Integrated strategy for human resources and pay
Feasibility project

We continue to evaluate the Dayforce human resources (HR) and pay solution. The most recent phase in this effort was a feasibility project, a rigorous evaluation of the Dayforce solution’s potential as a replacement for both the government’s pay system and a significant number of the HR systems in use across the Government of Canada.

This work builds on the 2024 Final Findings Report. It moves from the question of whether Dayforce is a viable solution, to assessing how confident we are about the feasibility of implementing Dayforce across the government. We published our findings in a Feasibility Report.

The Feasibility Report outlines the findings, criteria, and results of the feasibility assessment. The project addressed items that were unknown at the time or out of scope. We did further design, testing, validation, and costing to confirm that it is feasible to transform HR and pay. This includes deploying the Dayforce solution across the government. We carried the feasibility project to ensure:

• The system will be ready
• The Government of Canada will be ready
• There are solutions to all identified issues and that those issues can be resolved before Dayforce goes live

Read the full report

On this page

• Feasibility criteria
• Feasibility results
• Recommendations
• Next steps

Feasibility criteria

The feasibility project was structured around 5 criteria. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) established these criteria to test and show that the solution is feasible before moving forward. The criteria are:

Criterion 1

Prove the system can meet the Government of Canada’s full requirements. Assess vendor capabilities and functions from the Final Findings Report.

Criterion 2

Demonstrate that the Government of Canada can operate the system once in production (including managing its data).

Criterion 3

Prove that the Government of Canada can successfully onboard federal departments and agencies to a new HR and pay system.

Criterion 4

Demonstrate the full lifecycle costing for the program.

Criterion 5

Prove the Government of Canada can streamline its operating model and make things more simple for users.

Feasibility results

The feasibility project’s activities were individually assessed for both their level of completeness and the quality of the results. These assessments were then compiled to assign each of the 5 criteria a score for each measure.

Text description of feasibility results

Feasibility criteria & weight	Completeness	Quality
Criterion 1 (33% weight)	89.7% Sufficiently complete	90.7% Excellent result
Criterion 2 (33% weight)	95.5% Fully complete	74.9% Insufficient result
Criterion 3 (14% weight)	88.5% Sufficiently complete	91.8% Excellent result
Criterion 4 (10% weight)	100% Fully complete	80% Adequate result
Criterion 5 (10% weight)	89.5% Sufficiently complete	91.3% Excellent result
Overall	92.4% Sufficiently complete	84.6% Adequate result

Recommendations

The project’s results indicate it is feasible for the government to move forward with the Dayforce HR and pay solution. The report recommends that the government continue investments over fiscal years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027. These investments will:

• complete the remaining work
• address gaps identified in the report
• finalize the development of the Dayforce solution
• prepare for a first wave of departments to use the new system

Next steps

Now that we are done the feasibility project, the Government of Canada confirmed its intention to replace the current Phoenix pay system and a significant number of HR systems with the Dayforce HR and pay solution. Over the next 2 years, the HR and Pay Transformation Project will finalize configuration and testing of Dayforce alongside other transformation readiness activities.

The transformation team will ensure the system and users will be ready for Dayforce. The team will work with the following groups:

• the vendor
• central agencies
• other stakeholders

Readiness timeline

Status of project milestones as of June 11, 2025 (publication of the Feasibility Report): Checkmark = Completed; Circle = To do

Phases	Viability (Initial build and testing)	Feasibility (Partial build and testing)	Final build and testing	Pre-implementation	Implementation
Milestones	Completed: Final Findings Report proved Dayforce is a viable solution for the GC	Completed: Confirmed it is possible to deploy Dayforce across the enterprise Completed: Configured the system Completed: Validated it works Completed: Ensured our department and the government as a whole will be ready for Dayforce	To do: Dayforce fully configured and ready for user testing To do: GC tools and processes fully designed and operational To do: Change management strategies in place To do: Cost estimates refined	To do: Readiness assessment To do: Departmental testing To do: User Acceptance Testing (UAT) To do: System Integration Testing (SIT) To do: First wave department readiness confirmed To do: Vanguard readiness and testing with 30,000 Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Shared Services Canada (SSC), and and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) employees	To do: Dayforce deployed in phases To do: Wave 0 and Vanguard departments (early 2028) To do: Vanguard readiness and testing with 30,000 PSPC, SSC , and CNSC employees
Timeframe	June 2021 to March 2024	March 2024 to March 2025	March 2025 to July 2026	July 2026 to April 2027	April 2027 and beyond

Any future decision to begin deploying Dayforce will only be made after we assess that department and agency is ready and meets certain conditions. If and when this happens, we will implement Dayforce in a phased approach that staggers the onboarding of departments.

We recognize the value of end-user feedback in ensuring readiness. The transformation team will continue to engage with employees through programs like the user awareness sessions.