OTTAWA – The public servant leading the transition away from the federal government’s error-prone Phoenix pay system says he is stepping down because the team no longer needs him.
Alex Benay, associate deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, said in a LinkedIn post announcing his departure Wednesday that the backlog of Phoenix cases older than a year and the overall queue of complaints are at their lowest levels ever.
He said his team is now equipped to remove the “dark stain” of Phoenix from the government’s record.
Phoenix centralized pay services for most federal employees a decade ago, but it has been plagued by problems that left many public servants facing delayed or incorrect payments. Ottawa is now transitioning to a new pay system, Dayforce.
“We have built an amazing team who will put an end to the (Phoenix) failure, once and for all, as long as they continue to be supported by both political and civil service leadership,” Benay wrote.
Benay’s exit comes days after Canada’s auditor general said Ottawa is running out of time to clear the Phoenix backlog to avoid carrying those problems into Dayforce.
That report, released Monday, said the government has made “limited progress” on eliminating a backlog of pay transactions that stood at more than 233,000 and affected at least 133,000 employees as of Sept. 30, 2025.
The backlog includes all transactions that were not processed within service standards.
Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound told reporters on Parliament Hill Thursday that Benay’s decision to leave was “entirely personal and had nothing to do with the auditor general’s report.”
“I’ll just take the opportunity to thank Alex Benay for the amazing work he has done laying the foundations for the transition from Phoenix to a new system, Dayforce,” he said.
Benay did not respond to questions sent over LinkedIn on Thursday.
He told a press conference earlier this month that public servants looking to take up the government’s early retirement program are right to be worried about potential issues with Phoenix.
“I’d say they’re right to be concerned,” Benay said. “I mean, the track record being what it is.”
Benay also said the government has a plan to deal with an influx of cases involving severance pay.
Lightbound said in a news conference Monday it’s clear the pay system needs to be free of errors before the transition and there is still work to do.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2026.
— with files from Catherine Morrison
