GC Catalogue

Old Age Security Benefits Estimator

This case study reflects the key principles of the Digital Standard of "Iterate and improve frequently".

Learn more about Canada's Digital Standards and what it means to iterate and improve frequently.

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Background

In 2022, Service Canada set out to develop the Old Age Security (OAS) Benefits Estimator. It gives citizens and legal residents of Canada a simple way to determine if they are eligible for OAS pension, Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), Allowance, and Allowance for the Survivor. The goal was clear: to help clients understand their entitlements and give them a reliable estimate of what they may receive. The product manager emphasized that “to continue meeting user needs, it was important for us to test early and iterate.”

Challenge

Once the product was launched, the team committed to regularly collecting feedback, testing the tool, and improving it to keep meeting user needs. But in an unpredictable environment with ever-present barriers, a major challenge emerged: how do you recruit participants for ongoing testing?

Ideally, the team would have a large pool of participants they can go back to for testing on a regular basis. But the reality is that there are limited avenues for compensating participants, and policies further limit where and how they can recruit. Testing cycles can last anywhere between 1 and 5 weeks, while unpredictable funding cycles mean the team must plan testing without knowing when resources will be available.

On top of that, different leaders have imposed varying levels of risk tolerance, sometimes tightening restrictions on outreach. As a result, recruiting participants and setting up ongoing testing were major challenges, making it harder to iterate and improve based on real user feedback.

Solutions

The product team adopted creative solutions to overcome their challenge to recruit participants and iterate on the OAS Benefits Estimator.

Alpha testing on Service Canada (SC) Labs. Before launching widely, the product team tested the tool through SC Labs for three months. While they couldn’t test with a specific audience, they still got input that helped shape both existing and new features.
Early-stage usability testing. When formal testing couldn’t be done, the product team leaned on friends, family—even their parents and grandparents—to test interactions with the tool. While it was an untraditional workaround, it complemented formal usability testing and worked as an informal, quick, real-world check of how people used the tool.
Feedback surveys. The team built a quick 3–6 question survey using the Interactive Fact-Finding Service (IFFS). They asked whether the tool was easy to use and where the participant struggled. They also left room for open feedback. Free-text responses can be messy, but they often reveal the most valuable insights.
Tracking feedback over time. The project team logged responses in an Excel board and tracked whether changes had a positive impact. This gave them a way to measure success and ensure that they were actually improving the experience over time.
Feedback Fridays. Every Friday, the product team sat down to comb through feedback, sorting it into themes. The project manager said that “without formal testing, it gave us a way to spot patterns, understand pain points, and prioritize improvements in a structured way.”
Prioritize usability testing. Over the years, the team conducted several rounds of usability testing. Formal usability testing happened, but the product team prioritized it for larger features.

Impact

The OAS Benefits Estimator has proven to be a remarkable success, helping thousands of Canadians confidently navigate the OAS program and access the financial support they need.

The tool has attracted 1.6 million unique visitors since its launch
Users have shown a high interest in understanding their eligibility for OAS benefits
The team has received over 1,600 feedback submissions, which has enabled them to make data-driven improvements that better meet users’ needs
The feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive. One client shared: “The Estimator is a real little wonder. A succinct, simple, brief, quick answer. I think this is the first time I've seen such an easy tool as a way to search and get a reliable answer from a government site. A tool of this magnitude should be a model for all departments to consider.

Tips from the product manager

Connecting with clients is more than just a process. It’s about stepping into the shoes of those who rely on the tools you build to plan their livelihoods. This sense of responsibility drives the need for continuous improvement, reinforcing that iterating and improving frequently is a collective duty to make a meaningful impact. The product manager said “while we haven’t fully overcome the barriers on ongoing testing, they remain cyclical rather than constant. You just have to find workarounds to connect with and elevate participant voices and accept that the process is not perfect.”