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ArriveCAN

ArriveCAN is a Canadian mobile application which served as a vaccine passport during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was required by the Government of Canada to submit COVID-19 vaccine status and quarantine plans.[1]

Development

ArriveCAN was created by a development team hired by GC Strategies through a pre-existing contract with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).[2]

Included in the border control web and mobile application’s exceptional $50+ million price tag was “$4.6 million (9%) to develop a proof of vaccination credential to authenticate and verify, in real time, using the industry standard ‘Smart Health Card,’ the traveller’s proof of vaccination delivered by provinces and territories, as well as international ones.”[3]

The app launched in April 2020.[4]

Further reading

  1. COVID-19: Use ArriveCAN to enter Canada. (2022, June 27). Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2022.07.02-122151/https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/services/arrivecan.html ↩︎

  2. Clark, C. (2022, October 24). Nobody knows what happened with ArriveCan, but it sure was lucrative for some. The Globe and Mail. http://archive.today/2022.10.24-165744/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-nobody-knows-what-happened-with-arrivecan-but-it-sure-was-lucrative/ ↩︎

  3. Canada Border Services Agency. (2022, October 24). ArriveCAN costs. Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2023.06.15-231015/https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/fs-ef/2022/acc-cac-eng.html ↩︎

  4. Johnson, M. (2023, June 1). $54 Million ArriveCAN Boondoggle Leads to Calls for Transparency. Open Jaw. https://web.archive.org/web/20230603041953/https://openjaw.com/newsroom/other-news/2023/06/01/54-million-arrivecan-boondoggle-leads-to-calls-for-transparency/ ↩︎