Americas

Trudeau Government Slammed by Auditor Over Pandemic Travel App

An arriving traveler walks towards a mandatory Covid-19 testing area at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2021.Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
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Canada’s auditor general published a scathing report on a border customs app that was rushed through development during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying the government’s “documentation, financial records and controls were so poor” that the cost couldn’t be precisely determined.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government ordered the development of the ArriveCan app in March 2020 to collect contact and health information from travelers and assist with quarantine measures. It then expanded the project to also process the customs and immigration forms required by people entering Canada.