ArriveCAN audit: findings, responses and where the case stands

What the audit found

The House of Commons passed a motion on 2 November 2022 asking the Auditor General to audit the government's management of ArriveCAN. The report was tabled on 12 February 2024 ¹.

The Auditor General found that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) kept records so poor that the precise cost of the app could not be determined. The office estimated the cost at about $59.5 million ¹. In her statement on the report, the Auditor General said: "The lack of information to support ArriveCAN spending and decisions has compromised accountability" ².

The report said there was little documentation to show how and why GC Strategies won the first ArriveCAN contract through a non-competitive process. It found GC Strategies took part in developing requirements for a later competitive contract worth $25 million, which gave the firm an advantage over other bidders. The report put GC Strategies' estimated ArriveCAN costs at $19.1 million, the largest of the main contractors ^1,2.

Of the contractor invoices the auditors tested, 18% did not carry enough information to show whether the work was for ArriveCAN or another IT project ¹.

The report highlighted three recommendations: accurate project cost records and detailed invoices at the CBSA, full documentation of contacts with suppliers and of non-competitive decisions at the CBSA and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and controls to stop potential bidders from helping write requests for proposals ¹.

The official response

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) told the Public Accounts Committee in briefing material dated 21 February 2024 that one Auditor General recommendation was addressed to it jointly with the CBSA, on clearly defined tasks, deliverables and task authorizations, and that PSPC "accepts this recommendation" ⁴.

In the same material PSPC said the CBSA selected GC Strategies and PSPC took no part in those discussions. It said the CBSA sought a sole-source contract for an urgent pandemic need and that PSPC found the justification valid ⁴.

The text of the CBSA and PHAC responses printed in the full report was not confirmed for this page as of 19 October 2026.

According to a PSPC Question Period note received on 9 June 2025, PSPC ended all contracts and supply arrangements with GC Strategies in March 2024, suspended its security clearances and made it ineligible to bid on federal tenders ⁷. On 6 June 2025 PSPC found GC Strategies Inc. ineligible to enter into contracts or real property agreements with the Government of Canada for seven years ⁷. The Canadian Press reported that Dalian Enterprises and Coradix Technology Consulting were barred too, and that GC Strategies did not respond to a request for comment ⁹.

Parliament

The audit began with the House of Commons motion of 2 November 2022 ¹. In April 2024 MPs voted unanimously to find Kristian Firth, a partner at GC Strategies, in contempt of Parliament after he refused to tell the government operations committee whether his firm helped set the terms of the $25 million contract, as reported by Darren Major of CBC News ⁵.

On 17 April 2024 Speaker Greg Fergus admonished Firth at the bar of the House, saying: "For all these reasons, on behalf on the House of Commons, I admonish you." Firth then answered questions from MPs at the bar, a step CBC reported had not been taken since 1913. Liberal MPs did not take part in the questioning, citing a doctor's note on Firth's mental health ⁵.

Follow-up audits and recommendations

The Procurement Ombud published a practice review of 41 ArriveCAN procurements in January 2024. It found the mandatory criteria in the $25.3 million GC Strategies contract were overly restrictive and closely tied to the firm's earlier sole-source work, and GC Strategies was the only bidder. The review made 13 recommendations. The CBSA and PSPC accepted all of them ³.

PSPC said seven of the 13 Ombud recommendations were directed at it and one was shared with the CBSA. ⁴.

On 10 June 2025 the Auditor General tabled Report 4 on 106 professional services contracts awarded to GC Strategies by 31 federal organizations from 13 April 2015 to 31 March 2024. The maximum value was $92.7 million, with about $64.5 million paid. The report found 21% of contracts lacked records of valid security clearances, 33% lacked evidence of required experience and 82% of examined non-competitive and single-bid contracts did not check that fees were within market rates. It made no recommendations and said it confirmed weaknesses raised in earlier audits ⁸. The four CBSA ArriveCAN contracts, worth $30.9 million, were left out of that examination ^7,8.

Courts, tribunals and investigations

The Auditor General reported that the CBSA launched an investigation after the audit found no evidence that some employees disclosed invitations from contractors to dinners and activities, as the Code of Conduct requires. The audit did no further ethics work so as not to duplicate or compromise that process ¹. No public record of the outcome of that CBSA investigation was found as of 19 October 2026.

On 19 June 2024 RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Flynn told a Commons committee that the force had launched more than six procurement investigations, one of them specific to ArriveCAN, as reported by Nathaniel Dove of Global News. Commissioner Mike Duheme said the RCMP was looking at all associated matters to determine whether criminal offences occurred ⁶.

CBC reported on 17 April 2024 that the RCMP executed a search warrant at a Woodlawn, Ontario address once listed as GC Strategies' mailing address. The RCMP said the warrant was not related to its ArriveCAN investigation. Firth told MPs it related to allegations from Botler AI and said: "We believe it's going to exonerate us" ⁵.

No public record of criminal charges arising from the ArriveCAN investigation was found as of 19 October 2026. No court or tribunal challenge to the PSPC debarment was found as of 19 October 2026.

Where it stands now

Both Auditor General reports are complete ^1,8. GC Strategies is barred from federal contracts for seven years from the 6 June 2025 decision ⁷. The RCMP investigation confirmed in June 2024 had no public result as of 19 October 2026 ⁶.

Two cost figures appear in the record. The Auditor General estimated $19.1 million in ArriveCAN costs attributable to GC Strategies in February 2024 ¹. The June 2025 PSPC note puts the four ArriveCAN contracts with GC Strategies at $30.9 million ⁷. The two figures measure different things and come from different dates.

Timeline