had not met user needs, had cost the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars and had financially affected tens of thousands of its employees.

Source: MSN

(Quotes via original reporting)