Published November 2, 2026 · Story period: App built 2020–2022 · Auditor General report tabled February 12, 2024
About C$59.5 million estimated total cost (Auditor General). The exact cost could not be determined because records were incomplete.
ArriveCAN started in April 2020 as a way for travellers to submit health and contact details at the border during COVID-19. It became mandatory for most people entering Canada.
In February 2024, Auditor General Karen Hogan reported that she could not determine the app’s exact cost. Records at the Canada Border Services Agency were too incomplete. Her office estimated the total at about $59.5 million.
For 18% of the contractor invoices her team tested, there wasn’t enough support to show whether the work was for ArriveCAN or another IT project.
The largest share went to GC Strategies, a small firm that subcontracted much of the work: an estimated $19.1 million. Its first ArriveCAN contract, in April 2020, was valued at $2.35 million. In 2022 it won a $25-million competitive contract as the only bidder.
Outside IT help cost an average of $1,090 a day, compared with about $675 a day for an equivalent government employee.
The app went through 177 releases by October 2022. Testing records were thin, and one June 2022 update wrongly told more than 10,000 iPhone users to quarantine.
The auditor general concluded the agencies involved did not manage ArriveCAN with due regard to value for money. The app’s mandatory use ended in October 2022.
What the headline leaves out
ArriveCAN had a real public-health purpose, and some spending went to running it through the pandemic, not only building it. The $59.5-million figure is the Auditor General’s estimate of total cost, not a confirmed cash total, and not an amount for a single app download.
The roast
Satire: It’s the only app where the in-app purchases were made by the government.
Satire. No personal tax share is calculated for this record.
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