Question Period Note: Contracts Related to ArriveCan

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), awarded three professional services contracts in support of the ArriveCan application: one to create the application; one to improve its accessibility; and one to maintain and make improvements to it, along with other IM/IT applications. While the two initial contracts were non-competitive, the third contact, which is currently in place to provide maintenance and ongoing support for ArriveCan and other applications, was competitively awarded.

• Public Services and Procurement Canada is committed to an open, fair and transparent procurement process, while obtaining the best possible value for Canadian taxpayers
  • The Canada Border Services Agency had an urgent requirement for professional services to develop, integrate and maintain a new secure application to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The requirements were complex, and included integrating multiple data sources from across Canada, including passport and public health data
  • As a result, and part of the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 8, 2020, PSPC awarded, on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency, a contract to GCStrategies Inc. to create the ArriveCan application
  • GCstrategies was previously working on other mobile applications when they were selected by the Canada Border Services Agency to develop ArriveCan
  • Public Services and Procurement Canada subsequently awarded a second contract to the company on December 18, 2020, to improve the accessibility of the ArriveCan application to ensure compliance with the Accessibility Act
  • On May 16, 2022, as a result of a competitive procurement process, Public Services and Procurement Canada awarded a three-year contract to GCStrategies Inc., in part to maintain and support ArriveCan, along with other IM/IT needs

If pressed:

• Given the urgency to have tools in place to respond to the pandemic, the two initial contracts were awarded under the COVID-19 Emergency Contracting Authorities, and amounted to a combined value of $19.8 million, of which up to $17.7 million was approved for use, leaving a balance of $2.1 million
• The more recent maintenance and support contract, valid until 2025, was awarded after a competitive procurement process and is currently valued at up to $25.4 million, a portion of which will relate to ArriveCan
• This competitive contract with GCStrategies Inc. is a task-based contract for Canada Border Services Agency, to maintain and support ArriveCan and other IM/IT applications

If pressed on subcontracting by GCStrategies Inc.:

• Canada is aware that GCStrategies Inc. subcontracts work, which is customary in the IT industry; Canada does not have a contractual relationship with any of these subcontractors
• All resources proposed by GCStrategies Inc. to perform the work must comply with the requirements of the contract, including security and integrity provisions

ArriveCan was procured on an urgent basis at the beginning of the pandemic to track and trace travellers as they crossed the border. The two initial contracts, which are both expired, were non-competitive and collectively worth $19.8 million of which up to $17.7 million was approved for use.

A recent news report cited a $54 million cost for developing ArriveCan. This appears to have been calculated by the media based on input from Canada Border Services Agency on costs to date, including cloud computing services and advertising costs unrelated to the three contracts with GCStrategies Inc. to support border measures. The $54 million is not an accurate representation of the costs to develop the application.

The first contract was awarded for $2.35 million to integrate multiple data sources from across Canada and develop a new mobile application, known as ArriveCan. This contract was amended five times, bringing the total value to $13.9 million, of which $12.8 million was approved for use. The actual amount spent under the contract is currently under review by the Canada Border Services Agency.

The second contract was put in place to address accessibility requirements not covered under the initial contract. It was awarded for $2.89 million and amended three times, bringing the total value to $5.9 million, of which $4.9 million was approved for use. The actual amount spent under the contract is currently under review by the Canada Border Services Agency.

The current and third contract is to support various Canada Border Services Agency IM/IT applications, which includes a broad range of software development, maintenance and support services (e.g. mobile iOS and Android applications and smart technologies, web applications, systems integration, user analytics and security, etc.). Included in this requirement is the maintenance and support of the ArriveCan application. The maximum value of the current contract, which was awarded following a competitive process and runs to 2025, is $25.4 million. As of October 13, 2022, 42 task authorizations have been issued under the contract for a combined value of $11.9 million. The actual amount spent under the contract that relates to ArriveCan maintenance and support is currently under review by the Canada Border Services Agency.

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