Canada’s Auditor General will be conducting a performance audit of the $54 million ArriveCAN program, with an anticipated publication date of later this year. The Office of the Auditor General told The Epoch Times on March 1 that the scope and timelines have yet to be confirmed. The department’s website includes the audit of ArriveCAN as one of the upcoming reports scheduled for 2023.
The ArriveCAN app was a contentious, mandatory electronic tool that the federal government used to require travelers to upload their health information and vaccine status during the COVID-19 restrictions. It was subject to numerous legal actions arguing it was unconstitutional, and was made voluntary as of September 30, 2022.
The audit follows a Conservative Party motion on November 2, 2022, in which the NDP and Bloc Québécois joined forces with the Tories in a 174–149 vote in favor of calling for an audit of the payments, contracts, and sub-contracts for all aspects of the ArriveCAN app. Although motions in the House of Commons are not binding on the Auditor General, a vote for audit usually influences the department’s decision on what to review.
The Canada Border Services Agency previously told The Epoch Times that creating ArriveCan was supposed to cost $80,000, but extra needed services and “indirect costs” such as technical support and ensuring the app met federal cybersecurity standards raised the total price to $54 million. There have been many stories about questionable contracts awarded to design the program, as well as reports of glitches that put some travelers into mandatory quarantine despite having two sets of shots for COVID.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in the House of Commons on October 19 that ArriveCAN was “an optimal use of taxpayer money” and the $54 million went to extra services, IT services, updates, call centers, and future costs, and not just developer’s fees. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre called ArriveCan a “huge waste” and said it could have been developed for less than $250,000 in a single weekend, according to Canadian tech companies who cloned the app between October 7 and October 10, 2022. Poilievre then called for the auditors to get the truth.
Peter Wilson contributed to this report.