More money needed to ‘stabilize’ pay system

OTTAWA — MPs are being asked to approve more spending for “stabilization” of the government’s problem-plagued electronic pay system, including a $14-million loan to the unions representing civil servants.

At the same time, government employees are being warned not to overload government computers with requests for the T4 slips they’ll need to file their 2017 tax returns.

Spending estimates tabled this week in the House of Commons tally the additional expenses related to the Phoenix system at about $186 million, most of which is earmarked for hiring new pay advisers.

However, only $76.3 million of that is new spending, say officials with Public Services and Procurement Canada, which oversees the pay system.

Of that amount, $56.4 million would be spent essentially hiring new people and buying computers and software.

If approved by Parliament, the new funding will bring the total cost for Phoenix to nearly $788 million, including the initial $309 million used to set up the system and $402 million the government said last May that it needed to bring the Phoenix system to a so-called “steady state.”

Since it was launched in early 2016, more than half of all civil servants — roughly 193,000 people — have experienced problems with their paycheques, including being underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

The government has experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified workers for its pay offices in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Miramichi, N.B.