Payments and Pensions

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A. Services and Initiatives

1. Key Services

We ensure that current and retired federal government employees receive their payments, carry out the responsibilities of the Receiver General, including the management of the government's bank accounts by negotiating banking arrangements for the issuance of payments and the collection of revenue.

Pay and Benefits

  • Timely and accurate payments for employees
  • Online self-service tools, viewing pay stub/tax slips, and changing insurance coverage
  • Pay advisory support for complex pay issues
  • Classroom and online training sessions on pay and insurance
  • Standardized and efficient pay administration services provided by the Public Service Pay Centre in Miramichi, N.B.

Pension

  • Standardized and efficient pension administration services provided by the Government of Canada Pension Centre in Shediac, N.B.
    • Provide pension related estimates and information for employees and pensioners
    • Process pension benefit payments
    • Answer queries and provide advice and guidance about pension entitlements

Receiver General

  • Expert central accounting and reporting advice on the accounts of Canada and  the production of the Public Accounts of Canada
  • Processing of payments to and from Government
  • Management of the government's central treasury systems
  • Management  and implementation of banking arrangements
  • Authentication of government payments, fraud detection and cheque enquiry services 

Common Departmental Financial and Material Management System

  • Maintenance and client support for a financial and material management application and online reporting tool
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2. Featured Initiatives

We are transforming and creating new services to better meet our clients' needs and provide the best value for money.

Pay Transformation

What: The Transformation of Pay Administration Initiative is comprised of 2 projects: Pay Modernization and Consolidation of Pay Services.

Replacing the 40-year-old Regional Pay System with a modern, commercial, off-the-shelf pay system and streamlined business processes based on industry standards by 2015-16.

Starting in 2012, and over a 4 year period, gradually transferring pay administration services of departments using the Government of Canada Human Resources Management System (PeopleSoft) to the Public Service Pay Centre in Miramichi, N.B. The Pay Centre will administer pay for 184,000 employees in 56 departments.

Benefits and Cost Savings:

  • Modern, consistent, timely and cost-effective pay services across the Government of Canada
  • Seamless integration with the Government of Canada HR System,
  • Implementation of the Initiative will provide government-wide annual savings from efficiencies in pay administration of $78.1 million, starting in 2016-17.
  • Streamlined business processes, increased automation and new self-service tools for employees and managers.
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Pension Transformation

What: The Transformation of the Government of Canada Pension Administration.

The modernization and centralization of pension administration for the Public Service pension plan was successfully completed in January 2013.

The pension system can be leveraged to support multiple pension plans. The migration of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plan administration to PWGSC is planned for July 2014. Additionally, the migration of the Canadian Forces pension plan is planned for 2016.

Benefits and Cost Savings:

  • Standardized and efficient pension administration services are provided to all pension plan members
  • Modern, timely, cost-effective pension administration services to employees, pensioners and federal government departments and agencies.
  • $29M in savings will be realized on an annual basis.
  • Immediate and consistent advice on pension matters with direct access to customer service representatives - thanks to streamlined business processes, increased automation and new self-service tools like pension calculators.

Paperless Options for Employees and Pensioners

What: PWGSC is moving to decrease the amount of paper used in our operations. Online options have been developed for pensioners and employees. 

Benefits:

  • Reduced paper production and associated costs.
  • Convenient access to online tools provides flexibility for employees and pensioners.
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Receiver General Transformation

Receiver General Modernization

The Receiver General is undertaking a Modernization Initiative to review treasury and accounting delivery and its supporting business and information technology (IT) systems. The aim is to maintain the integrity and sustainability of critical government-wide treasury and accounting functions. We are fostering Open Government by increasing accessibility to government-wide accounting information, and moving our treasury operations into the digital age.

Direct Deposit Initiative

What: Receiver General payments made on behalf of the Government of Canada (e.g., Employment Insurance payments, income tax refunds, Government of Canada pay and pension cheques) which are currently issued as cheques, will be transitioned to direct deposit by April 1, 2016.

Benefits and Cost Savings:

  • Direct deposit is increasingly becoming a preferred method for issuing payments
  • In comparison to cheques, direct deposit is more cost effective, convenient, reliable and environmentally friendly.
  • Supports the swift and secure evolution to a modern digital payments system
  • Approximately $17.4 million in savings will be realized
Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment

What: The Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) envisions a “portal” with functionality to enable all suppliers to connect directly with the GC for centralized invoice submission and optional discounted early payment to be launched in early 2015.

Benefits and Cost Savings:

  • Modern, timely, cost-effective process relying on increased automation
  • Will leverage functionality already established as possible, eg. PWGSC's Buyandsell.gc.ca.
  • Will connect with the multiple “Procure-to-Pay” solutions established by departments toensure a standardized approach to vendor billing and payment services at the federal government level
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B. Service Standards, Results and Targets

We have surpassed 6 of our 9 targets for our payments and pensions services. Our success is a result of our continued improvement in our systems, flexible and qualified staff, regularly updated ISO-certified processes, harmonious relationships with clients, and our friendly and accessible call centre to respond to client requests from anywhere in Canada.  

In 2013-14, we will keep improving and keep an eye on our performance against comparable organizations to remain competitive.

Table Summary

The Table on Service Standards, Results and Targets for the Payments and Pensions service category shows service targets and results for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, and service targets for 2013-2014 for the following services: Federal Pay and Benefits Administration; Federal Pension Administration; Receiver General Services and Common Departmental Financial and Materiel Management System. It also shows the results of Industry Benchmark if they are available in 2012-13.

Payments and pensions Target
2011-2012		 Result
2011-2012		 Target
2012-2013		 Result
2012-2013		 Industry
Benchmark & Result		 Target
2013-2014
Federal Pay and Benefits Administration
Upon receipt of completed documentation from compensation advisors in departments or the Public Service Pay Centre:
            
  • Process payments within 5 business days
 95% 90% 95% Indicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous year95.5%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed   _
  • Pay adjustment transactions done by the Pay Offices processed within established timeframes. NEW!
         N/A 95%
  • Process new deductions and entitlements within 10 business days
 95% 93% _ _   _
  • Process salary service corrections within 20 business days
 95% 98%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed _ _   _
For departments receiving services from the Public Service Pay Centre, enquiries acknowledged within 1 business day and answered as per established standards _ _ 95% 98%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed   _
For departments receiving services from the Public Service Pay Centre, enquiries answered and transactions processed as per established standards. NEW!         N/A 95%
Federal Pension Administration
Process pension payments and provide pension estimates within established timeframes 90% 78% 95%Indicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous year Indicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous year89%   _
Public Service pension transactions and pension related payments processed within established timeframes. NEW!        
  • PWGSC is 1% better than peer average group on pension payments in 2012.
  • PWGSC is 18% below peer average group on pension estimates in 2012. (1)
 95%
Provide call centre services Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (local time) 90% 99%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed _ _   _
Answer Public Service Superannuation Act calls within 30 seconds       90% N/A _ _   _
Answer Public Service Superannuation Act calls within 180 seconds         80% 65% Not available in 2012 Previous results 80%
Receiver General Services
Ensure Public Accounts are posted online within 24 hours of tabling in the House of Commons 99.99% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed _ _   _
Process all payments daily as per established schedules 99.9% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed _ _   _
Process all federal payments daily as per established schedules     99.99% 99.98% N/A 99.99%
Reconcile monies received by the Receiver General for Canada within 2 business days 95% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed 95% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed N/A 95%
Process all remittance payments and make deposits before 1:30 p.m. every weekday 98% 99%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed _ _   _
Process Receiver General cheque status enquiries within 24 hours 99.9% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed 99.9% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed N/A 99.9%
Process requests for a copy of a paid Receiver General cheque from the previous 2 years within 2 business days 98% 100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed 98% 99%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed N/A 98%
Common Departmental Financial and Materiel Management System
Provide system availability and response time, release management, and client support as per client agreements 95% 99%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed 95% Indicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous year100%Indicates that the target was met or surpassed   _

Legend:
Indicates that the target was met or surpassedIndicates that the target was met or surpassed.
Indicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous yearIndicates that the target has increased or the result has improved from the previous year.

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We take our commitments on service standards very seriously. If you have any concerns related to our service standards or have any suggestions on how we can improve, feel free to contact us at SIS@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

(1) When hovering over, the following text will appear:

PWGSC currently has pension services benchmarked by 2 organizations:

Cost Effectiveness Measurement (CEM)

  • International pension administration organizations in the public and private sector
  • Benchmarks focused on single year comparisons
  • 61 leading global public and private pension administrations
  • 15 of the 61 organizations are part of our peer group. The peer group is determined based on total number of plan members.

Quantitative Services Measurement (QSM)

  • Canadian pension administrators providing public service pensions at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government
  • Benchmark focused on five-year overviews and trends

2012 CEM benchmarking results on pension payments demonstrates that PWGSC is 1% better than peer average group.

2012 CEM benchmarking results for pension estimates indicates that PWGSC is 18% below peer average results mostly due to the fact that CEM measures written pension estimates production while PWGSC provides verbal estimates over the phone and also allows members to calculate their own pension estimates using a self-service calculator.

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C. At Your Service: Concrete Examples

Check out how we go the extra mile and ensure open communication with our clients NEW!

Example 1:

Maintaining the Public Service Pension Centre's service standards was significantly challenging as PWGSC transitioned to its new pension solution. On January 2, 2013, the final phase of the Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project (GCPMP) Release 3.0 was implemented. Prior to this release, there was a complete 3 week systems shutdown, which created a backlog in processing the workload. As a result, clients were experiencing lower service standards for all pension benefit related services. Additionally, pension experts were required to adjust to the new system where legacy systems were replaced by the new pension solution.

To address the situation, resources were realigned to focus on priority areas. Implementation has created a more innovative culture where new approaches have been developed such as streamlined processes and the improvement of employee's working tools (e.g. desktop procedures, best practice documents, etc.).

Clients now receive all their pension services from one location, leading to better accessibility and consistency of information and services.

Example 2:

Soon after the Minister of PWGSC announced that the federal government would be phasing out cheques in favour of direct deposit, PWGSC arranged to meet with the key government departments responsible for the highest volumes of Receiver General cheque issuances. It quickly became apparent that in order to ensure that all federal government departments were speaking with “one voice” about this important federal initiative, a number of promotional tools and products would be required.

To ensure a consistent, clear and compelling message, PWGSC responded with a “surround sound” promotional strategy, including standard print media, web media and call centre messages about the direct deposit initiative and how Canadians could obtain more information and enroll.

Government departments were overwhelmingly pleased with the strategy and the products, and are using PWGSC branding and communication as part of their own promotional campaigning and to complement what other key partners are communicating. Government departments are now speaking with “one voice” about direct deposit. The results are clear: at the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year, we have achieved an overall direct deposit rate for federal payments issued of 79%, up 4% from 2011-12!

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D. How satisfied are you?

  • 77% of our clients are satisfied with the overall quality of service. (Source: Public Service Pension Services Automated Telephone Survey – 2012-2013)
  • Clients expressed a high level of satisfaction with the training and advice that was provided to them. (Source: Common Departmental Financial System Satisfaction Survey – 2011-2012 results)

E. To learn more about Our Payments and Pensions Services

  • Web: Payments and Pensions
  • Email:
  • Phone:
    • Federal Pension Administration: 1-800-561-7930
    • Receiver General Services

      Accounting and Reporting: 819-956-1794
      Payments: 819-956-2738
      Banking Arrangements: 819-956-2945
      Common Departmental Financial System and Materiel Management: 819-956-6561

  • Mail:
    • For provinces west of Ontario:

      Public Works and Government Services Canada
      75 Bentall Street
      Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B4

    • For Ontario and all provinces east of Ontario:

      Public Works and Government Services Canada
      150 Dion Boulevard, P.O. Box 1000
      Matane, Québec G4W 4N3

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