On July 27, 2021, following the successful completion of the Exploratory Phase with the Department of Canadian Heritage, the government announced the expansion of NextGen pay and HR system testing to two federal organizations with complex scheduling and pay needs, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. These are some of the most challenging pay groups in the core public administration.
NextGen testing with Canadian Heritage will also continue as the organization provides a good representation of the government’s Human Resources (HR) challenges.
In addition, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED-Q) will undertake user testing from the perspective of French language employees, managers and HR professionals. Testing with CED-Q will also evaluate whether small and regional government organizations with headquarters outside of the NCR will be served equally well by the proposed new software.
All testing takes place in parallel with existing HR and Pay systems in a controlled environment that is completely separate from the current pay system. Our members will continue to be paid through the current pay system while testing takes place.
A number of workshops will be held with testers starting in the near future and our members will be invited to participate.
Senior project officials have assured us that any new pay system won’t launch unless it has been proven to work in thorough testing. While we have some concerns over some of its Cloud-based elements, we understand that it is being built with all possible security measures.
We will continue to update members on NextGen developments in the months to come.