A Canadian tech CEO listed on $1.2-million ArriveCan contract says his company never worked on the app

A Canadian tech CEO says he has no idea why his company is listed as having received a $1.2-million ArriveCan contract and is calling on the Canada Border Services Agency to issue a correction.

In an interview, ThinkOn CEO Craig McLellan said he was surprised to read in The Globe and Mail that his company was listed as the sixth-ranked company in terms of federal outsourcing contracts related to developing and maintaining the ArriveCan app.

“We have received no money from the CBSA,” said Mr. McLellan.

The ranking is based on information tabled last month in Parliament by the CBSA. The agency said ThinkOn Inc. received contract work valued at $1,183,432 related to ArriveCan between Jan. 21, 2020 and March 31, 2022. The CBSA specifically said that ThinkOn provided “experimentation of mobile QR code scanning and verification.”

mr. McLellan told The Globe and Mail that QR code scanning is not a service his company provides.

“We’re not even remotely in that space,” he said.

In response to questions from the Globe, a spokesperson for the CBSA said Thursday that they would look into the issue and respond as soon as possible.

ThinkOn is a Canadian company that competes with large multinationals such as Amazon Web Services to provide cloud computing. Amazon Web Services is listed as the third company on the CBSA’s list, with a reported value of $4.29-million in contract work on ArriveCan.

After the Globe published the list, Mr. McLellan said he began receiving calls from colleagues in the tech sector asking about his company’s inclusion on the list of ArriveCan contractors.

“It caught me by surprise,” he said. “I think the amount of money they attributed to us was probably more than our total revenue generated within the federal government in the last fiscal year.”

mr. McLellan said his company is contracted to offer cloud computing services to Shared Services Canada, but it has no current contracting relationship with the CBSA. He said none of his company’s existing work could be connected to ArriveCan in any way.

“I really can’t imagine how we could have been attributed to it,” he said.

mr. McLellan wrote to the CBSA on Wednesday asking for an explanation as to how his company ended up on the list of ArriveCan suppliers. As of midday Thursday, he had not received a response.

The House of Commons committee on government operations and the estimates is scheduled to begin hearings Thursday into the cost to build and maintain the ArriveCan app, which the Globe first reported is on pace to reach $54-million this fiscal year.

The CBSA provided new information to The Globe earlier this week showing that the app began as an $80,000 expense at the onset of the pandemic, before growing to $54-million this year over the course of more than 70 updates.

The government operations committee approved a motion this week that called on departments to provide the list of contractors and subcontractors, the breakdown of the costs, the list of contracts and all requests for proposals and invoices related to the app.

The company listed as having received the most federal outsourcing work – at $9-million – related to the app as of March 31, 2022 is GCstrategies. It has fewer than five employees and relies on more than 75 subcontractors to deliver on its contracts with more than a dozen government departments.

Both the company and the government have said the identities of subcontractors are private third-party information that cannot be released.

During Question Period Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to commit that the government will release the names of subcontractors who worked on ArriveCan. mr. Trudeau did not say one way or the other whether the government will release that information.

mr. Poilievre raised the app’s $54-million cost and the fact that software errors at times sent Canadian travelers into quarantine unnecessarily.

“Will the Prime Minister supply Canadians with a full list of all the contractors who got the money?” he asked.

“As Canadians well know, since day one of the pandemic we were focused on providing them the support and the safety necessary in this unprecedented time, despite the political games the Conservatives chose to play throughout the pandemic,” Mr. Trudeau replied.

“Obviously, the amount quoted includes far more than just the initial development of the app. It includes services like cloud storage, IT call center services, upgrades and future costs.”

ArriveCan was initially created as a way for travelers to upload mandatory health information related to COVID-19. It has since been expanded to allow users to answer customs and immigration questions. The app was no longer mandatory as of Sept. 30, but it continues as a voluntary option.

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