The redesign of the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator A case of the Employment and Social Development Canada

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1 Good Practices in Social Security Good practice in operation since: 2014 The redesign of the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator A case of the Employment and Social Development Canada Special mention, ISSA Good Practice Award - Americas competition 2016 Employment and Social Development Canada Canada Published

2 1 Summary In 2014, the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator (CRIC) was redesigned to align with the recent reforms to the public pension programmes while taking advantage of the latest web tools. The CRIC was transformed into a dynamic, mobile-accessible application which received much acclaim. In line with the Government of Canada's National Strategy for Financial Literacy, the modernized CRIC helps individuals plan for their retirement; and it promotes both financial literacy and awareness of Canada's public pensions. CRITERIA 1 What was the issue/problem/challenge addressed by your good practice? Planned in the late 1990s, the old CRIC went live on the Service Canada website in 2002 to provide information for Canadians wishing to estimate various sources of retirement income, including those from public pensions (Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security). While the CRIC had been active on the departmental website since 2002, it was not user-friendly, and was slow to respond to input. The CRIC was not consistent with modern web technologies as it had been designed before the widespread use of smartphones and tablets. Therefore, performance on those devices was limited. Given these challenges - plus the Government's increasing move to online service offerings and Canadians' higher expectations of web-based services - it was time to bring the CRIC up to date. CRITERIA 2 What were the main objectives and the expected outcomes? The main objectives for the redesigning of the CRIC was to: 1. provide a user friendly electronic platform that clarifies the Retirement Income System, especially public pensions such as the Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan programs, in a straightforward fashion; 2. ensure that individuals have accessible up-to-date information for retirement planning; and 3. help the Government meet its commitment of strengthening the financial literacy of current and future seniors. The expected outcome of the redesign project was to produce an innovative, efficient and userfriendly electronic information solution on the Retirement Income System which is accessible

3 2 in multiple formats, including on mobile devices and remains technologically up-to-date for years to come. CRITERIA 3 What is the innovative approach/strategy followed to achieve the objectives? The impetus for CRIC modernization came out of the Old Age Security reform announced in A commitment to monitor the ability of Canadians to adapt to changes in the age of eligibility for the Old Age Security pension emerged as a complex requirement of this change. In response, the Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat decided to look beyond traditional data sources and approaches for new ways not only to support the changes but to see how Canadians might respond to them. The existing CRIC provided a platform to manage information to support the requirements, but it had not kept pace with the evolution of Web-based tools. The widespread use of new electronic tools, including mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, demanded that we embrace the technologies that are now commonplace for Canadians. The application also had to be updated to be consistent with Common Look and Feel guidelines and other Government of Canada requirements. The redesigned CRIC is not only legislatively up to date, but will work comfortably in the Government's online environment for years to come. The Minister of State (Seniors) also took advantage of the launch of the redesigned CRIC to give profile publicly to both the department's and the Government's contributions in Strengthening Seniors' Financial Literacy, Phase I of the Government of Canada's National Strategy for Financial Literacy. CRITERIA 4 Have the resources and inputs been used in an optimal way to achieve the set objectives and the expected outcomes? Please specify what internal or external evaluations of the practice have taken place and what impact/results have been identified/achieved so far. The project was a horizontal collaboration amongst policy, research, programme, technology, communication, client service and service delivery branches within the department of Employment and Social Development. A "development" team as well as an "implementation" team were established and chaired by the project authority, the Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat. Over a number of months, the Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat provided policy and research leadership, coordinated work and input from several branches on a regular basis, including groups in Innovation, Information and Technology Branch, Strategic and Service Policy Branch, Processing and Payment Services Branch, Citizen Service Branch and the Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations Branch. The Seniors and Pensions Policy Secretariat organized and chaired bi-weekly calls with both the "development" and

4 3 "implementation" teams to ensure that deadlines were met, relevant information was shared, problems were identified and solutions were found. The prototype was rigorously tested and reviewed no fewer than eight times during the summer and fall of This was done to ensure not only that the CRIC experience was stable, understandable and enjoyable for the user, but also that its functionality and the estimates it produced were of the highest quality. The calculator was presented and demonstrated over a dozen times to various groups within the department, including Income Security and Social Development-Branch Executive Committee, the Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development, as well as the Offices of the Minister of State (Seniors) and the Minister of Employment and Social Development. All constructive feedback received was promptly integrated into final product. External demonstrations and information on the project were also shared with colleagues from other government departments, including the Department of Finance and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Promotion of the tool focused on the financial literacy perspective, as the modernization of the CRIC satisfied a commitment to support electronic retirement planning tools as part of the Seniors Financial Literacy Strategy. Since its launch the calculator has attracted attention, with the Globe and Mail writing about it as an example of efficient service delivery. In addition, it has already produced over 70,000 unique retirement planning sessions. These sessions serve two purposes: increasing awareness of our retirement income programmes while simultaneously delivering information directly to individuals. CRITERIA 5 What lessons have been learned? To what extent would your good practice be appropriate for replication by other social security institutions? Given the popularity of the CRIC, and with increasing numbers of individuals approaching retirement, the demand for modern electronic tools is ever-increasing. In just the first weeks of its launch period, the improvements to the functionality and aesthetics of the CRIC resulted in doubling the number of completed sessions on a daily basis. The redesigned CRIC also make it easier for the department to educate Canadians about public pension benefits, because the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security modules are highly detailed in their estimation methods. The redesigned tool also has a significant amount of contextual help on major aspects of retirement income as well as pertinent links to important supporting sources. Providing information to individuals on their country's Retirement Income System via an innovative, user-friendly close to hand electronic tool is an efficient way for governments to educate their aging population about public pension benefits and enhance the financial literacy of individuals, and particularly those approaching their retirement years. Seeing how

5 4 individuals interact with the tool as they consider their retirement finances could provide insights to governments in understanding of the role of financial literacy in decision-making.