Quebec court approves Phoenix pay system settlement
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On April 15, the Superior Court of Quebec approved the settlement of a class action lawsuit launched on behalf of the workers who suffered hardship due to pay issues with the system. The settlement will pay $350 to workers affected between 2016-17 and $175 for the preceding three years. The maximum an eligible worker can receive is $875.
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The federal government settled the class action lawsuit late last year.
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Ezmie Bouchard, who worked at Passport Canada in 2016, was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was launched in 2017. Bouchard claimed that she received $4,800 less than what she should have because of mistakes on her pay cheques. The lawsuit said she was then overpaid and had to repay $1,000 to the government.
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Unionized employees were excluded from the authorized judgment, and were subject to a separate agreement between the federal government and their unions. In 2020, Canada's largest public service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, reached an agreement that gave 140,000 workers $2,5000 in compensation each.
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Nine years into the debacle, the work to clear a massive backlog of pay issues is ongoing. As of March 26, the Phoenix backlog had 349,000 transactions remaining to be processed.
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The cost of Phoenix's failure has been ballooning. Since 2017, the government has spent at least $3.5 billion on the Phoenix pay system.
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The government has spent more than $150 million since 2018 looking into a platform to replace Phoenix. A February 2024 report found that Dayforce was being considered as a 'viable option' for the next HR and pay system.
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A decision on whether the federal government will move to Dayforce was delayed until after the election. The federal government had said it would make a decision on whether to adopt Dayforce in March, but that timeline was disrupted by the caretaker convention that is activated during an election.
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17-07-2025
Did federal workers cost Poilievre his job? Top union boss says it's more about Trump
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Edmonton Journal
17-07-2025
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Vancouver Sun
11-07-2025
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By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Any cuts to staff, said DeSousa, will have consequences. 'What it actually means is that you're looking to cut jobs, which means cutting services — end of story,' DeSousa said. 'It will mean longer wait times. It means that we're not going to be able to deliver on the programs that are a priority to us, and I think everyone is going to be impacted.' 'What we're talking about is employment insurance. We're talking about veterans who are looking for services. We're talking about an aging population who is looking to get guidance as to how to receive their benefits. It's going to impact people looking for passports.' 'There's not one area that's not going to be affected,' she added. 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