Canada’s auditor general will be conducting a full audit of all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, the company at the centre of the ArriveCan controversy.
In a letter to the House of Commons on Monday, Karen Hogan confirmed that her office would look at all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, its predecessor Coredal and other companies incorporated by the two co-founders. She will also examine related subcontracts.
“We are in the process of gathering information that will allow us to properly scope and plan the audit,” Hogan wrote in a letter to Speaker Greg Fergus.
The auditor general’s letter was in response to a request from the House government operations committee, one of a number of MP committees that have been scrutinizing GC Strategies in the wake of the ArriveCan project.
Hogan reported in March that excessive reliance on contractors was a major factor contributing to ArriveCan’s ballooning $59.5-million price tag — though she noted that figure is only an estimate given the poor record-keeping around the project.
Hogan estimated that GC Strategies received $19.1 million for the project. But that figure only includes money paid to the company up to March of 2023.
Canada’s comptroller general told the House public accounts committee in March that GC Strategies and Coredal have been awarded 118 contracts totalling $107 million since 2011.
The RCMP has also been investigating GC Strategies.