Company that worked on ArriveCan app barred from government contracts for 7 years

By Canadian Press on June 6, 2025.

OTTAWA — Ottawa says it has banned the largest contractor that worked on the ArriveCan app from entering into contracts or real property agreements with the government for seven years.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has announced that GC Strategies Inc. has been deemed “ineligible” after an assessment of the supplier’s conduct.

Last year, the department suspended the security status of GC Strategies, which the auditor general says was awarded more than $19 million for the project.

The federal government launched the app in April 2020 as a way to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to digitize customs and immigration declarations.

On Monday, Canada’s auditor general Karen Hogan is set to deliver an audit focusing on whether the contracts awarded and the payments made to GC Strategies and other companies were good value for money.

Public Services and Procurement Canada says the government continues to take action to “strengthen the integrity of the procurement process.”