Benefits system contracts grew by $403M, records show

Two of the largest contracts in Ottawa’s effort to replace the aging computer systems behind Old Age Security and Employment Insurance have grown by a combined $403 million through amendments, federal contract records show.

A contract with Accenture to move Employment Insurance onto the new platform was signed in February 2025 for $94.3 million. By June 2026, after nine amendment reports, it was worth $327.8 million, more than three times its original value, with almost four years left to run.

A contract with Deloitte to move Old Age Security onto the same platform, signed in May 2022 for $193.9 million, stood at $363.1 million after 32 amendment reports.

Together, the two contracts have grown from $288.2 million to $691 million, a 140 per cent increase, according to a Canada News Media analysis of the government’s proactive disclosure data.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) did not respond to detailed questions sent Oct. 26 by the Oct. 28 deadline.

The contracts are part of ESDC’s Benefits Delivery Modernization program, which is replacing decades-old systems that pay pensions and benefits. An ESDC note says the program’s estimated $6.6-billion cost is about 0.5 per cent of a projected $1.6 trillion in benefit payouts. The House of Commons public accounts committee is holding hearings on the program. Officials told MPs on Oct. 5 that the program’s spending authority has risen from $1.75 billion in 2017 to $6.6 billion, and that $2 billion had been spent as of June 30, 2026.

The two contracts belong to a larger group. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) pre-qualified four “master systems integrators” for the program: Accenture, CGI, Deloitte and Fujitsu. In December 2023, the department told the public accounts committee that “the combined cumulative value of contracts awarded to the 4 System Integrators is currently $409.7 million.”

Canada News Media found 33 contracts that ESDC labels as modernization work with those four firms. Their latest reported values add up to $858.7 million, more than twice the 2023 figure. Deloitte’s 11 contracts account for $401.8 million and Accenture’s eight for $394.3 million.

The two figures may not be calculated the same way. Published contract values generally include sales tax, and the 2023 figure may not have. In March 2026, PSPC told a House committee that Deloitte’s Old Age Security work was worth $315.3 million before taxes, a figure consistent with the $363 million in the disclosure records once tax is added.

PSPC, the contracting authority, did not respond by the Oct. 28 deadline to questions sent Oct. 26 about today’s comparable figure for the four integrators and whether the 2023 figure included tax.

The Accenture contract covers planning, design, building, testing, launching and then maintaining Employment Insurance on the new system through March 2030. It was awarded through a competition among the pre-qualified firms.

The largest single increase, $64.3 million, was reported for the July-to-September 2025 quarter. Two more amendments totalling $89.3 million were reported for April to June 2026. ESDC onboarded its first Employment Insurance benefit, compassionate care for the self-employed, in November 2025. Most Employment Insurance benefits are still to come, and officials told the committee the Canada Pension Plan migration has not received funding authority.

Accenture did not respond to questions sent Oct. 26 by the Oct. 28 deadline.

Deloitte’s contract was due to end on Sept. 30, 2025. Old Age Security moved to the new system in March 2025, and the contract has since been extended to July 2026 and increased further.

The move has been rocky for some seniors. Officials told the committee that as of Sept. 30, 2026, about 33,000 clients had not received their first Old Age Security payment within their first month of eligibility, a 60 per cent decrease from the end of January.

Deloitte did not respond to questions sent Oct. 26 by the Oct. 28 deadline.

The records do not show any rule was broken. Both contracts were competed among pre-qualified suppliers. They are task-authorization contracts, which are often signed at a modest value and increased as each phase of work is approved, and each record notes that the amount actually paid “may be less than the amount proactively published.” The program’s budget has been re-set by Treasury Board, and some of the added value may reflect that approved scope rather than overruns. ESDC has told MPs it expects the program to cost less than the $6.6 billion forecast.

The records also do not say how much has actually been paid to either firm. The $858.7-million total counts only contracts ESDC labels as modernization work, so it is a floor, and the comparison with the 2023 figure is indicative only.

Canada News Media asked ESDC, PSPC, Accenture and Deloitte on Oct. 26 to explain the increases and say how much has been spent, with a deadline of 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 28. None responded by the deadline.

Canada News Media has previously reported on the cost of fixing the Phoenix payroll system, another large federal IT project.

How we did this. Canada News Media downloaded the federal “Contracts over $10,000” database from open.canada.ca on Oct. 23, 2026. Because departments file a new report every time a contract is amended, we grouped reports by procurement number and compared each contract’s original value with its value in the most recent quarterly report. We first ranked contracts with the largest consulting firms by dollar growth since 2021; ESDC’s Accenture and Deloitte modernization contracts ranked first and second. To total the four integrators’ modernization work, we counted ESDC contracts whose descriptions mention the Benefits Delivery Modernization program, so any contract not labelled that way is not included. Published values are generally maximums and include tax; they are not amounts paid.

Sources: contract records for Accenture, original (4500014985), Accenture, latest amendment, Deloitte, original (4500009994) and Deloitte, latest amendment; the Contracts over $10,000 dataset; PSPC remarks to the public accounts committee, Dec. 14, 2023; PSPC briefing, March 26, 2026; ESDC note PA-SD_003_20260106; The Hub, Oct. 7, 2026.

With reporting by a Canada News Media contributor.

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