Opening Statement before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts
ArriveCAN
(Report 1—2024 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada)
13 February 2024
Karen Hogan, Fellow Chartered Professional AccountantFCPA
Auditor General of Canada
Mr. Chair, I am pleased to be here today to discuss our audit report on the ArriveCAN application which was tabled in the House of Commons yesterday. I wish to acknowledge that the lands on which we are gathered are part of the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. I am accompanied today by Andrew Hayes, Deputy Auditor General, and Sami Hannoush and Lucie Després, who were responsible for the audit.
Our audit of the ArriveCAN application looked at how the Canada Border Services Agency, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada managed the procurement and development of the application, and whether they spent public funds in a way that delivered value for money.
I will discuss our findings, but first, I have to say that I am deeply concerned by what this audit didn’t find. We didn’t find records to accurately show how much was spent on what, who did the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made. And that paper trail should have existed. Overall, this audit shows a glaring disregard for basic management and contracting practices throughout ArriveCAN’s development and implementation.
Government organizations needed to be flexible and fast in responding to the COVID‑19 pandemic, but they still needed to document their decisions and demonstrate the prudent use of public funds. In this audit, we found disappointing failures and omissions everywhere we looked.
Most concerning was that the Canada Border Services Agency did not have complete and accurate financial records. Because of this, we were unable to calculate the exact cost of the ArriveCAN application. By piecing together information available, we estimated that ArriveCAN cost approximately $59.5 million.
There was confusion right from the beginning. From April 2020 to July 2021, we found that the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency did not work together to establish each agency's responsibilities for ArriveCAN. In this accountability void, neither organization developed and implemented good project management practices—such as developing objectives and goals, and, budgets and cost estimates.
In our examination of contracting practices, we saw little documentation to support how and why the Canada Border Services Agency initially awarded GC Strategies the ArriveCAN contract through a non‑competitive process. Only one potential contractor submitted a proposal, and that proposal did not come from GC Strategies.
Also concerning, we found evidence that GC Strategies was involved in the development of requirements that were used when the Agency later moved to a competitive process to award a $25 million contract for work on the ArriveCAN app. The requirements were very specific and narrow. This gave GC Strategies an advantage that other potential bidders did not have.
We also found that the Canada Border Services Agency’s overall management of the contracts was very poor. Essential information was missing from awarded contracts, such as clear deliverables and the qualifications required of workers. When we looked at invoices approved by the Agency, details about the work performed and who did the work were often missing. This greatly contributed to our conclusion that the best value for money was not achieved.
Finally, we found no evidence that Canada Border Services Agency employees disclosed invitations to private functions they received from contractors, as is required by the agency's code of values and ethics. This created a significant risk or perception of a conflict of interest or bias around procurement decisions.
Public servants must always be transparent and accountable to Canadians for their use of public funds. An emergency does not mean that all the rules go out the window and that departments and agencies are no longer required to document their decisions and keep complete and accurate records.
As I said earlier, I believe that this audit of ArriveCAN shows a glaring disregard for basic management practices. As a result, many questions that Parliamentarians and Canadians are asking cannot be answered. The lack of information to support ArriveCAN spending and decisions has compromised accountability.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.