Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates: Supplementary Estimates (B)
Opening statement
Scott Davis
Assistant Deputy Minister, Chief Financial Officer
Shared Services Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
December 4, 2025
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this opportunity to discuss Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) requests in the 2025-26 Supplementary Estimates (B).
I am accompanied today by: Paule Labbé, the Assistant Deputy Minister of SSC’s Strategy and Engagement Branch
Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe People.
Introduction
First, I’d like to situate our work.
SSC is at the centre of the Government of Canada’s priority to transform government and modernize operations. Our mandate is clear: to deliver secure, reliable and efficient digital services that enable federal departments and agencies to deliver services to Canadians and businesses.
SSC is essential to the operations of government. We are present wherever the GC operates—spanning about 4,000 locations across Canada and around the world. SSC has dedicated teams that work around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
SSC is shifting government away from siloed, decentralized systems toward unified, enterprise-wide models that enable digital government. This approach strengthens both security and reliability, ensuring that sensitive information is safeguarded and remains under Canadian control.
By consolidating key systems in SSC’s enterprise data centres, we have achieved important cost savings, significantly improved the availability and stability of government services, and reinforced the protection of critical government data.
SSC’s approach has delivered savings. Our actual spending decreased by $174 million from 2023-24 to 2024-25.
Our core mission to consolidate and modernize IT services has driven these efficiencies. For example, by leveraging government purchasing power to buy and manage mobile devices in bulk, we saved $20 million.
Additional savings came from reducing the use of professional services—those costs are down by $81 million from 2022-23 to 2024-25.
Estimates
In this year’s Supplementary Estimates (B), SSC is seeking a net increase of $48.5 million.
These requests are relatively routine and include:
- $45 million to provide core IT services, including software, hardware and technology-related services for new employees.
- $8 million to support the continued transfer of cloud operations from Statistics Canada to SSC, plus $2 million for associated benefits.
- Transfers to other departments will also reduce SSC’s appropriations by $7 million.
- Finally, the estimates make a technical adjustment to reflect the increased needs of the Department of National Defence (DND). This does not affect SSC’s direct funding, as appropriations flow to DND.
Looking ahead
While these estimates are standard, Budget 2025 reinforced SSC’s role in digital transformation across the Government of Canada, and in enabling the adoption and scaling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the public service.
SSC is developing a sovereign, made-in-Canada AI platform for government-wide deployment, in partnership with leading Canadian AI companies, the Communications Security Establishment and the Department of National Defence.
We are leading a competitive procurement process for generative AI productivity tools for government employees, which includes 3 Canadian prequalified vendors.
We are applying AI and robotic process automation across SSC’s internal operations to increase efficiency and service to departments and agencies.
SSC will also advance work to consolidate the management of Government of Canada desktop computers—similar to our approach for smartphones—improving portability across departments while reducing costs and increasing security.
Comprehensive Expenditure Review
SSC is also identifying new savings within its operations.
Under the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, SSC will realize ongoing savings of $318.5 million.
We will achieve this by:
- standardizing platforms
- eliminating low-use or redundant licences
- reducing the number of traditional fixed telephone lines
- consolidating contracts to eliminate duplication and secure better pricing
- further reducing spending on external contractors
- consolidating departmental partner cloud environments into SSC’s enterprise cloud, and
- continuing to close legacy data centres
Conclusion
The bottom line is that a more effective and efficient government improves program and service delivery to Canadians—and SSC is proud to be part of that work.
I look forward to answering your questions.