PSPC Project Complexity and Risk Assessment (PCRA) Tool and Manual

The Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC/PSPC) PCRA Manual supports the National Project Management System (NPMS) Policy (page available on Government of Canada network only), and PSPC NPMS Directives for Business Projects - IT-Enabled & for Real Property Projects Directive. The purpose of the PSPC PCRA Manual is to assist PSPC staff in performing Project Complexity and Risk Assessments using the PCRA Tool, which was developed by Treasury Board Secretariat, and is a mandatory requirement under the Treasury Board Policy on Investment Planning and on the Management of Projects. The PSPC PCRA Manual has been designed to ensure PCRAs are performed consistently across the Department. This manual is to be used for all PSPC projects, which are required to complete a PCRA, as follows:

• All Real Property capital asset and space projects, including lease projects > $1 Million total value, including GST or HST, and excluding client costs, if applicable;
  Note - For real property lease projects, the $1M threshold is based upon Lease Project Approval values.
• All PSPC Business Projects – Information Technology (IT) Enabled with a planned value of $1 Million or more;
• At the discretion of the Department, non-routine initiatives that have characteristics analogous to a project may also be requested to conduct a PCRA.

As per the NPMS Business Projects – IT Enabled and Real Property Directives, a PCRA must initially be prepared at the time of listing the project in the PSPC Investment Plan. As a project matures, the information used in the PCRA will evolve and improve. As a result the PCRA is to be reviewed and updated at regular intervals (i.e. at the NPMS approval of the Statement of Requirements, Preliminary Project Approval/Lease Project Approval, and Effective Project Approval).

The PCRA tool is to be used by project teams to complete the PCRA assessments. Section 3.3 of the PSPC PCRA Manual, provides a description of the process for submission of the PCRA scores.