Canada Life
Building a modern, scalable QA function to power enterprise transformation.
Canada Life needed a testing operation that could keep pace with their rapid, enterprise-wide change, without sacrificing quality or slowing delivery. AheadMG designed, led, and scaled a QA capability that delivered speed, structure, and confidence at every stage.
In 2019, Canada Life initiated a large-scale transformation to modernise legacy infrastructure, consolidate platforms, and shift to a digital-first, platform-led operating model.
This strategic programme would touch every part of the organisation, bringing previously outsourced services back in-house, coordinating multiple vendors, and restructuring product delivery around agile and DevOps principles.
To succeed, Canada Life needed all foundational functions, including QA, to evolve rapidly and align with the demands of modern enterprise delivery.
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The Problem
While Canada Life had strong internal talent, the existing QA function wasn’t designed to support the scale or speed required. The transformation’s complexity exposed several gaps:
- No unified, enterprise-wide QA strategy
- Inconsistent tools, frameworks, and standards
- Limited automation and performance testing
- Fragmented vendor testing and release coordination
- Insufficient capacity to scale across multiple workstreams
What they needed was a strategic partner to take ownership of QA, designing, leading, and delivering a centralised, scalable capability.
Project Snapshot
Company
Canada Life
Headquarters
Winnipeg, Canada
Industry
Financial Services & Insurance
Project duration
4 years to date
Services provided
QA Strategy & Leadership, Test Management, Automation, Performance Testing, Digital Tool Implementation
Core tools used
JIRA, Grafana, Veracode, Selenium, Postman, RestAssured
Key results
- Scaled QA function in weeks
- Automation integrated into DevOps
- Unified vendor testing and release
- Real-time test reporting
- QA embedded across digital, cloud, and core systems
Our Solution
AheadMG stepped in to structure and lead the entire QA function for the programme. Throughout the project, we delivered three core outcomes:
We deployed a flexible and scalable team to match the programme’s pace and complexity:
- Programme Test Management
- Test Managers, Leads, QA Engineers
- Platform Test Analysts
- Automation Engineers and Leads
- Performance and NFT (Non-Functional Testing) specialists
We modernised the test management tools used by Canada Life and built automated, real-time QA processes to support faster, more secure releases:
- Rolled out JIRA across the programme, including configuration and admin
- Built a reusable automated regression and test management framework
- Integrated SAST scanning with ticketing for secure, traceable QA
- Introduced performance testing and real-time reporting via Grafana
- Unified vendor delivery into a single test and release process
- Integrated Veracode to enhance application security
The impact
AheadMG transformed Canada Life’s QA from siloed to strategic, embedding it across the enterprise and ensuring every release met the highest standards.
Results delivered:
- A fully scalable, integrated QA function
- Consistent governance and best-practice standards
- Faster, more predictable, higher-quality releases
- Automation fully aligned with CI/CD
- Real-time reporting for smarter decisions
- QA extended to cloud migration, digital rollouts, and core platform upgrades
”I have worked with the AheadMG team in various organisations and have always been impressed by their professionalism and real dedication to the work. The partnership we developed was extremely strong and for me the development of that partnership only happens when a consultancy group really invests in the relationship. In addition, Andy and the team have a specific knowledge of Platforms and associated technology, developed over a number of years, which proved to be invaluable during what were very challenging deliveries.
Pat CoxDirector of Change, Transformation & Governance
