Canada Audit Finds Call-Centre Costs Tripled as Procurement Oversight Fell Short

Canada's federal auditor has documented how an uncorrected procurement error, weak invoice checks and late replacement planning complicated the government's effort to modernize public call centres. The findings, tabled in Parliament on October 29, concern a service that residents use to reach tax, benefits and immigration agencies.

Shared Services Canada awarded IBM Canada a contract in 2015 for the Hosted Contact Centre Service, originally intended to support a modernization of more than 220 federal call centres. By 2020, eight centres had joined that service, and deployment costs had reached C$52 million, three times the initial estimate. The auditor said the procurement documents did not properly account for data-storage costs. Rather than correct the bidding documents, officials changed how storage fees would be calculated after award and removed some planned features.

The audit separates the C$52 million deployment cost from the wider contract. Approximately C$180 million had been spent on the contract by March 2026, and its value is expected to total C$251 million through 2028 after option years and an extension. Auditors also found that invoice amounts had not been verified as required. They did not say that documentation gaps in the newer replacement procurements changed which vendors were selected.

The public-service consequence is an avoidable transition risk: procurement delays have extended reliance on the older system, which is due to reach end of life after December 2028. The auditor recommended that Shared Services Canada prioritize replacement work with affected agencies and technical experts. The findings establish failures of process and oversight, not a finding of fraud or misconduct by the contractors.