What we’re working on: fall 2021 update

The leaves have changed colour and we’ve had some snow on the ground so it must be time to provide our fall quarterly update on digital services the government is working on. It was a busy summer and we have a load of new projects on the horizon. This quarter we have updates on the government’s:

• websites;
• citizen engagement;
• open government; and
• online services.

Websites

Better to Know website content updates

We’re looking to update the content on the Better to Know website. This fall we completed pre-discovery on this project and the department is looking at funding options.

Erik Nielsen International Airport website

This will be a new website for the Whitehorse airport and Yukon aviation. We’re in the pre-discovery phase on this project and working with the project team to review the proposed approach and schedule.

GameSense website

We’re developing a website with information on gambling, responsible gaming, making informed decisions and resources for support. We’ll be launching it in concert with the new Lotteries Yukon website as part of their digital service transformation.

Health care professionals talent acquisition website

This will be a website dedicated to attracting suitable health care professional candidates who will apply on hard-to-fill healthcare jobs – especially jobs in Yukon communities outside Whitehorse. We’ve finalized our list of requirements and we’ll be reaching out to vendors in the next couple of weeks. Our target is to launch the website in early 2022.

Indicators of Yukon Gender Equality website

We’re decommissioning the existing Indicators of Yukon Gender Equality website and moving much of the content to Yukon.ca. We’ll be using this website as a pilot to examine ways we can improve data and information visualization on Yukon.ca.

Migrating or decommissioning our remaining boutique websites and applications

In February 2021, we had over 360 boutique websites and applications not made with RedDot.

Since that date we’ve been analyzing, then migrating or decommissioning these sites. So far, we’ve dealt with 280 properties, leaving 80 that need a more detailed plan.

Our work will continue for the rest of this fiscal year. Our goal is to get 40 of these properties where they need to be by March 31, 2022, and the other 40 to a similar spot, next fiscal.

Our Clean Future website

The new Our Clean Future website will be 1 of the ways the government will communicate progress on its commitments to reduce negative impacts on the climate. It supports the government’s Our Clean Future Strategy. We’re in the early stages of planning this site and anticipate a launch in the new calendar year.

Property assessment and taxation IT modernization

For this project we’re looking to replace multiple, older IT systems with 1 new system. We issued the negotiated request for proposals (nRFP) this past summer and the project is now in negotiations.

Socio-economic web portal (SEWP) website transition

We’re planning to transition the current Socio-economic web portal (SEWP) website to a new and more modern platform. As part of the process, we’ll look for opportunities to add visual representations of the data on the current site, improve user access, and the potential to integrate geospatial tools to search or view data. We expect to launch the new site early in the new year.

Yukon.ca

See the fall 2021 update for Yukon.ca enhancements.

Yukon immunize website

We’re working to support the redesign and enhancement of the existing Yukon immunize website with the goal of completing this work early in the new year.

Yukon Legislative Assembly

This past summer we’ve developed and tested Phase 2 enhancements to the Yukon Legislative Assembly website. These are some of the improvements you’ll see once they’re deployed to the website in the next couple of weeks.

• Filters to Tabled Documents listings to make them easier to navigate and sort.
• Motions papers will be added to the sitting days.
• We’ll be adding historical profiles of previous MLAs in the coming months.
• Improved our staff’s ability to draft pages, replace files and moderate translation.

Yukon Water Board website

We’re working to build a new website for the Yukon Water Board. This will be an update to their existing website. Improvements will include:

• updating the design for greater simplicity and ease of use;
• rewriting the content to follow our style guide; and
• improving how documents are shared with board members and staff.

We’ve begun work on this project and are looking to launch it this spring.

Citizen engagement

We’re in the process of helping to create more efficient and interactive engagements between the government and citizens. We anticipate having a new platform in place this fall.                   

Open government

The open government portal is a single point of access for all open content the government publishes. It houses open data and open information.

Open data

As part of the transition to open government, we’ve migrated any resources that are not open data (that is, structured, tabular machine readable content) to open information. Visit open data.

Open information

Open information includes reports and publications. It serves the function of the open access register and supports our commitment to disclose information before people ask for it. This year we plan to increase the volume and breadth of open access content. Visit open information.

Online services

We’re working with departments to deliver the following online services.

511 Yukon

The new 511 Advanced Traveller Information Management System will replace our outdated service. The new system will increase efficiencies in data management, and provide a safety-driven, user-friendly interface for the public. We’ve built the service, we’re testing it with users and we expect it to launch later on this month.

Apply for Tourism Cooperative Marketing Funding (TCMF)

This service was rebuilt last fiscal and launched last summer.

Apply to be a volunteer at a continuing care facility

Previously a PDF form that needed to be printed, we’re digitizing this application process as a webform to reduce barriers for potential volunteers. We anticipate an increase in volunteer applications once the form is live online.

Apply to buy a lot through land lottery

This is a service where people will be able to apply online for the chance to buy a lot through the government’s land lottery process. This summer we completed the discovery workshop and the report has gone to the project team to decide next steps.

Apply to install, replace or modify a sewage disposal system

This project is to modernize the process of applying for a sewer or septic system. This includes updates to forms, and placing some forms online. It also includes some improvements to our work flow.

Authorizing inspections monitoring system (AIMES)

We’re looking to develop a tool for enforcement officers to authorize licences and permits and manage the permit lifecycle. Conservation officers will be able to use it in the field for enforcement, case management and to take legal action. The negotiated request for proposals (nRFP) is currently out and closes on November 24. We expect work to begin in December and anticipate the service going live in the new fiscal year.

Boards and committees online service

This will be an online service to view, apply for and manage positions on government boards and committees. This summer we’ve been working on preparing a negotiated request for proposals (nRFP) for a business analyst and project analyst. This fall we’ll define the requirements for the new service and begin development of a prototype.

COVID-19 related online services

In September we launched our service for Yukon residents to “Get a COVID-19 vaccination credential.” To date we’ve issued over 10,000 new credential certificates. We’ll be making improvements to this service this fall and winter. This includes integration with the new Canadian federal standard for proof of vaccination once it’s developed.

Digital Marketplace

The Digital Marketplace is a new procurement platform, targeting local developers and IT professionals. This is part of a strategy to grow the Yukon's IT community by creating more opportunities for local IT professionals. The government will tender these opportunities using a light-weight open procurement process. We soft-launched at the end of August and a handful of opportunities are already posted.

Driver and vehicle online services (YuDriv)

This is a 3-year project to build a single system to replace existing systems the Government of Yukon, City of Whitehorse Bylaw and the RCMP use. We’re currently working on technology and service design planning for the public-facing parts of this service.

So far we’ve developed wireframes and shared our Yukon.ca Design System and online design patterns with the project team. We’ve also been collaborating with the vendor to make sure that what gets built lines up with our standards. We plan to launch sometime in the next few months.

Find a government employee service

We plan to apply the Yukon.ca design system to the staff directory service to bring it in line with the government’s brand standards. We expect to complete this work this winter.

Improve online access to all government services

We’re continuing our work to provide citizens with a single online portal giving them access to the government’s:

• online services;
• information about services; and
• statements of how services share personal information.

Planning for this new service continues. We’re hopeful that the needed legislation will be in place to authorize launch in the spring.

Kindergarten pre-registration

We’re looking at rebuilding the current online kindergarten registration system. We hope to have this improved service live for the next student intake.

Landlord and tenant dispute-resolution service

We’re supporting a new effort to offer online services for landlord and tenant dispute resolution, as part of a larger multi-year automation project. This multi-phase project will incorporate some of the existing forms and processes but update them to be entirely online.

Legislative drafting and publishing

We launched the government’s new legislation website this past summer. The next pieces of work are to complete development of a drafting tool and to convert our existing acts and regulations to the new format. This work is currently underway and we expect legislative drafters to begin using the new product this fall.

Liquor licensing, inspections and permitting

This will be an online service for users and people who run facilities where liquor is served or sold. The public and businesses will be able to apply for liquor licences online. The government will be able to process and enforce licences.

Testing of this service identified that some components needed further work. That effort is underway and we expect to launch the service later in the fall starting with just cannabis. A plan is being developed to include the liquor component once the new Liquor Act is enacted.

Lotteries Yukon digital service transformation

We’re developing a system that lets the public apply online for funding from Yukon Lotteries. Staff will use this service to manage applications and their funding programs. We’re finalizing content and completing assessments and testing. We expect to launch later on this month.

Nominate a miner for an award in environmental stewardship or innovative exploration

This online form makes it easier to nominate miners for a Robert E. Leckie Award. Through the webform, applicants can upload before-and-after photos of projects for consideration or link to videos on other platforms.

Online Marketplace

The Online Marketplace will be an inventory from the government’s suppliers into 1 online storefront where authorized personnel can make purchases. This will:

• streamline the process of getting a variety of supplies to the government;
• ensure negotiated discount levels are offered; and
• include support for local suppliers to improve their online presence.

We launched an open procurement late this summer and we expect to select a winning bidder to provide the online marketplace solution by the end of the year.

Professional licensing and regulatory affairs system

This service will enable professionals to apply for their licences online. A list of these professionals will also be visible to the public. The service will roll out in phases, with the first planned for fall 2022. This will include: LPNs, physiotherapists, physiotherapist corporations, registered psychiatric nurses and registered psychiatric nurse corporations.

Public supplier directory

This is an update to the existing public-facing service. This will make it easier to identify suppliers and their offerings. We anticipate we’ll re-launch this service later this fall.

Register a child for the school bus

Parents and guardians will be able to register a child to take a school bus using this online service. We expect this service to improve:

• the registration process;
• routing and scheduling; and
• how people receive bus status updates.

We launched an open procurement over the summer, and the evaluation is nearing completion. A new online solution for registering for the school bus, with new features, will then be put in place.

Report someone who's breaking the Public Health and Safety Act

This webform was initially created to offer the public a way to anonymously report Civil Emergency Measures Act infractions during the pandemic. Once the state of emergency was lifted the webform, was repurposed and now serves as an anonymous reporting tool for the Public Health and Safety Act.

Service modernization

We’ve begun making short-term improvements to modernize how we manage government forms and other services. This will include internal processes, such as tracking project status and budgets. We’ll also make external-facing updates to how government forms are requested, updated, tracked and completed.

We’ve now met with some of the stakeholders who use government forms. There are many thousands of forms and we’d like to get them online when feasible, and also modernize the work flows associated with forms. Protecting privacy, eliminating redundancy, increasing efficiency and improving accuracy are some of our goals for this work.

Student Financial Assistance

This is a major update to the online system that allows students to apply for financial assistance. Staff will use the system to:

• process applications;
• provide funding to students; and
• generate reports.

We’re working with a vendor to get the new system developed and we plan to launch it early in the new year.

Submit a class 3 or 4 pre- or post-season mining report

This will be an online service for pre- or post-season reports on mining permits. Information collected includes when mining work was done, and what sort of work was undertaken. The new service should be available in time for the 2022 reporting season.

Submit a commercial timber harvest report

This will be a service where licensees will be able to submit their commercial timber harvest report online. During summer 2021, the project team tested a prototype of the online service and interactive voice response (IVR) phone service. This early stage user feedback informed the current phase of the larger system development.

Updating the Department of Environment's licensing platform (elicensing)

We’re planning to make improvements to the department’s online licensing platform. Pending funding approval, project goals for this year include:

• implementing a new public-facing site;
• enabling external vendor access to the platform for improved counter service; and
• updating the security and privacy reviews for the platform.

Yukon First Nations Business Registry

This service launched last spring and we just launched Phase 2 enhancements earlier this week. First Nations businesses will be able to register to add their business information to the registry. The government will use the registry for procurement opportunities and the content is visible to the public.

Businesses that register can now upload verification documents. Staff from the Yukon First Nations Chamber of Commerce now manage the verification process. This month we’ll make additional enhancements to the verification process.

Yukon land titles registry

The initial release of this service will allow for paid land title searches. The portal will be expanded to designated users, such as law firms. Testing continues and the initial semi-public launch is scheduled for December 2021.

Yukon Lobbyist Registry

We’ve been working on Phase 2 enhancements to this service over the summer and we’ll deploy them later on this month. These include:

• creating the ability for lobbyists to update dates and information related to their lobbying activities;
• improving access to view information about lobbyists and lobbying activities;
• search improvements; and
• we’ve improved the user journey through the registration process based on feedback from lobbyists trying to register.

Yukon Permafrost Database

This project will make permafrost data collected within the Yukon accessible to users. The first year of work focused on developing a data model and data standards, establishing a prototype database, and importing existing data sets from various Government of Yukon sources. This service has passed the beta service maturity assessment and we expect it to go live later on this winter.

Yukon register of historic places

This is a replacement of the existing register system and its companion website. We’re currently working with the vendor and client on an upgrade to both and look to launch a new version in spring 2022.