A pilot project that assigns Phoenix pay system troubleshooters to work directly with specific federal departments will go government-wide by mid-2019, the minister in charge announced Friday.

The "pay pod" pilot began in select departments in December 2017 with the goal of more efficiently solving public servants' pay problems tied to Phoenix, which launched in March 2016.

In March, Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough said the test was going well and would be expanded across the entire government.

On Friday, her department said the Phoenix pay centre in Miramichi, N.B., will transition to the pay pod model starting this month.

More efficient approach

The transition will be complete by mid-2019, the department said in a news release.

"These groups will work with client departments to address all outstanding transactions in an employee's pay file, in contrast to the current approach of addressing pay issues by transaction type," said the news release.

"This new approach will result in more efficient and comprehensive resolutions of pay issues, and a reduction in backlogged cases."

The department said the pilot project has reduced the overall Phoenix problem backlog by 24 per cent at Veterans Affairs Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the three departments where it was tested.

Phoenix has cost the federal government more than a billion dollars, first to launch, then to deal with the problems it created.

The most recent federal government budget includes $16 million to replace Phoenix.