Case Study: National Resources Canada

The Challenge

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is a Canadian federal government agency that seeks to enhance the responsible development and use of Canada’s natural resources and the competitiveness of Canada’s natural resources products. NRCan provides a range services to Canadians, in support of this mandate including energy efficiency programs, climate change programs, sustainable forest management, sustainable mineral management, earthquake research grants and funding.

As with many government agencies, over time, NRCan has developed a variety of data base applications that support the many services it provides to Citizens. At the same time, increased public demand for Internet based services is creating pressure for NRCan to implement a “Digital Strategy” to provide consistent electronic service delivery, across all service areas to improve service delivery to its clients. NRCan determined that the extensive range of legacy database base software applications supporting its business areas for grants and funding programs, regulatory programs, and internal services, were increasingly expensive to maintain. Moreover, the legacy technology base would not support a modern digital strategy to improve the efficient delivery, and effectiveness of their programs and services.

The Result

The main business benefit for NRCan has been the reduction in paperwork which has allowed staff to manage their caseloads more effectively, and to have increased electronic engagement with clients. Staff can now use the system for every point of contact, from an initial online service request then through the complete cycle of service with each client, regardless of the service type. “This has resulted in a full trace of decisions, communication and activities with clients.” 

Early success was another benefit of NRCan’s solution implementation approach. The project Team was able to establish an agency-wide platform, and onboard the first program service within seven months. Since the initial implementation NRCan now continues to ramp-up additional business areas, with expedited timelines. In particular, NRCan has been able to leverage its re-usable solution app for Grants & Contributions to launch a new program in to full operation in under four weeks!

This project has resulted in a sustainable technology platform the provides NRCan IT staff with the ability to future-proof its Information Technology investment for the strategic automation of digitized online services to its clients. 

Another benefit of this new digital services platform is that it streamlines NRCan service delivery, improves efficiency in program delivery, and leads to better program results for Canadians. “NRCan can now process large quantities of service requests in less time.” 

NRCan has successfully implemented a cloud-ready foundation supporting an agency-wide Digital Strategy to evolve NRCan electronic service delivery into the future, with a high-quality customer experience. Through this responsive digital platform, based on an advanced client and case management technology platform, NRCan can onboard a new electronic service, for a business area, in under 4 weeks, or enhance existing electronic services, as required, to meet the ever-changing objectives of the Agency.