Vancouver GC Networks Hub now online

As of November 30, 2022, the Vancouver Government of Canada Networks Hub (GCNH) is fully up and running! This is an important milestone in Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) network modernization strategy and will significantly increase the data delivery speed for users in the West and Northwest.

The Vancouver GCNH provides the external network connectivity between the GC Backbone network and the cloud, the Internet and Internet exchanges. To date, SSC has established one GCNH in Toronto, one in Montréal and two in the National Capital Region that provide Internet access exclusively. This fifth hub will also improve service availability, as it serves as an additional location to route network traffic should another hub experience a service disruption.

Together, SSC and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) worked with private industry to establish the Vancouver hub, which is a major leap forward in serving SSC’s partners and clients. The Vancouver hub is equipped with SSC’s Enterprise Perimeter Security service to improve network security, including enhanced monitoring by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. Additionally, SSC’s new Enterprise Internet Service enables the hub to deliver high-speed and high-capacity Internet access to our partners. With cloud connectivity already in place, ESDC users in Western and Northern Canada enjoy improved service for Microsoft Teams meetings and collaboration. 

SSC assesses technology trends and developments to ensure it builds and adjusts a network that can respond to current and future GC needs. A hub approach leverages software-defined network infrastructure and artificial intelligence to automate traffic flow and maintenance. In regions across Canada, network connectivity service providers link GC buildings and data centres to the GC Backbone network at a GCNH.

The success of this milestone is due to the collaboration of many groups within and outside of SSC, and beyond the Networks and Security Services Branch. Strategic investments like the Vancouver GCNH, rather than piecemeal enhancements to core infrastructure, enable SSC to better serve its geographically diverse customers.