Start your capital project
Learn how to start the capital portion of your project and create your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) after receiving your funding letter from the Deputy Ministers’ Committee on Digital and Data (DMCDD) or delegate.
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When to expect your funding letter
It generally takes 2 to 3 weeks to receive a decision on your funding request after:
- Submitting your business case (for funding requests below the DMCDD threshold)
- Presenting to the DMCDD (for funding requests presented to and approved by the DMCDD)
I’ve received verbal approval, but I don’t have my funding letter yet
A common challenge we see with project teams is a delayed start to project work. If you haven’t received your funding letter yet, there are still things you can do to prepare to receive your funding.
Remember, you can’t capitalize any expenses before you receive your funding letter. If you make any purchases before receiving your letter, they’re considered operating expenses and are paid by your ministry’s operating budget. Once you receive your funding letter, you can start to make capital purchases for your project.
In the meantime, here are 3 crucial things you can do to get started.
Initiate procurement
You can start procuring necessary items and services, like hosting, networking and government communications support. Make sure the deadline to cancel the procurement is at least a few weeks after you expect to receive your funding letter. If an issue arises and your funding is delayed or declined, you can cancel the procurement.
Your ministry contact can help you find and procure the items and services you need.
Identify and onboard your project team
Start to identify the internal delivery team for your project. If you need to hire staff to form the team, you should start that process.
There are restrictions on capitalizing salaries.
Begin privacy and security requirements
Contact your Ministry Privacy Officer (MPO) and Ministry Information Security Officer (MISO) to determine what is required to complete the privacy and security requirements for your project.
I’ve received my funding letter
Your funding letter outlines the details of your funding and your responsibilities for reporting on the project, and specifies any conditions you need to meet.
Capital Investment Assurance
All capital projects are required to comply with the Digital Investment Assurance and Support Framework, as detailed in the project’s Assurance and Support Plan.
When the decision maker approved your project, they also approved assurance activities as part of their decision. Assurance activities are determined according to the specific complexity and risk level of each project. They range from regular financial and performance reporting (including Key Performance Indicators) to more intensive Project Health Checks for projects with higher risk levels.
Initial briefing
The initial briefing is a meeting between the Digital Investment Office (DIO), the Ministry CIO or their delegate, and the project’s Responsible Executive Director. The DIO will schedule the Initial Briefing soon after your project is approved for capital funding. At the meeting, you will review the project’s funding letter and assurance plan. You don’t need to prepare anything for the meeting.
The initial briefing agenda includes:
Roles and responsibilities
A brief overview of IM/IT capital roles and responsibilities. You can find more information in the Roles and Responsibilities for IM/IT capital projects.
Funding letter
We’ll review your project’s funding letter and any funding conditions.
Assurance and Support Plan
We will provide and review the draft Assurance and Support plan for your project. This document outlines your project’s tier classification, scheduled assurance activities, and the reasoning behind any assurance activities that exceed the minimum requirements for the project’s assigned tier.
- Learn more about the Assurance and Support Plan
KPIs
We’ll discuss the requirements for KPIs on your project, and resources to help you create them.
Additional items
These include any questions or agenda items from your ministry.
Funding conditions
A condition is a requirement your project team must complete either by the date specified in the condition or by the end of the project. The DMCDD may withhold some or all of your project’s capital funding until the condition is met.
There are standard funding conditions that apply to every capital-funded project. For example, every project will have a funding condition related to the completion of KPIs.
Your funding approval may also have conditions that are specific to your project. The DIO will always discuss project-specific conditions with your ministry to ensure that the conditions and timing are feasible, and to ensure that the conditions are necessary.
Example conditions can include, but are not limited to:
- A report back related to a specific part of your project
- A request for your team or ministry to take specific action such as developing a common component
Make sure you understand your funding conditions. We strongly recommend setting reminders for key dates related to your funding conditions so you don’t miss important deliverables or due dates.
If you have questions about your funding letter, contact your DIO portfolio contact.
Measuring progress
In your business case, you created project outcome statements and success metrics for your project. Now it’s time to take those outcomes and metrics, refine them and create key performance indicators (KPIs).
Success metrics, KPIs and milestones are all ways to measure and track your project. Each serves a unique purpose.
Success metrics
Success metrics tell us if the desired outcome is being, or has been, achieved. You created these in your business case. For example:
- Increased online registrations
KPIs
KPIs help us understand how well your team is achieving the desired results. They are measurable and include baseline and target values. For example:
- Adoption of our online registration system will increase to 50% after the latest iteration of our website, up from the current 33% adoption rate
Milestones
Milestones are important points in the project lifecycle to mark when key stages have been achieved. If you have KPIs that you can’t measure until your product is finished or in use, we may ask you to identify milestones to demonstrate the progress of your project. For example:
- User acceptance testing will begin by March 15
Creating your KPIs
KPIs are based on the outcome and success metric statements you identified in your business case, with the addition of specific targets measured against baselines. KPIs should help you clearly define the benefits you want to realize from your project.
While writing your KPIs, remember that:
- Your project should have between 3 and 5 KPIs in total. Some short-term projects may have fewer.
- Aim for at least one KPI to be measurable during the life of the project
- Each outcome statement in your business case needs to have at least one KPI
- Strong KPIs are SMART
- A complete KPI has 4 components:
- Baseline
- Target measurement or milestone
- Target date
- Measurement method and frequency
You’ll use your KPIs over the lifetime of your project, including after your project launch, to evaluate how well your project is achieving its intended outcomes.
If your project’s progress cannot be measured incrementally during development, the DIO may ask you to create milestones for your project.
SMART KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
Specific
Your KPIs need to be well-defined, focusing on a particular outcome. They should clearly outline what is measured, how, and why it’s important.
Measurable
KPIs should be quantifiable, using straightforward metrics to accurately reflect performance and enable comparisons over time. Your KPI should indicate the direction of change you want to see: increase, decrease or maintain.
Achievable
Set realistic KPIs, considering available resources and current performance levels. They should be challenging yet attainable, encouraging your team’s progress.
Relevant
Align KPIs closely with your project’s outcomes and success metrics. They should offer insights into critical performance areas that significantly affect overall success. Each of your KPI statements should have a clear connection to the success metric statement it’s associated with.
Time bound
Assign a clear timeline to each KPI, setting a definite target for achievement and facilitating regular monitoring and adjustments.
KPI components
Each KPI you develop should have 4 components:
1. Baseline
Your KPI needs a baseline metric describing what is happening today. You’ll measure your future progress against this baseline.
If you are developing a new product or service, your baseline may be zero.
2. Target measurement (or milestone)
Your target is a quantifiable value for what you aim to achieve.
- Try to include at least one target that can be measured during the project’s lifecycle and reported regularly
- Many KPIs can only be measured after a project is completed and the asset goes into production. If this is the case, identify a project milestone that focuses on user impact instead. Aim for approximately one milestone per project year (they don’t need to be evenly spaced throughout the project)
- Targets are usually recorded as numerical values like baselines. For example: “The team’s target is to process 30 requests per day.”
3. Target date
This is the date you plan to achieve your target measurement by.
4. Measurement method and frequency
For each KPI, it’s crucial to define a consistent measurement method and determine the frequency of evaluation. Select a method that accurately reflects the KPI’s progress, whether through automated systems, surveys or manual counts.
The frequency of measurement may vary – daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly – depending on the KPI’s nature. It’s important to maintain a consistent approach to enable reliable trend analysis and comparisons. Be flexible to adjust your strategy if changes occur in the project, or if the initial method doesn’t effectively capture the necessary data.
Consider the following example: “By April 1, 2027, the average time it takes a customer to complete and submit applications will decrease to 2 days from the current 2 weeks.”
In this example,
- The baseline is “the current 2 weeks”
- The target measurement is “decrease to 2 days”
- The target date is April 1, 2027
- The measurement method is “the average time it takes a customer to complete and submit applications”
Building strong KPIs
Remember that your KPIs need to focus on what’s good for your project’s health. Reflect on your objectives for the project and then ask, “How can I measure that?”
- Try sharing the draft KPI with a colleague/friend who isn’t involved in the project. Does it make sense to them?
- If you need to adjust any of your KPIs later in the project, contact your DIO portfolio contact. For example, an approved change in the scope of your project may trigger changes in your KPIs. If this happens, we’ll work with you to revise your KPIs so they reflect the new scope
Developing effective KPIs for your project can be challenging. Collaborating with the DIO during the development of your KPIs can help, as the DIO may have examples to share from other investments. We recommend sharing a draft version of your KPIs with us prior to coordinating approvals.
Approvals and reporting
You’ll create your project’s KPIs in a KPI Reporting Table (.XLSX, 58KB). Later, you’ll use the same template to update on your progress.
Business Case Section
The DIO will pre-populate this section for you with the problem, outcome and success metric statements from your business case.
Post Funding Approval Section
In this section, you’ll capture each of the 4 components of your KPI.
Approvals
Your KPI Reporting Table must be approved by your project’s Responsible Executive Director.
You must include proof of their approval in your submission. Approvers can either:
- Apply a digital signature directly in the document
- Attach an email to your submission that states their approval
Once you’ve received the necessary approval, submit your KPI reporting table by email.
Remember, you can make changes to your KPIs as your project progresses. If you do, make sure you update your KPI Reporting Table and submit an updated version via email.
Reporting
You are responsible for reporting your project’s progress and status. Reporting helps keep the DIO and the DMCDD updated on your progress throughout the lifetime of your project.
Mandatory reporting requirements vary by project tier. Your funding letter and the project’s Assurance and Support Plan will inform you of any reporting requirements related to your project.
You’ll report the progress of your KPIs on a regular basis through ongoing engagement with the DIO. Most projects report on their KPIs annually. If your project is less than a year in duration, you may be required to report sooner, or indicate how the project achieved its outcomes in the close-out report.
Don’t forget, there are other steps you need to take to report on your project. Make sure you understand how and when to use each type of report.
Project setup
To avoid potential delays, make sure your ministry submits all the necessary documentation for your project. This includes Capital Planning System registration and a Work in Progress Asset Number request.
Register your project in the Capital Planning System
Ministries must register projects with a total value equal to or greater than $1,000,000 in the Treasury Board’s Capital Planning System. Work with your ministry contact to ensure your ministry registers your project.
Get your Work in Progress (WIP) asset number
You need a WIP asset number to record capital spend for your project. A Work-in-Progress (WIP) represents the cost incurred on a project to date. The DIO uses your WIP asset number to track project spending. Every time your ministry finance team transfers project invoices to the DIO, the journal voucher (JV) is recorded against your project’s WIP asset number.
Work with your ministry contact to confirm that your ministry has submitted a WIP asset number request form for your project.