Ottawa Gives Accounting Firm Deloitte $16M Contract to Track COVID-19 Vaccinations

Ottawa Gives Accounting Firm Deloitte $16M Contract to Track COVID-19 Vaccinations
A syringe of the COVID-19 vaccine waits to be administered in Toronto on December 14, 2020. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn
The Canadian Press
Updated:

OTTAWA—The federal government has awarded international accounting firm Deloitte a $16-million contract to build a national computer system to manage the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The contract was recently posted to the federal procurement department’s website after Ottawa called on companies to submit proposals for developing the system in December.

Federal officials last month defended the existing systems used to track vaccine distribution across Canada, specifically those used for flu inoculations each year.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand and Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the new system would simply add to the effectiveness of those existing tools.

That includes connecting the systems used by different provinces to track and manage vaccine distribution.

While COVID-19 vaccines are already being distributed across the country, the federal government has not said when it expects Deloitte to have the new system up and running.