Procurement Watchdog Says ArriveCan Development Had ‘Systemic Non-Compliance,’ Missing Files

Following a report that found 76 percent of contractors hired to work on the ArriveCan application did no work, the federal procurement ombudsman told MPs he’s concerned with the “systemic non-compliance” uncovered when investigating the contract files, including a “high level” of missing documentation. “We found issues with documentation. We cannot identify an actual source of why there is so much documentation missing, but there is certainly a high level of missing documentation,” Procurement Ombudsman Alexander Jeglic testified to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) on Jan. 31. “We had systemic non-compliance with contractual obligations.” On Jan. 29, Mr. Jeglic’s office released a report on the procurement process for the ArriveCan app, which was used to track the COVID-19 vaccination status of travellers entering Canada during the pandemic. After investigating contract files for 41 ArriveCan-related procurements identified by the Canada Border Service Agency, Mr. Jeglic found that a total of 28 did no work on the app....