Citizen digital identity Decentralized digital identity Self-sovereign digital identity Trusted digital identity

Redefining how we engage with our new, more digital world

The evolution toward a trusted digital ID system is accelerating rapidly, as organizations and citizens embrace an undeniable future.

Organizations must constantly verify identities—not just their own, but those of their customers, employees, suppliers, and even devices and applications. Citizens, for their part, are asked for such confirmation multiple times a day. However, traditional modes such as plastic cards, paper records, and online passwords are proving increasingly fallible—subject to theft, loss, fraud, and more. Plus, the various proofs are growing more complex and time-consuming to issue, maintain, and validate.

As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, the need for robust, trustworthy digital ID has become even more pressing as certifying individual health statuses appears essential to reviving economies, allowing resumed travel, and generally enabling a return to normal life.

Digital ID will redefine how we engage with our tech-based, data-driven economy. 

Yet while the global crisis has certainly been a catalyst, so-called COVID credentials will ultimately be just one part of a worldwide ID system that easily certifies, communicates, and authenticates personal identity, health status, financial information, and more. This will change how we conduct certain transactions in nearly every industry. 

Such a transformation won’t happen overnight. Implementing a trusted, widely adopted, and nationally (ideally, internationally) interoperable digital ID system is a massive challenge. The entire digital ID ecosystem will likely require many iterations. The process will take time—but that’s to be expected.

At Deloitte, we’re committed to working through the inevitable growing pains and building an inclusive digital identity ecosystem that increases trust and allows more equitable access to public and private services for every Canadian. 

Now is the time for public and private stakeholders to come together to accelerate our evolution toward a modern, holistic digital ID ecosystem. It’s time for Canada to make this a priority.

This is no longer a futuristic idea. At Deloitte, we’re collaborating with clients in both the public and private sectors to enable a trusted digital identity and and unlock its true value for all Canadians.

On both the issuer and the verifier sides of the equation, we’re helping businesses and governments develop their digital ID programs at every step of this journey, including:

  • Defining the digital identity vision and target state
  • Developing strategies and road maps
  • Facilitating partnerships to support cooperation across industries and sectors
  • Convening the ecosystem by leveraging our market eminence and existing public- and private-sector relationships
  • Enabling use cases with the highest impact to their business
  • Providing a wide spectrum of risk advisory services including data privacy and security 
  • Developing technology solutions to meet clients’ collection, enrolment, verification, and issuance needs

Digital ID will create trust in our economy and provide Canadians more equitable access to services.

Contacts

Sime Pavlovic

Government & Public Sector Trusted Digital Identity Leader

Todd Roberts

Partner, Financial Services Trusted Digital Identity and National Payments Leader

Suzanne Robert

Partner, Trusted Digital Identity Solution Design Leader

Giselle D'Paiva

Government & Public Sector Trusted Digital Identity Leader