Delivering Digital Solutions Together for Canada

Delivering Digital Solutions Together for Canada (Digital Together) is Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) strategic approach to ensure that departments are equipped with the modern, standardized tools they need to effectively collaborate and continue to better serve Canadians at home and abroad.

In line with the Government of Canada’s Digital Ambition, Digital Together includes 4 areas to drive excellence in technology and operations:

• Connectivity services – SSC connects government anywhere, anytime, from any device
• Digital services – a seamless common digital experience for public servants
• Hosting services – reliable, modern hosting solutions that meet needs now and into the future
• Cyber security services – helping to protect the Government of Canada’s (GC) IT infrastructure

Achievement highlights

SSC strengthened the IT infrastructure for federal organizations that allow people to connect on-site and virtually. For example, SSC:

• set up Wi-Fi at 16 GC sites, which is benefitting 22 partners
• upgraded bandwidth at 99% of outdated sites to provide faster networks
• onboarded 27 new partners to GC Networks Hubs to improve their access to Internet and cloud connectivity
• deployed 25,000 softphones that can be accessed from any GC device
• modernized 299 conferencing spaces to support effective hybrid work
• fully migrated 2 partners and 7 small departments and agencies to GC email services

• Cost savings

  As a common service provider, SSC adopted an enterprise approach that leads to service improvements and leverages buying power and economies of scale. This has generated both value and cost efficiencies for GC partners and Canadians.

  Our consolidation efforts streamlined operations and resulted in savings. For example, SSC:

  • introduced 2 enterprise cloud services for the GC that bring efficiencies, improved security and resources to better support evolving hosting needs
  • closed 50 legacy data centres, which reduced costs and improved service reliability
  • achieved nearly $8 million in cumulative cost savings by disconnecting 50,500 fixed lines
• Supporting partners

  SSC’s work with partners and clients across the GC ensured that they had secure and efficient digital infrastructure to deliver critical online services to Canadians. For example, the department:

  • launched the web-based Federal Open Science Repository of Canada to make federal scientific publications more accessible

  SSC modernized 3 contact centres to provide Canadians with more convenient and reliable options. Partners leverage modern contact centre technologies to support their operations and deliver services, including:

  • the ability to communicate through chat, email or videoconference
  • automatically receiving sources of information
  • options for automatic call-back and self-service

  The department established a new contact centre for the Canadian Dental Care Plan, which provides the information needed for eligible Canadians to access financial support for dental services easily and efficiently.

For more achievements and results, consult our 2023-24 Departmental Results Report.

The 4 key areas of the approach are connectivity, hosting, digital services and cyber security. To achieve the best results, we developed 4 roadmaps. We are using the roadmaps to further our enterprise approach and orient us toward a common goal:

To provide secure and reliable digital, network and hosting services that allow public servants to work collaboratively and seamlessly across the Government of Canada to serve Canadians.

Benefits for SSC The roadmaps guide us as we plan and prioritize: building capacity and skills within our department making investment decisions experimenting with aspirational services (pilots)

Benefits for our partners The roadmaps help us to: share our plans for new technology and service improvements recruit pathfinders to lead the way collaborate on lessons learned and process improvements increase the speed and scale of service improvements