Feds Respond to Explosive $60M ArriveCAN App Audit Report

Earlier today, Canada’s Auditor General released its audit report on the $54 million ArriveCAN app. Well, it turns out the app cost beyond $54 million, now at an estimated nearly $60 million, with its final tally unknown because there are so many missing pieces. That doesn’t sound right…

In response to the damning audit report, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), along with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the trio of federal departments responsible for ArriveCAN, have issued a statement on the matter.

In what sounds like a classic gaslighting attempt, the CBSA says, “the app was built during an extraordinary time and on an emergency basis. ArriveCAN data was an integral part of Canada’s monitoring program for the early detection and identification of new COVID-19 variants of concern, and critical to the federal government’s ability to monitor, assess, and respond to COVID-19 as it evolved.”

“The CBSA was working as quickly as possible to replace a paper process that was not meeting public health needs and was also impacting the border with significant wait times that disrupted the essential flow of people and goods. The Auditor General recognized in her report that the Government improved the speed and quality of information collected at the border by using the app rather than the paper-based form,” said the CBSA.

But ArriveCAN not only saved you from using a paper-based form—it also saved you an astonishing five minutes when crossing the border!

The #ArriveScam story in a nutshell:

The Liberals blew at least $60M taxpayer dollars, failed to provide proper documentation, rigged the procurement process and now refuse to take responsibility.

It's yet another blatant abuse of taxpayer dollars — a hallmark of this… pic.twitter.com/Tq0nh94I5H

— Stephanie Kusie (@StephanieKusie) February 12, 2024

“Travellers saved significant time by using the app – about five minutes each time they crossed the border, saving hours of wait times. It was an effective and necessary tool to collect mandatory health information while facilitating travel and trade. Beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the app remains available today for travellers who want to make their customs declarations in advance and save time at the border,” said the CBSA statement.

“Despite these circumstances, we recognize that the gaps found by the Auditor General are unacceptable and we are taking steps to ensure all government departments are better positioned to undertake projects of this nature in the future,” noted the CBSA.

The report noted the two-person team from GC Strategies was paid $20 million–not to work on ArriveCAN itself, but to find outsourced contractors. These so-called workers didn’t even do any work apparently. Procurement processes were not followed and documentation was missing. The final tally cannot be found–the Auditor General said it’s impossible to find the total cost.

There was no mention of accountability or consequences for the $60 million+ that was spent on this app. I guess that’s for Canadian taxpayers to figure out on their own.