House of Commons Passes Motion for Government to Publish Full Cost of ArriveCan

A smartphone set to the opening screen of the ArriveCan app is seen in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Giordano Ciampini

The House of Commons passed a Conservative motion calling for the Liberal government to publish the full cost of the ArriveCan app by March 18.

“Canadians deserve the truth from Justin Trudeau and now he will be forced to provide it,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a press conference following the Feb. 28 vote.

The motion called for the federal government to provide a report detailing the “complete direct and associated costs” of the ArriveCan application, which was used to check the COVID-19 vaccination status of people crossing into Canada.

The Liberal government is asked to include the total costs of paying contractors and subcontractors who worked on the app; managing and storing data for the app; developing and testing the app’s software; managing call centres used for the app; communicating with travellers via email and text messages; conducting market and opinion research; and advertising, conducting public relations, and promoting the app.

The motion also requests details on expenses linked to compensating travellers for costs incurred due to being wrongly told to quarantine by ArriveCan. It also asks for expenditures related to legal counsel services, including activities such as contract negotiation, and litigation arising from procurement or the use and implementation of the app.

The non-binding motion passed with 170 “yeas” to 149 “nays,” with only the Liberals voting against it.

The ArriveCan app has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after Auditor General Karen Hogan released her report on Feb. 12, which estimated the app cost $59.5 million to build. However, the report said the exact cost could not be determined due to a lack of documentation around the app’s procurement and development.

In her report, Ms. Hogan said that contracting and management practices around the app at several government agencies were not followed, and key records were inexplicably missing. It also said there was little documentation to show why GC Strategies was chosen for the project and received $19.1 million.

On Feb. 27, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme confirmed to the government ethics committee that the force is currently investigating ArriveCan. But he said he would not comment on it further since the investigation was ongoing.

The House of Commons also recently passed a Tory motion to authorize the arrest of the GC Strategies founders if they fail to appear before a parliamentary committee within 21 days to testify on the app. Kristian Firth has previously spoken before the Government Operations and Estimates committee on two occasions, but he and Darren Anthony have failed to abide by two summons from the committee to testify again, sent out on Nov. 2, 2023, and Feb. 9, 2024.