Update on Phoenix pay system: Ottawa tests out Dayforce system

As part of its project to improve the HR and pay system for public sector workers, the federal government has started Dayforce user sessions to provide workers with an opportunity to try the new payroll system and provide their feedback.

Ottawa has held engagement sessions with employees, unions, media and parliamentarians as part of the Transparency by design initiative.

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 about 13.1 million payments, totalling roughly $36 billion.

So far in 2024, Ottawa achieved an enterprise-wide average biweekly payroll accuracy of 97.8%, it said.

“We are improving our current operations to better serve federal public servants, while working towards a new HR and pay system that meets our needs now and into the future,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of public services and procurement and Quebec Lieutenant. “It is our responsibility to ensure public servants are paid accurately and on time.”

In February, On the eighth anniversary of the launch of the Phoenix pay system, three unions called on the federal government to provide additional compensation for damages to workers who have been impacted by the system’s troubles.

Ottawa completes HR, pay summer goals

The federal government also completed all its summer goals for the HR and pay system project, including:

• Deployment of four new HR and pay best practices across departments, through the Unified actions for pay
• Begin using an AI virtual assistant to support compensation advisors
• Launch of the Case Client Relationship Management tool initiative request for information and request for proposals for advisory services
• Launch the new phone menu options at the Client Contact Centre to better help employees
• Start of the Dayforce user awareness sessions available to Human Capital Management employees to continue testing this new potential HR and pay solution

The government gave the update via Summer 2024 Quarterly progress report, the second such update on the project. Ottawa released the first update in July.

In spring 2024, among other accomplishments, Ottawa successfully launched the new GC Employee Pay and Benefits Facebook page to support employees. To date, the page has over 4,100 likes and 6,700 followers. 

“All public service employees deserve to be paid accurately and on time,” said Anita Anand, president of the Treasury Board and minister of transport. “As we work on improvements to our systems by reducing the number of HR systems in the core public administration and facilitating automation, we will work closely with bargaining agents to simplify overall human resources processes for employees, managers and pay practitioners.”

In 2021, Ottawa began exploring and testing the Dayforce solution, a viable option for the next modern HR and pay system.

Ottawa has also set aside $135 million under Budget 2024 to boost the development of Dayforce – which is expected to replace the problematic Phoenix pay system within the next few years. Of that funding, $112.1 million is allocated to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and $22.7 million is allocated to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (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.