Public Health Canada Admits No Evidence of Number of Lives Saved by ArriveCan App

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

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has admitted it cannot quantify the number of lives saved by the ArriveCAN app, which cost $54 million to develop and deploy and is now the subject of an investigation by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

“The Agency cannot quantify the exact number of lives indirectly saved through ArriveCan,” the Agency wrote to the committee. “Without the use of restrictive measures and without high levels of vaccination Canada could have experienced higher numbers of infections and hospitalizations.”

On April 22, 2020, the federal government mandated that those travelling across the Canada–U.S. border would need to download the ArriveCAN app and pre-submit proof of vaccination prior to their arrival in Canada. The requirement was suspended on Oct. 1, 2022.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, ArriveCAN was initially described as a timesaver, with the Department of Public Safety writing in a June 5 Inquiry of Ministry that the app saved travellers “about five minutes.”

The federal government’s Chief Technology Officer Minh Doan also told the committee on Nov. 14 that the app was “value for money,” and “as I am concerned it saved lives.”

For months, the committee has been examining how three companies received millions in taxpayer dollars to develop the ArriveCAN app. Critics have claimed the app could have been developed for a fraction of its $54 million cost.

‘Very Difficult’

Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, a medical doctor, acknowledged Mr. Doan’s claim about lives saved from the app being unverifiable. “Having studied public health I would think that finding that evidence is going to be very difficult,” said Mr. Powlowski.

The Public Health Agency has repeatedly claimed vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and other public health restrictions saved lives. Harpreet Kochhar, then-PHAC president, testified to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee that a PHAC study found 800,000 lives were saved and 1.9 million hospitalizations avoided because of COVID-19 vaccines and other health measures.

In a follow-up briefing note, PHAC claimed pandemic restrictions “might have saved up to 760,000 lives,” but did not share the specific modelling used to come up with the figures.

Health Minister Mark Holland told the Commons on Nov. 1 that cabinet “saved literally hundreds of thousands of lives, which is something we should be deeply proud of.”

According to PHAC estimates, over 56,000 Canadians died from COVID-19.