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Table 9 : Status Report on Major Crown Project

GLOBAL CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GCMS)

Description

The GCMS is a multi year program that will replace several aging, archaic and incompatible core business systems of CIC and the CBSA, some of which are 30 years old and support over 240 points of service across Canada and around the world. It is an integrated, case-management-based set of applications and infrastructure components that will support the client operations of CIC and the CBSA.

Once in place, the GCMS will improve overall program integrity, effectiveness and client service delivery. It will also facilitate communications and data sharing between CIC and the CBSA and with our other partners for the purposes of the administration of the IRPA. In addition, the GCMS will provide the technological foundation to support new business initiatives and capitalize on innovative technology by replacing outdated systems that are extremely difficult to support and maintain.

Project Phase: The GCMS Project is currently in a review phase with continuing work on improving the quality of the system

Lead Department: Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Participating Agency: Canada Border Services Agency
Contracting Authority: Public Works and Government Services Canada
Prime Contractor: Accenture Inc., 160 Elgin Street, Suite 2100, Ottawa, ON K2P 2C4


Major Milestones

Date

Treasury Board approves full funding for the GCMS project at the same time as CIC’s Treasury Board submission on the implementation of policy reforms and the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

August 2000

Treasury Board grants preliminary project approval and major Crown project designation to the GCMS.

March 2001

Treasury Board grants Effective Project Approval (EPA) to the GCMS.

January 2002

Request for proposal for the acquisition of a commercial, case management off-the-shelf software package posted for tender by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

February 2002

Contract for the case management off-the-shelf software package awarded.

March 2003

Business modelling and high level requirements completed.

May 2003

Treasury Board grants Amended Effective Project Approval to the GCMS.

October 2003

The first GCMS business component (Citizenship) is implemented.

September 2004

Treasury Board grants a second amendment to the EPA.

September 2005

Preliminary findings of the System Under Development Audit of the GCMS project are available at the time of the amended EPA submission, and the final report is presented in November 2005.

November 2005

Treasury Board approves a technical amendment to the EPA.

December 2006

Development of the remaining GCMS functionality.

Ongoing

Treasury Board grants a third amendment to the EPA.

February 2007

Implementation of the remaining GCMS functionality.

Under review


Progress Report and Explanation of Variances

  • Preliminary project approval was obtained from Treasury Board on March 1, 2001, with a planned cost of $194.8 million (excluding GST).
  • EPA was obtained from Treasury Board on January 31, 2002, with a planned cost of $194.8 million (excluding GST) and a completion date of March 31, 2005.
  • Shortly after the preliminary project approval, a decision was made to acquire and configure a commercial client relationship management software package rather than custom develop the functionality required for the GCMS. This necessitated a lengthy competitive procurement process that began in March 2001, with an expected completion date of July 1, 2002. Cumulative procurement and contracting delays beyond CIC control, totalling nine months, prevented the contract from being awarded until March 26, 2003. This delay affected activities and resources highly dependent on the outcome of the procurement process. While the project took steps to mitigate the impact of the delay, the cost of the delay was assessed at $7.8 million.
  • Approval of an amended EPA was obtained from Treasury Board on October 9, 2003. In recognition of the impact of the procurement delay, Treasury Board increased the project spending authority by $7.8 million to $202.6 million (excluding GST). Subsequent implementation plans addressed the impact of the procurement delay and adjusted the overall project completion date to December 31, 2005.
  • The transfer of certain CIC functions to the newly created CBSA beginning in December 2003, as well as lessons learned from the first GCMS deployment in September 2004, necessitated further adjustments to the GCMS project plan. These changes formed the basis of a second amendment to the EPA, granted by Treasury Board in September 2005, and resulted in a net increase of $40.2 million to the project budget over two additional fiscal years, for a total budget of $242.8 million (excluding GST) between fiscal years 2000–2001 and 2007–2008. The increase includes approved new functionalities related to security that were not in the original project ($6.2 million) and a $16.3 million contingency. Despite significant schedule adjustments, the forecast variance over original project objectives, excluding the procurement delay, funded scope changes and contingency, was about 10%.
  • In preparing for the September 2005 amended EPA, the TBS requested that a System under Development Audit (SUD) be performed on the GCMS. Preliminary audit findings were available at the time of the amended EPA submission, and final SUD audit results were released in November 2005. The SUD suggested that the project management team bring more discipline into some project management elements. All of the SUD audit recommendations have been accepted and corrective actions have been taken.
  • CIC and CBSA are currently reconsidering implementation options as a result of an independent review conducted in December 2006. The review recommended that the project take the time to conduct a project quality verification and options analysis. As a result, in February 2007, CIC sought and received Treasury Board’s authorization to revise the amended EPA to allow for this work to take place, bringing the total budget to $277.0 million (excluding GST) or $290.9 million (including GST) until October 31, 2007. The results of the project quality verification and options analysis will be taken into consideration in developing a revised implementation plan to ensure a successful completion of the GCMS and the safest possible implementation worldwide.