LOCATION: Ottawa, ON
ISSUE/SOURCE: Fraudulent Overbilling on Federal Contracts
DATE: August 2024
SUGGESTED RESPONSES
- Transport Canada is cooperating with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and has provided all details of contracts, invoices and timesheets relating to these investigations.
- Transport Canada is strengthening contract management by tightening oversight, establishing clear invoicing guidelines, requiring detailed documentation for billable hours, and ensuring that deliverables are verified before authorizing payments.
IF PRESSED:
- The restitution process to recover the overbilled amounts is centralized and led by PSPC on behalf of all affected departments.
- PSPC has a framework of laws, regulations, policies, programs, and services in place to prevent, detect and respond to potential wrongdoing, in order to safeguard the integrity of the federal procurement system.
- PSPC has taken action to revoke or suspend the security status of the subcontractors in question and has referred the cases to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
- PSPC conducted investigations relating to the billing practices of three resources (subcontractors) of prime contractors holding professional services contracts with departments and agencies of the Government of Canada.
- PSPC detected several fraudulent billing schemes undertaken by subcontractors (individuals) working on federal contracts awarded to prime contractors (suppliers). Transport Canada was among 38 affected federal departments and crown corporations.
- Two contracts issued by PSPC on behalf of Transport Canada were impacted for an overbilled amount of $82,397. Transport Canada continues to collaborate with PSPC on this ongoing investigation.