The “outdated” technology used to distribute Old Age Security, Employment Insurance, and other benefits to Canadians is “at risk of failure,” Auditor General Karen Hogan says.
In a round of reports released Oct. 19, Ms. Hogan criticized the federal government’s inaction on dealing with the country’s “aging” computer systems, adding that the required updates have not only encountered delays but are over budget. The government has known about the issue for 24 years but does not yet have a strategy in place to fix the problem.
The first report examined the progress on modernizing federal IT systems, while the second report focused on the Benefits Delivery Modernization Program. The goal of the program is to modernize the software that hands out Canada Pension Plan benefits, Employment Insurance and Old Age Security.
“Every day that these systems are not modernized increases the risk that they may fail, and that Canadians may lose access to essential services,” Ms. Hogan told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Oct. 19.
“These issues are not new. If COVID-19 taught us anything, it is being prepared and acting early costs less and results in better outcomes. I said it in March of 2021 and will repeat it today, that the government should not need a crisis to understand the importance of prompt action.”
The Benefits Delivery Modernization Program was estimated in 2017 to cost $ 1.75 billion, but has since grown to as much as $ 3.4 billion. Old Age Security is slated to be the first program to move to the new system, but the original 2023 goal has been extended and may not occur until December 2025.
Ms. Hogan said a number of factors contributed to delays and cost increases, including a lack of centralized leadership and oversight, a shortage of skilled people to carry out the work, and an inflexible funding approach.
Ms. Hogan also expressed concern that “decisions could be made to… take shortcuts to maintain the timelines or budgets.”
“This would put the Benefits Delivery Modernization Program at risk of resulting in a final product that fails to meet the needs of diverse and vulnerable client groups, including seniors, people in remote locations, indigenous people, and refugees,” she said.
While the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat set a target of having 60 percent of all computer systems updated by 2030, only 45 percent are expected to be healthy by that time.
Other Reports
The auditor general also tabled other reports on immigration backlogs, racism in the public service, and antimicrobial resistance in Canada.Ms. Hogan said the government’s plan to address antimicrobial resistance doesn’t include any measurable goals or timelines and “did not do enough to address the growing resistance to antimicrobial drugs, such as antibiotics, to help safeguard the health of Canadians.”
Research has shown the rate of resistance to antimicrobials is likely to increase to 40 percent by 2050, up from 26 percent in 2018, Ms. Hogan said.
She described the Public Health Agency of Canada as “slow to implement” regulatory changes that could improve Canadians’ access to antibiotics of last resort and noted that only two of 13 antibiotics used to fight drug-resistant infections are available in Canada, while all 13 are available in the United States.
On immigration, the auditor general said refugees are being left behind by Canada’s oversized immigration backlogs. She found that while processing times improved for most permanent residency programs in 2022, they still remain long. Refugees and humanitarian programs face the longest wait times. As of last year, some applicants had waited almost three years for a decision from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
In addition, Ms. Hogan’s report found that efforts to combat racism and discrimination in major departments and agencies, representing about one-fifth of the public service, are falling short.
The audit covered the Department of Justice, Public Safety Canada, the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency, Correctional Service Canada and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
