The Government is currently in the final build and design phase of the Dayforce HR and pay solution. Over the next two years (2025 to 2027), work to prepare for deployment will continue with onboarding starting in June 2026 for PSPC, Shared Services Canada (SSC), and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

Departments will be onboarded in a number of waves and information gathered within each wave will serve to inform the subsequent deployments.

The Government of Canada is actively working to streamline and standardize HR processes across departments and agencies as part of its broader HR and pay transformation initiative. The roll out of these standardized HR processes is part of a phased implementation strategy.

Since 2023, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) has been actively collaborating with PSPC and departments and agencies to advance consistent HR and pay practices, strengthen compliance, and streamline operations through the following initiatives:

• Establishing and refining timeliness standards for 20 HR transactions to ensure accurate and prompt payroll processing with the goal of 80% on-time HR transactions. Since 2022 the enterprise average has improved by 10%.
• Promoting consistent leave coding across departments through clarified guidance on medical/dental leave (code 698) and traditional indigenous practices leave.
• Standardizing through the Unified Actions for Pay (UAP). Measure 5 provides guidance to promote consistency in short-term EX acting appointments.
• Issuing the Directive on the Stewardship of HR Management Systems (2024) which outlines the Chief Human Resources Officer’s enterprise stewardship role and advances the stabilization and standardization of HR systems by providing direction, support, and oversight for system investments.
• Designating MyGCHR as the interim enterprise standard while transformation to an integrated HR and pay solution progresses to drive modernization, improve user experience, and reduce system fragmentation (58 departments onboarded).
• Creating new mandatory HR-to-pay courses (COR137 for managers, FON308 for employees) to strengthen HR and pay understanding and reduce processing errors. Adoption and enrollment have been strong; over 38,000 course completions to date with participants reporting significant knowledge improvement.
• Launching the updated Directive on Union Dues, with the collaboration of all bargaining agents, to clarify several provisions in the Directive, and most importantly regarding union dues arrears and refunds.

The Government of Canada is working to resolve Phoenix-related backlog cases before transitioning to Dayforce. Between September 2024 and 2025, we reduced the Pay Centre backlog by 35%. To learn more about the progress being made and the most recent numbers, consult the Public Service Pay Centre dashboard.

We will ensure departments selected for early onboarding (i.e., PSPC, SSC, and the CNSC) have no pay cases older than one year before transitioning to Dayforce. Despite significant ongoing efforts to stabilize pay within its current systems environment – with one pay system and more than 29 HR systems at the onset of the transformation – the fragmented system continues to lead to inaccurate or delayed pay, manual and fragmented processes, a limited ability to automate or scale, poor user experience and data reliability, and an inability to meet modern HR and pay needs.

The Dayforce solution offers a user-centric, modern, cloud-based, artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform that addresses a number of issues. Of note, it offers integrated HR and pay functions, mobile access and supports accessibility, which will lead to improved data accuracy. The transition is being done in parallel with backlog resolution to ensure readiness and minimize risk.

Dayforce is intended to be a long-term, enterprise-wide solution. It will replace Phoenix and over 29 legacy HR systems. Following extensive feasibility testing, the government confirmed Dayforce’s ability to meet the full scope of federal HR and pay requirements.

The transition to Dayforce is being approached with a strong emphasis on readiness, change management and training to avoid the issues experienced with the Phoenix pay system. The government is implementing a phased onboarding strategy, starting with select departments and agencies, and is prioritizing departmental readiness and employee engagement throughout the process.

Key measures include:

• Extensive testing to ensure Dayforce meets critical HR and pay capabilities, including large-scale onboarding
• Parallel pay runs with Phoenix to validate accuracy and identify and resolve gaps before full deployment
• User awareness sessions involving more than 3,000 public servants, with feedback used to improve the system
• A commitment to change management and training, ensuring departments and employees are prepared to use the system effectively
• Establishing clear accountabilities for deputy ministers through memorandums of understanding

The Government has learned from past challenges and is taking deliberate steps to ensure that compensation advisors are equipped with the necessary tools, training, and support before they begin processing pay in Dayforce. We continue to leverage the expertise of subject-matter experts, stakeholders, and employees (including compensation advisors) to develop and test the solution ahead of implementation. This collaborative approach will ensure that the solution is designed and validated with input from those who understand the complexities of HR and pay operations. Through its Feasibility Project, the Government of Canada confirmed that it would be able to support an eventual transition to Dayforce.

The Dayforce system will replace the existing pay and HR systems. Where integrations with key systems such as the pension system are required, the Government of Canada is taking deliberate and phased steps to ensure Dayforce will integrate smoothly. Namely:

• Rigorous testing of integrations between Dayforce and other systems, i.e., the pension system, is performed as part of the system and user testing
• Data management improvements, including the development of a centralized data hub to ensure accurate, up-to-date, and shareable employee information across systems
• Feasibility and migration pilots, which have already been completed to validate Dayforce’s ability to handle data transfers securely and reliably

These efforts are designed to minimize disruption, reduce risk, and support a seamless transition for employees and departments.

To help ensure employees experience a smooth transition to Dayforce, the Government of Canada is applying lessons learned from the Phoenix rollout. The approach includes proactive planning, phased implementation, emphasizing change management and training, and safeguards designed to reduce risks typically associated with large-scale system changes.

Key measures include:

• Phased onboarding of departments to reduce complexity and allow for targeted support
• Rigorous testing and configuration of Dayforce to ensure it meets the full scope of HR and pay requirements, including complex scenarios
• Parallel pay runs with Phoenix to validate accuracy before full deployment
• Dedicated backlog reduction efforts to ensure departments are ready for transition with clean data
• Employee engagement and feedback mechanisms to identify and address issues early

These efforts are designed to ensure that employees receive accurate and timely pay throughout the transition and that Dayforce is fully adapted to the operational realities of the federal public service.

The Artificial Intelligence Virtual Assistant (AIVA) is helping transform the way HR and pay services are delivered to public servants. By automating routine tasks for compensation advisors, AIVA allows workload to be redistributed toward backlog and more complex cases while improving both the speed and quality of service. It also plays a crucial role in facilitating the transition from Phoenix to Dayforce by supporting the reduction of the inventory of outstanding cases and enhancing the accuracy and integrity of HR and pay data.

Since its feature in the Summer 2024 Quarterly Progress Report, AIVA continues to evolve. Constant enhancements continue to increase its efficiency, enabling compensation teams to respond to employee needs more quickly and accurately. This progress embodies the Human Capital Management vision of delivering modern, standardized, and dependable HR and pay services. As a vital component of our broader digital transformation, AIVA plays a key role in managing transactions at the Pay Centre and helps to process transactions faster and with greater accuracy.

As of October 2025, AIVA has delivered technical solutions for five work types which are now live:

• Membership fees
• End of terms
• Leave with income averaging
• Commuting allowance
• EX performance pay (lump sum)
• Representing 55 000 cases per year

By December 2025, AI and automation will be leveraged to help compensation advisors process four more case types:

• New hires
• Leave without pay
• Acting nominations
• Terminations
• Representing another 80,000 cases per year for a total of 135,000 per year

The Government of Canada has outlined several measures to ensure the secure handling of employees’ personal information as part of the transition to the Dayforce HR and pay system. The Government of Canada signed a contract with Dayforce Canada Limited, a Canadian entity, following a transparent procurement process. The solution is hosted in Canada and all the resources who work on the contract directly require Canadian clearances or equivalent.

The Government of Canada ensures that data residency, access controls, and privacy protections meet federal standards. As part of its obligations, Dayforce must comply with Canadian privacy legislation, contractual obligations for data handling, as well as security protocols for sensitive government data, more specifically:

• The Government of Canada has established a working relationship with the provider to ensure compliance with Canadian data protection laws and standards
• Dayforce has been tested during product assessment phases and results confirmed its ability to meet the Government of Canada’s security and privacy requirements. As the system moves toward full implementation, additional safeguards will be introduced and tested to support secure operations at scale
• The implementation of Dayforce is aligned with the Government of Canada Enterprise Cyber Security Strategy, which includes: the protection of digitized personal information; risk assessments and mitigation strategies; as well as secure data storage and access protocols
• The transition to Dayforce includes continuous oversight and governance, including regular security audits; collaboration with Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, SSC and the Treasury Board Secretariat; as well as engagement with privacy and cybersecurity experts

For departments and agencies served by the Public Service Pay Centre, the pay service delivery model is centralized. For their employees, the Client Contact Centre is their main channel for pay-related inquiries. This model allows for the efficient triaging of high volumes of inquiries; standardized intake and tracking; as well as prioritization based on urgency and type of request, while allowing compensation advisor resources to focus on pay processing.

Departments and agencies not serviced by the Pay Centre also use a variety of different models to support their employees. However, the Client Contact Centre remains available for employees to report pay issues, ask questions, follow up on previously reported issues, and more.

The Government of Canada has emphasized that employee engagement and support will remain central throughout and beyond the Dayforce rollout. This includes:

• Dedicated client service teams to help employees navigate the new system and resolve issues
• Continuous feedback mechanisms to improve the platform based on employee experience
• Support for complex or sensitive pay issues, which cannot be resolved through automation alone

This means that any changes to the service delivery model will be communicated to departments and agencies, their communities of practice (i.e., pay, HR, finance, etc.) and employees, as part of their preparation to onboard to the new system. 

The Government of Canada conducted a feasibility assessment of Dayforce, evaluating its ability to handle both standard and complex HR and pay scenarios. Dayforce was assessed against 5 key criteria:

• system functionality
• onboarding capacity
• vendor capability
• life cycle costing
• operational simplicity

The feasibility study did include testing for shift work, cases of multiple roles held by a single employee, and remote or field-based conditions.

While the initial feasibility project involved a limited number of pilot departments, the Government of Canada has confirmed that: departments and agencies not involved in the initial trial will have opportunities to participate in deployment readiness activities, configuration validation, and user engagement.