A decade-long federal plan to overhaul how Canadians access benefits and government services has ballooned to $6.64 billion, and senior officials now insist the price tag will not rise further.In testimony to the Commons public accounts committee, federal managers said the digital identification and service‑delivery modernization effort represents the largest IT overhaul the government has ever attempted. The Department of Employment told MPs the program’s scope stretches far beyond digitizing claims for Employment Insurance, Old Age Security and the Canada Pension Plan, extending into a full rebuild of federal contact centres and online access systems.The project has seen repeated cost escalations since it was first approved at $1.8 billion in 2017. That figure rose to $2.2 billion in 2022 before jumping to $6.6 billion in 2024. Officials said the current $6.64‑billion estimate includes all anticipated spending, inflation, contingency funds and projected costs for work not yet authorized..According to the department, Canadians currently navigate more than 60 separate systems — each with its own login credentials — when handling taxes or benefits. The modernization plan would replace them with a single sign‑in portal. Delivering the overhaul in stages, the department said, is necessary to avoid “unmanageable complexity” and reduce the risk of service disruptions.Federal managers told MPs the scale of the project, its technical debt and the number of unknowns at the outset contributed to shifting timelines and costs. They said improved costing methods developed during the rollout have helped refine risk assessments and budget projections.Cabinet has repeatedly emphasized that any digital ID option will remain voluntary. In a January 29 Inquiry of Ministry, the government said access to federal services “is not contingent on a digital identity,” adding that digital credentials are simply an optional authentication tool. Ottawa also stated there are “no plans or progress to report” on creating a national digital identification system.
