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
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.
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.
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.