Byte-Sized Progress:

Introduction: Preparing Canada for Digital-Age Government Services

Technology has transformed Canadian society. It has changed the ways Canadians live, work, socialize, buy and sell products, and access services. For most Canadians, digital advances have made a range of services more efficient, customized, and accessible. What previously required in-person interaction and hard copies of relevant documents, now often simply requires visiting a website and sharing secure versions of digital documents. While many of these innovations have been led and implemented by private-sector organizations, there are rising expectations that government services should also be digital. Yet Canadians often find that government services are not available through digital technologies. Or when they are, services are frequently poorly designed or continue to require some level of in-person interaction. The rising expectations are not being met by equally rising digital service standards.

At the same time, government services must be more secure, accessible, and equitable than services delivered in the private sector. These additional requirements make it harder for governments to provide digital services than private sector actors, with the result that public-private sector comparisons of performance are not always fair. Still, digital government services could be improved. Setting aside comparisons with the private sector, it appears that Canadian government services lag behind those provided by peer governments globally. How far behind is the federal public sector in developing and delivering digital services? What explains its lagging performance? And what can be done to spur improvement, all while recognizing that government services must meet standards that are often more demanding than services provided in most sectors of the economy?

This report examines the level of digital maturity in Canadian government services, and explores some of the key reasons why those services are not as advanced as they could be. It does so through three lenses—digital culture, digital skills, and digital access. All three perspectives reveal a picture of lagging performance, but also insights into the challenges government agencies face in improving that performance. As the report reveals, there are many civil servants working hard to improve the digital services provided by the Canadian government, and their efforts are generating better performance in some areas. Yet challenges related to a fragmented bureaucracy, management processes and techniques, legacy technology systems, insufficient in-house digital and design skills, and procurement hurdles—as well as the need to ensure that data and digital services are consistent with principles of accessibility, equity, and security—have resulted in less-than-ideal results. By contrast, many peer governments globally are managing the challenges, embracing data and digital technologies, and offering more open, agile, responsive and inclusive, user-centred services.1 What’s holding Canada back from achieving this same level of success?

This report examines the level of digital maturity in Canadian government services, and explores some of the key reasons why those services are not as advanced as they could be.

Approach

This paper first outlines a framework for digital maturity and provides a broad assessment of the Government of Canada’s performance relative to its international peers. Next, using three separate lenses—digital culture, digital skills and digital access—it examines in greater detail how digitally mature the Government of Canada is, and provides explanations for that performance. Throughout these sections, the report makes comparisons to international peers and, where appropriate, to other sectors in Canada. Finally, the paper draws some implications from the analysis and provides recommendations to help the Government of Canada improve.

Lens I: Assessing Digital Culture

A digitally mature public sector requires a strong digital culture–one that integrates technology and user-design principles at all levels, from policy design to implementation. Strong digital cultures view technologies as central components in service delivery, require supporting policies, and have the capacity to design, manage, and deliver better services using digital technologies.

Despite having a strong institutional framework to support digital adoption and invest significantly in digital technologies, the federal government struggles to digitize services, modernize legacy systems, and meet user needs. Federal departments lack unified approaches to planning for and managing IT projects. Sample issues include overreliance on external vendors and traditional project management methodologies to deliver IT solutions, siloed innovations that are rarely scaled across government, and the difficulties adopting agile, open, user-centric design principles into its existing culture.

Canada’s digital culture: Strong policy, stalled practice

Canada has a strong policy foundation and is developing institutional capacity for designing and delivering digital services. For example:

• The Treasury Board’s Policy of Service and Digital - the “integrated set of rules that articulate how Government of Canada organizations manage service delivery, information and data, information technology, and cyber security in the digital era”5 - includes The Digital Operations Strategic Plan: 2021-2024, which establishes key priorities and actions under four strategic pillars.

DOSP Pillars and Priorities for 2021-2024 

• Canada also has a robust framework to support open data—a key element of digital maturity. The first version of Canada’s Open Data Portal was launched in 2011 and, in 2012, Canada signed the international Open Government Partnership (OGP), which promotes accountable, responsive, and inclusive governance. Moreover, Canada’s Directive on Open Government (2014) aims to “maximize the release of government information and data of business value to support transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and socio-economic benefits through reuse, subject to applicable restrictions associated with privacy, confidentiality, and security.” And, in 2018, Canada developed its National Cyber Security Action Plan (2019-2024) which commits to ensuring “secure and resilient Canadian systems in government.”
• Institutionally, Canadian Digital Service (CDS) was launched in July 2017 with a mandate to change the way the government designs and delivers services. CDS is expected to: deliver services by partnering with departments and building prototypes of user-centric services, build the capacity of departments to apply modern service design and technological methods and tools, and provide advice on key technology and service investments. The CDS functions through partnerships with specific departments, using lean, agile start-up methodologies to help departments apply user-centred design principles when adopting technology. They select potential projects based on: departmental readiness and willingness to change, reach and impact of the proposed service, priority of the proposed service for the department and the Government of Canada, and CDS’s capacity and availability. To date, 14 product partnerships have been launched, with two currently in live status.

Despite having an increasingly robust policy and institutional foundation for digital services, the Government of Canada struggles to translate those strengths into effective digital solutions.

Despite having an increasingly robust policy and institutional foundation for digital services, the Government of Canada struggles to translate those strengths into effective digital solutions—as evident in Canada’s twenty-second rank on the UN’s Online Service Index (OSI). Relative to peer governments, Canada lags on the availability and accessibility of government digital services, open portals, data sets, and the extent to which the government provides important information to citizens and engages them in policy design and implementation through online channels—all metrics in the OSI. By contrast, a leading peer--Estonia—has established a highly-regarded platform government, with standardized digital systems across departments to share databases and sign-in information, enabling citizens to access a variety of government services with a single password. 6 7 8

By contrast, a leading peer—Estonia—has established a highly-regarded platform government, with standardized digital systems across departments to share databases and sign-in information, enabling citizens to access a variety of government services with a single password.

The digital landscape of the federal public sector—both internal and external facing—is “highly complex with a myriad of networks, applications, programs, collaboration tools, and data centres – many unique to individual departments.”[9] The government has generated a network of thousands of critical, yet outdated, legacy digital systems with siloed, vertically segregated back-office systems. Each system is highly customized, built over many years, with independent data storage systems, all of which prevent data sharing and front-end service delivery across departments.[10] Many departments, as a result, struggle to move applications and services online, coordinate services, and manage the modernization of aging IT assets—forcing public servants to rely on inefficient and ineffective digital tools, and citizens to have to sign-in to multiple government platforms, struggle to find and access services and information, or simply rely on in-person or paper transactions.11 12 13 14

The complex ecosystem of segregated legacy systems has made it difficult for the public sector to deliver digital services. In 2020-21, the Government of Canada accepted 264,365,923 applications for its 1,375 services across 72 departments and agencies. While not all government services have the potential to be offered online, among those with the potential for online offerings, more services remain offline compared to those that have made the digital transition. Only 319 of the 1,375 services—23 percent—were available online end-to-end.15 Canada still largely offers services that require hard-copy documents and in-person visits to government offices. Moreover, a number of apparently online services still require documents to be printed and submitted manually at certain stages. This not only represents administrative burden, but in some cases, presents a security and privacy risk compared to locally stored and properly encrypted methods of digital verification. In particular, access through mobile devices—a preferred method for many Canadians—is limited.16

Only 319 of the 1,375 services—23 percent—were available online end-to-end.

Of those services that have moved online, many are difficult to navigate and lack an emphasis on the overall user experience. In 2020-21, 61 percent of services had set service standards--of those, only 61 percent met these standards.17 The Government of Canada has recognized the need to adopt user design principles and use open and agile approaches to digital development, such as shifting to more open-source platforms and cloud services. However, departments often struggle to apply these principles and techniques within the existing architecture of government. Many departments lack familiarity with and comfort using open-source technology. In addition, improving existing legacy systems is an on-going challenge across the government.18 19 20 21 The result is that very few government digital services are focused on client needs, many are difficult to locate and navigate, few services can be completed online-only from start to finish, and users often have to sign up for multiple platforms in order to access often-interrelated government services.22 23

An evaluation of the Government of Canada’s Open Government Initiative showed that while the open government portal has seen increases in the number of data sets available–increasing by 1,108 from 2016-17 to 2018-19, for a total of 11,340, there are persistent issues with the portal’s design and user-experience. Focus group and interviewee participants note that the portal is not user-friendly and users often find it difficult to find data sets. Even when users find the data sets they are after, many report difficulty understanding and using the data as presented.24 We will return to these issues when we examine the access challenges Canadians face.

Internal digital challenges

Issues with government digital technology are not relegated to client services alone. In the 2020 survey of public sector employees, nearly one-third said that the quality of their work “always/almost always” (10 percent) or “often” (19 percent) suffers because of unreliable technology. Another third of employees report that the quality of their work “sometimes” suffers because of unreliable technology. This level of dissatisfaction with internal digital products highlights major issues with existing government digital systems across government–impeding productivity and the overall quality of work.

Digital Verification: A Foundation for Digital Public Services

To access a wide array of digital services across the government, individuals and businesses must be able to confirm who they are. Digital verification is a central authentication service that allows users to sign up once and access a wide array of government digital services, from health records and financial assistance to driver's license applications and tax information. In a world where governments are becoming increasingly digital, digital verification is a prerequisite to providing user-centred government services.

Currently, there is a fundamental lack of consistency when it comes to digital verification across the federal government, with different departments using different individual and business authentication services–often as the result of siloed legacy systems and data storage across departments. This requires an individual to provide similar data and go through lengthy, complex sign-up processes for a variety of government departments, recall each of their verification keys and passwords, and sign into different departments to access often interrelated services. Some progress has been made at the federal level to facilitate access to Government of Canada services online, including use of the Interac sign-in service (which allows citizens to authenticate themselves using existing sign-in credentials from participating financial institutions) and GCKey (which allows citizens to use a single username and password to access online services across various departments and agencies). Digital verification for individuals and/or businesses have been implemented or are in the process of implementation in other jurisdictions across Canada, including: MyAlberta Digital ID, Digital ID in Ontario and the BCeID Identity and Authentication Service in British Columbia. While in some instances a digital ID was used for the process of digital verification, this need not always be the case.

Despite their clear benefits, digital verification systems do come with privacy and security concerns that must be addressed at the outset. While the Digital ID program in Ontario remains in development after considerable consultations, the Ontario Government has released an overview of how it plans to ensure privacy and security. Digital ID will be stored only on a user’s mobile device, not in a central database, and can be turned off remotely if the device is lost or stolen. All data will be encrypted and users must consent before sharing any information. They can choose what information to share, and it will not track users.
The Government of Canada, recognizing the importance of digital verification, has announced that it is in the planning stages of a “digital credential ecosystem” and will hold consultations at an undisclosed date.

Architecture of government often at odds with effective digital adoption

Despite the strong directive from the top to adopt digital design and management principles and ultimately deliver digital services that meet the increasingly complex needs of end users, the Government of Canada often lacks the capacity and culture to effectively manage digital transformation.

A key challenge for the federal government is adopting a user-centric approach to the design and delivery of digital services. Currently, services are designed with the needs of the departments prioritized over the needs of the end users. To embed user-centric design principles into the institution, major shifts are required in how projects are identified, designed, and implemented, as well as in the overall incentive structures for civil servants within government.25

Currently, the federal government’s digital transformation efforts rely heavily on external vendors and antiquated project management methodologies. The Government of Canada spends an estimated $5 billion annually on IT.26 The vast majority of this goes towards large-scale IT contracts procured from a limited number of vendors. In 2021-22, the Government of Canada spent $4.6 billion on external IT contracts. IT represents 30 percent of the Government of Canada’s $15 billion procurement budget—the largest single procurement category. In 2021-22, IBM, a global leader in digital technologies, was awarded over $476.2 million in contracts–the second-highest contract value of any single vendor.27 According to the Canadian Digital Service, large-scale Requests for Proposal (RFPs) are favoured by the federal government to minimize the number of times a department has to go to market – with the effect of preventing many smaller, willing organizations from participating in government contracting processes.28

A key challenge for the federal government is adopting a user-centric approach to the design and delivery of digital services.

Departments also typically use a traditional “waterfall” methodology to manage digital projects, which is a non-iterative process moving steadily from design to implementation to maintenance.29 30 This approach often prioritizes a “big release” of a completed application over the needs of the user. In addition, with the size and length of the contracts, this approach can result in large vendor lock-in, limiting future opportunities for iteration, as well as over-budget, delayed, and ineffective information technology.31 32In contrast, the private sector often uses an agile approach to project management–where minimum viable products are developed, released, tested, and, based on user feedback, improved. This iterative, non-linear process is centred on identifying and addressing user needs and often takes many rounds to get the product right.33

Despite large expenditures on IT projects across the Government of Canada, many departments lack oversight and management of their IT systems. In a 2019 internal audit of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), it was revealed that the committees in charge of managing IT systems rarely discussed and planned to renew aging IT systems–those meetings that did occur were relegated to ongoing projects rather than identifying and planning to address emerging issues with aging legacy systems. The audit also discovered that accountability for identifying and addressing issues with aging IT systems was not clearly defined.34 A 2020 audit of Public Safety Canada (PS) found no formal mechanisms to identify, analyze, and evaluate security risks in their IT systems. Responding to security risks is done on an ad-hoc basis, depending on the availability of resources, and issues are not formally documented preventing systematic monitoring and planning for future issues.35

Another audit of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) revealed that there was no defined management framework for the development of IT systems. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) did not follow the roles and responsibilities outlined by the Treasury Board Secretariat policy, including consistently approving the IT components of department strategies, plans, initiatives, and projects. A lack of quality assurance (QA) and project management oversight resulted in a client-led contract not being scrutinized to the same extent as an internal contract, resulting in one branch’s externally sourced project costs to increase from the expected $110,000 to $680,000. The auditors also found that both Health Canada and PHAC lacked any sort of plan to implement an agile digital development methodology, and continued to prioritize the “waterfall” approach.36

Generally, digital maturity requires a culture that encourages innovation, works in the open, and fosters horizontal collaboration. However, Government of Canada departments remain insular, with their own “sub-cultures often characterized by hierarchy, caution about novel approaches, and organizational silos”.37 When innovations do occur in pockets of the government, the lack of coordination often prevents them from scaling.38

In an evaluation of the Open Government program, it was highlighted that there was a lack of internal knowledge across departments as to how to work in the open by default, and those that do work on open government initiatives are often stretched thin–doing the work in addition to their existing workload. Silos within government also often result in the duplication of work and under-use of open government activities.39 In addition, there are no single assigned owners for digitizing a service end-to-end, but rather responsibility for service delivery exists across separate branches, such as those responsible for “technology, operations, service, customer experience, and communications”40, each with different priorities. This can make it challenging to design, coordinate and implement projects.41

Lens III: Assessing Digital Access

Unlike private-sector organizations, digital access for the Government of Canada requires the provision of digital services. At the same time, the Government also has responsibilities to ensure that all those in Canada have the ability to access and use digital technologies for government services, and ultimately to participate in an increasingly digital society. The first principle in Canada’s Digital Charter is entitled Universal Access, stating: “all Canadians will have equal opportunity to participate in the digital world and the necessary tools to do so, including access, connectivity, literacy, and skills.”

Currently, the Government of Canada not only struggles to provide digital services, but the lack of both infrastructure and digital literacy has created a stark digital divide across Canada–leaving many rural and remote communities, Indigenous peoples, and older Canadians, as well as those with less education and lower incomes without the ability to access adequate digital services. While the Government of Canada is providing significant support for Canadians to develop basic digital literacy as well as investing significantly in digital infrastructure, with the goal of providing universal high-speed Internet access to all Canadians by 2030, some have concerns that they are investing too little and not urgently enough. To achieve digital maturity, it is essential that the Government of Canada provide all Canadians with the infrastructure and tools, as well as the skills and abilities to use digital technologies and access the digital services provided by the government.

Government of Canada digital services

A prerequisite for digital access is ensuring that services are available online. As discussed in the digital culture section of the report, the Government of Canada often struggles to shift services online. While not all Government of Canada services have the potential to be digitized, amongst those with the potential for online offerings, more services remain offline compared to those that have made the digital transition. Twenty-one percent of the 1,375 services offered by the federal government in 2020-21 allowed clients to read the department’s decision online, compared to the 36 percent of services that have yet to move decisions online. Thirty-two percent of services have the potential for online authentication, but have not yet made the transition to digital, compared to the 24 percent of services that have. Similarly, 29 percent of services have the potential to allow users to register online, yet this service remains unavailable, compared to the 25 percent of services that allow online registration. And while 31 percent of services allowed clients to apply online, 30 percent of federal services require in-person or paper applications despite having the potential to allow clients to apply online. However, the federal government has since prioritized the digitization of high-volume services. Before the pandemic, roughly half of all applications for services received by the federal government were online, which increased to over 80 percent in 2020-21.80 This is commendable progress.

Before the pandemic, roughly half of all applications for services received by the federal government were online, which increased to over 80 percent in 2020-21.

Canada’s digital divide

In addition to many Government of Canada services remaining offline, Canadians across the country lack the ability to access the services that have been digitized. Among the three main components that make up the UN’s E-Government Development Index (EGDI), Canada scores the lowest on the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII). With a score of 0.77 out of a possible 1, Canada sits fifty-eighth out of the 193 countries included in the ranking–just above Croatia and just below Kuwait, and well below the leading countries of Liechtenstein, Denmark, Iceland, and Korea. Canada is also eclipsed by G7 peer countries such as the UK, Japan, Germany, France, and the United States.

When zooming in to the measures that comprise the TII, Canada scored the lowest when it comes to fixed-broadband subscriptions, which measures high-speed Internet connections with download speeds at, or exceeding, 256 kilobits per second (kbit/s) per 100 habitants. Canada also scores relatively low on measures of mobile Internet access, including: active-mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants with download speeds of at least 256 kbit/s, as well as mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Canada performs relatively high on the proportion of Internet users, with 97 percent of the population reporting using the Internet in the past three months.

Canada’s digital divide, which refers to the gaps in accessibility to digital technologies for different demographics and regions across the country, is stark and well documented—stemming from a lack of basic digital infrastructure, as well as a wide array of economic and social barriers that make it challenging or impossible to access digital technologies. Studies have shown that digital divides are embedded in “social, economic, and cultural contexts, and necessarily intersect with categories of race, class, gender, age, and so on.”81 According to one study, in order to close the digital divide, there are five key criteria that must be met:

1. Affordable, robust broadband Internet service
2. Internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user
3. Access to digital literacy training
4. Quality technical support
5. Applications and online content designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation, and collaboration82

Demographics of Canada’s digital divide

Infrastructure challenges associated with Canada’s vast land mass, along with existing economic, social, and skills barriers have resulted in significant discrepancies when it comes to Internet access and Internet quality for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, low-income households and older residents.83 84According to the Canada Internet Use Survey (CIUS) in 2018 and 2020, 94 percent of Canadian households had Internet access. For urban residents, this increased to 95 percent of households in 2020, up one percentage point from 2018. In contrast, 88 percent of rural households had access to the Internet–a decline of roughly two percentage points from 2018.

The urban-rural digital divide becomes even more stark when examining Internet quality. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) set a goal for 90 percent of Canadian homes and businesses to have access to Internet with speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads (50/10) by 2021–with the remaining 10 percent of the population to achieve this access target by 2030. In 2022, 93.5 percent of households have access to at least 50/10 broadband coverage.85 However, there remains 1.3 million households without coverage-the vast majority in rural areas, where only 62 percent of households have access to this standard of Internet. Nearly 24,000 (or over 51 percent of households) in the North do not have access to 50/10 broadband, a figure which increases to 76,000 (or nearly 57 percent of households) in First Nations reserves.86

Nearly 24,000 (or over 51 percent of households) in the North do not have access to 50/10 broadband, a figure which increases to 76,000 (or nearly 57 percent of households) in First Nations reserves.

While the lack of sufficient broadband infrastructure across much of Canada is a major root cause of the country’s digital divide, Internet affordability as well as access to necessary hardware such as computers, tablets, and routers can impede access to necessary digital services. Canada’s Internet services are comparatively expensive. According to one international study, out of 62 countries surveyed, Canada ranked as the fifth most expensive for Internet with speeds of 100 Mbps.87 A 2021 federal government study, comparing Canada with its G7 countries plus Australia, showed Canada as the third most expensive for Internet speeds up to 100 Mbps, with an average monthly price of nearly $78.88 One contributing factor many commentators have pointed to is a lack of competition in the Canadian telecommunications industry–where five companies account for 87 percent of revenue in the industry.89

For lower-income households, the result is prohibitively high Internet costs, disproportionately impacting certain individuals. One study showed that four percent of households in the bottom quartile of the income distribution did not have access to the Internet, compared to one percent of the population as a whole.90 For seniors (aged 65+), only 54 percent with incomes under $20,000 reported Internet use, compared to 73 percent of those with incomes between $60,000 and $79,000 and 79 percent of those with incomes over $100,000.91

One contributing factor many commentators have pointed to is a lack of competition in the Canadian telecommunications industry–where five companies account for 87 percent of revenue in the industry.

A 2020 study that surveyed 2,500 residents in Toronto found that two percent of the population reported not having access to the Internet. The cost of Internet services and the lack of devices were the most commonly cited reasons for not having Internet access. And despite the high proportion of Torontonians reporting having access to the Internet, 38 percent of those surveyed report speeds below the CRTC’s 50/10 speed target; this includes more than half of Toronto’s low-income households, with incomes less than $30,000, and 48 percent of households whose residents are aged 60 or over. When asked about whether individuals worry about being able to pay their home Internet bill over the next few months, the majority of Toronto’s low-income households are worried–a sentiment which is highest among those who identify as Latin American, South Asian, Black, and Southeast Asian.

Basic digital literacy is also a fundamental prerequisite for accessing digital services and navigating an increasingly digital society. [n]While trends suggest that digital literacy skills are increasing–enabling individuals to become more proficient in their use of digital technologies – barriers still persist for certain individuals, especially those who are older or less educated. Using data from Statistics Canada’s CIUS, from 2018 to 2020 the proportion of Canadians who identified as non-users or basic users of digital technologies fell by almost five percent, from roughly 24 to roughly 19 percent of the population. While the share of individuals aged 65 and over who identified as non-users or basic users of digital technologies declined from 62 to 48 percent, they still accounted for 64 percent of non-users and 49 percent of basic users. Similarly, though the share of individuals with high school or less education who were basic or non-users declined by 11 percentage points from 2018 to 2020, they still accounted for almost two-thirds of non-users and half of basic users in 2020.92 Digital literacy skills are also essential for safely navigating an increasingly digital society; according to the CIUS, 58 percent of Canadians were involved in some form of cyber security incident, an increase of six percent from 2018.93

Basic digital literacy is also a fundamental prerequisite for accessing digital services and navigating an increasingly digital society.

How is the Government of Canada addressing the digital divide?

The Government of Canada has recognized the significance of the digital divide across Canada and is actively attempting to close it. In 2019, Canada’s Connectivity Strategy was announced, targeting 98 percent of Canadians having access to 50/10 Internet by 2026 and 100 percent connectivity by 2030.94 The federal budget that year dedicated $1.7 billion to funding high-speed Internet in rural and remote communities.95 In 2020, the Universal Broadband Fund was launched with $3.225 billion to support high-speed Internet projects across Canada–awarding up to $750 million for large, high-impact projects and up to $50 million for smaller mobile projects that primarily benefit Indigenous Canadians.96 Federal funding for broadband has increased to $3.6 billion for 2022-23, an increase of $934 million from the previous year.97 However, some critics estimate that it will cost up to $6 billion to roll out broadband access to all Canadians.98

To lower the cost of Internet for Canadians, the CRTC is once again looking to initiate competition in the telecommunications industry by imposing an immediate 10 percent reduction on some wholesale rates–the rates that smaller companies have to pay to access the larger telecoms infrastructure–and launching a consultation to inform a future plan to “increase competition, create more choice and lower prices.”99 In addition, the Government of Canada’s Connecting Families initiative is working with a voluntary group of Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer $20/month high-speed Internet to low-income families who receive the maximum Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and low-income seniors who receive the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). This program was launched in 2017 and has thus far supported 82,000 families.100 The federal government has also invested significantly in digital literacy skills; in 2022, $17.6 million was allocated to the Digital Literacy Exchange Program (DLEP), which will support initiatives in providing digital literacy training to Canadians who face barriers to participating in a digital economy.101

The Government of Canada has recognized the significance of the digital divide across Canada and is actively attempting to close it.

Conclusion

Digital advances and the availability of digital services have allowed many Canadians to perform all of their daily tasks from the comfort of their home–digital services now meet Canadians where they are, and when they are needed. To meet expectations, services must be accessible, efficient, customized, and entirely user-friendly. These expectations now extend to government services. It is no longer sufficient for the federal government to only digitize certain aspects of a service or require an individual to sign-in to multiple platforms and fill out multiple forms to perform often interrelated tasks. Government digital services must meet, and sometimes even exceed, those offered by the private sector.

However, as is often the case, there is a large gap between expectations and reality. How well has the Government of Canada been able to adopt digital technology to improve its business processes and meet citizen’s expectations? This report examined the level of digital maturity across the federal public service, while exploring why, in some cases, those services are not as advanced as they could be. By looking at this issue through three lenses – digital culture, digital skills, and digital access – this report reveals a picture of lagging performance, as well as insights into the challenges the federal government faces when it comes to improving its digital maturity.

This report highlights that while the federal government has been able to establish a strong institutional foundation for digital government, it often struggles to coordinate digital services across departments, and to offer end-to-end digital experiences that meet increasingly complex user-expectations. To be fair, the federal government has many additional requirements and must meet higher thresholds of security, accessibility, and equity compared to the private sector. Still, the government faces a number of interrelated hurdles. The federal government struggles to incorporate modern digital practices and a tolerance for risk into the architecture of the bureaucracy, including agile project management and user-centred design. Individual departments often struggle to plan for and manage aging legacy systems and large IT projects–and are often reliant on external contractors instead of internal expertise to deliver projects. This combined with existing procurement practices has resulted in digital transformation that is driven by large, lengthy and risky RFPs led by a handful of multinational corporations, along with a federal public service that lacks the digital, design, and managerial skills and capacity needed to drive their own digital transformation. On top of these challenges, unlike many private sector companies, the federal government must also work to ensure that all Canadians have the infrastructure, tools, and capacity to access their digital services and participate in a digital society. Yet despite considerable efforts to ensure Canadians have the skills and infrastructure to use digital technology, there exists considerable digital divides for many Canadians–particularly rural, remote and Indigenous communities—along with older Canadians and those with lower levels of income and less education.

Despite these challenges, the federal government has the potential to improve its overall digital maturity along each of the three lenses – digital culture, digital skills, and digital access. This report outlines a roadmap, providing high-level recommendations to help guide departments across the federal government to improve their digital capacity and ultimately provide digital services that are designed and delivered with Canadians’ needs and expectations in mind.

The federal government has the potential to improve its overall digital maturity along each of the three lenses – digital culture, digital skills, and digital access.