Firm responsible for ArriveCan received $258 million in government contracts since 2015

By Isaac Lamoureux

The government vendor who received tens of millions of dollars to build the controversial ArriveCan app has received $258 million in federal contracts since Justin Trudeau came to office.

The Conservatives are calling on the Auditor General to investigate every contract and every dollar paid to GC Strategies.

La Presse reported Wednesday that GC Strategies has won approximately 140 federal government contracts totalling $258 million since 2015. The Department of Public Services and Procurement announced that all these contracts will be subject to review.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett urges the Auditor General to further investigate GC Strategies, after revelations that the federal government awarded contracts to the firm totaling $250 million. pic.twitter.com/NV5WCStvLg
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) February 14, 2024

Auditor General Karen Hogan released a report Monday revealing that ArriveCan’s cost was an estimated $59.5 million, with $19.1 million being paid to GC Strategies, the biggest price tag among all contractors.

Auditor General Karen Hogan says multimillion-dollar ArriveCAN project had a “glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules and controls.” pic.twitter.com/0qpfDKOr5z
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) February 12, 2024

The app was initially supposed to cost only $80,000.

Nearly half of these contracts were awarded to GC Strategies by the Canada Border Services Agency. Forty-six of the contracts were given to GC Strategies without a call for tender.

Following the news, Conservative MP Michael Barrett said that the two-person IT firm has done no actual IT work but has been paid $250 million in government contracts. With ArriveCan, GC Strategies received the contract but subcontracted the work out to others.