Canada's Largest Pension Administrator Raises the Bar in Service

March 2013

Public Works and Government Services Canada’s (PWGSC) Transformation of Pension Administration initiative won the bronze 2012 Public Sector Leadership Award from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) on February 21, 2013 at a gala in Toronto.

“We are honoured to win an IPAC award and hope that this initiative acts as an example of successful, large, IT project management,” said Brigitte Fortin, project leader and a member of PWGSC’s senior management team. “The award is only surpassed by how excited we are to realize the improvements in service for our pension members.”

Members of the jury for the Institute of Public Administration of Canada Award with recipients of the 2012 Bronze Public Sector Leadership Award.
Left to right: Charles Perron, National Public Sector Lead, Deloitte; Linda Lizotte-Mac Pherson, former Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency; Kevin Malloy, Deputy Minister, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; and George Ross, Deputy Minister, Ontario Northern Development and Mines, Renée Jolicoeur, Associate Deputy Minister, PWGSC; Brigitte Fortin, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Accounting, Banking and Compensation Branch (ABCB), PWGSC; Lucie Lanctôt, Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, ABCB, PWGSC; and Peter Wallace, Secretary of Cabinet and Head of the Ontario Public Service, Government of Ontario.

Founded in 1947, IPAC is a national association of public servants, academics and others who are dedicated to excellence in public service administration and policy. With headquarters in Toronto, there are 17 regional groups who coordinate chapter networking and learning activities. The IPAC/Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Award recognizes organizations that have demonstrated outstanding leadership to improve Canada through advancements in public sector policy and management.

PWGSC pension administrators were acutely aware that the 40-year-old system needed to be replaced with a new technology platform that would allow federal employees and pensioners to access their information on the Web. Also important was the need to have a sustainable system that could be quickly updated with new technology to meet user needs. Consultation and partnership with private and public sector experts resulted in a state-of-the-art system that can be quickly updated to incorporate appropriate emerging technologies. In order to achieve maximum benefits from the new technologies, the transformation also centralized service delivery to federal public servants by creating a Centre of Pension Expertise located in the existing pension centre in Shediac, New Brunswick.

The new pension system will expedite access and processes for users by progressively eliminating paper-based processing through imaging and Web-enabled self-service. With the improvements to the pension system, public service employees now have access to real time information online. They can:

view their pension information online, including data used to calculate benefits, and notify an administrator of any data errors;
make changes to their personal and contact information with Compensation Web Applications;
calculate pension estimates based on real-time personal information;
contact pension experts who will have virtual access to their personal pension situation and service requests history; and,
ask questions of pension experts by secure email.

For retirees, the improvements give them the ability to access information online including:

pension payment stubs;
T4A slips; and
information bulletins.

Ultimately, the goal is to have a complete pension application-to-payment process that provides Web-enabled, self-service capability, and with pension experts readily available to provide advice and guidance from the Pension Centre in Shediac.

This transformation will deliver considerable savings to the Government of Canada. By moving from paper to electronic files, the project is also contributing to a greener and more efficient government.

“The PWGSC pension system is sustainable for the long term and is a benchmark in the compensation and pension community,” added Ms. Fortin. “We knew that the system we put in place had to be one where new technology could be easily and quickly integrated. Members expect the same level of access and service from the public sector as they experience with private sector services. We can now provide it, and will continue to in the future. This is due to the dedication of the PWGSC employees who worked so hard to transform the way that PWGSC delivers pension services.”

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