Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, everyone.
It is a great pleasure to be here with you today.
to discuss the 2023-24 supplementary estimates (B) as they relate to the Citizens' Services portfolio.
Before I start, since this is my first appearance, it gives me great pleasure to be at this committee, especially with a British Columbian in the chair. It makes me feel at home, so I'm happy to be here.
The creation of a new ministry to serve as the Government of Canada's champion for service delivery excellence comes with a mandate I take very seriously.
First and foremost, it's to place Canadians at the centre of how we design and deliver their services.
Business does this naturally. Competition ensures that products and services are regularly simplified and improved. We must eliminate repetitive paperwork and the need to stand in line or to wait on hold. We must adopt new technology to improve the customer service experience that meets the unique needs of Canadians, whether they are in rural Manitoba, the Arctic, P.E.I., or downtown Vancouver.
If I was to describe my mandate in the simplest possible terms, it encompasses dental, digital and customer service. “Dental” is code in some ways, as it includes not just the onboarding of nine million Canadians onto the largest benefit program in Canadian history but also the delivery of Canada's largest digitalization transformation project through the benefits delivery modernization programme, or BDM.
OAS, EI and CPP benefits represent $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years and 39% of the annual federal budget.
I'm also the minister responsible for Service Canada, as well as the Canadian digital service.
The government was pleased to launch the first phase of the Canadian dental care plan on December 11. As of this morning, more than 500,000 seniors are now enrolled in the program in every province and territory.