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Government regulations / guidelines for projects

Laws on governance and management of Information Technology resources

The Government of Québec requires that all public bodies report on the evolution of certain parameters of the projects under their responsibility. This ensures public transparency, an optimized management of information resources and proper protection of information.

All universities in Quebec are required to submit information regarding the governance and management of Information Technology resources to the Quebec Ministry of Education (Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, MES), in respect to the ‘’ (LGGRI).

The Système Intégré de Gestion des Ressources Informationnelles (SIGRI) collects this information. All projects executed by ƻԺ with IT investments over $100,000 in capitalized funds must be captured and reported on SIGRI.

ƻԺ’s IT PMO is responsible for recording and updating active projects on SIGRI with the most recent information: This includes projects’ status and health, progress on timeline, and costs. All projects must be updated on SIGRI at least once a year at the end of August. Other updates are required if a project changes phase or encounters a major change. Project updates on SIGRI are reviewed and approved by the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur (MES).

Reporting for qualified projects

The Government of Québec pays particular attention to projects defined as "projets qualifiés en ressources informationnelles” (in English: projects qualified in information resources) as these projects require their authorization to be executed. A project is considered “qualifié” if it meets the two following criteria:

  1. Its total capitalizable cost is equal to or greater than $500,000 and

  1. It involves one or more of the following:

  • The development or acquisition of a new information system or the overhaul of an existing information system;
  • The introduction of new infrastructure services;
  • The addition or major replacement of infrastructure involving a transformation of business services;
  • The major addition of functionalities or a major improvement to an information system.

To foster informed decision-making when authorizing qualified projects, the Government requires a series of regulatory documents written in French: a Business Opportunity, a Business Case, a Benefits Plan and a Closure Report. These reports are detailed below:

Required reporting for the Government of Québec

Description

Reporting frequency by project type

Projet qualifié

Projet non-qualifié

SIGRI update

Provides project’s status and health, progress on timeline, and costs.

Yearly, plus at every phase or key changes

Yearly, plus at every phase or key changes

Business Opportunity / Dossier d’opportunité (DO)

Justifies the goal of the project, and exposes its initial budget, high level schedule and potential solutions.

Government’s sign off provides the authorization to move forward with the planning phase and the elaboration of the Business Case

Once

Not required

Business Case / Dossier d’affaires (DA)

Provides refined scope, timeline, budget estimate and a thorough plan for resources. It provides justification for undertaking the project, and a rationale for the preferred solution when applicable.

Government’s sign off provides the authorization to begin the execution of the project

Once

Not required

Benefits Plan / Plan de matérialisation des bénéfices

Helps define and track specific and quantifiable measures of success for the project and ƻԺ. Focuses on desired project outcomes for the 5 years following the project's delivery.

Supporting document to the Business Case.

Once

(with DA)

Not required

Closure report / Bilan projet

Enables a review of the project goal and objectives and details how the clients’ expectations were met. It also includes a retrospective on the management process, and highlights improvements, adjustments, or changes which can be implemented for improved results on future projects.

Must be uploaded on SIGRI no later than 6 months after all deliverables have been completed and the project is transitioning to operations/clients.

Once

Not required

Project authorization guidelines

These documents are required at specific project stages and serve as an official checkpoint for approval. Obtaining both ƻԺ’s and the Government’s authorization for these documents is mandatory before advancing to the next project phase, hence the importance of accurate needs forecasting. (see the IT Project process section on the IT Project Governance pagefor details).

ƻԺ authorization

  • ƻԺ authorizations ofBusiness Opportunities, Business Cases and Benefits Plans are provided by the IT Business and Project Sponsors and IT CIO for all projects.

  • Projects exceeding certain limits require approval as follows:
Above $1M Vice-President of Administration and Finance
Above $4M ƻԺ President

Above $6M Finance and Infrastructure Committee of the Board of Governors
Above $10M Board of Governors

Government authorization

Government authorizations of Business Opportunities and Business Cases also depend on the qualified project’s budget envelope:

Approving Government Authority

Project Document for Approval

Business Opportunity

Business Case

and Benefits Plan

Information Officer (Dirigeant de l’information) from the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur (MES)

projects under $20M

projects under $5M

Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor (SCT)

projects between $20M and $50M

projects between $5M and $50M

Gouvernement du Québec

projects above $50M or government-wide interest projects

projects above $50M or government-wide interest projects

Templates for these reporting documents are provided by the Government of Québec. ƻԺ is responsible for using the latest available reporting templates and uploading the completed copies for each individual project to SIGRI. For the latest templates, please contact ITPMOat gcp.pmo [at] mcgill.ca.

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