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A federal pandemic app, costing taxpayers over $7 million in salaries and overtime, saw minimal use despite the expense, Access to Information records show.

Despite then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's push, the Covid Alert app, meant to curb COVID-19, was downloaded by only 21% of Canadian mobile users, falling short of his 50% effectiveness target.

DOCUMENTS show failed Covid Alert app was @TSB_Canada bonanza with $7.5M for staff with overtime: "The application was developed by the gov't in 45 days." https://t.co/jXQuSa0bR7 @KellyMcCauleyMP pic.twitter.com/O8o86BM2T0

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) October 27, 2025

A Treasury Board memo revealed that a government app, developed in 45 days, cost $20 million, with $7.5 million for federal salaries and benefits. Millions more went to sole-sourced contractors, including GC Strategies, now under RCMP investigation for alleged billing fraud related to the $60 million ArriveCan program.

Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, chair of the Government Operations Committee, uncovered these details while probing pandemic-era contracting, as reported by Blacklock’s.

The squandering of tax dollars by the Trudeau regime continues to escalate with each revelation of greed and incompetence surrounding the ArriveCAN app.

FULL REPORT by @TamaraUgo: https://t.co/PDM96yH6dS pic.twitter.com/9tQNSQx1UG

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 2, 2024

Launched on June 18, 2020, the Covid Alert app enabled COVID-19-positive users to anonymously upload a key code, alerting nearby registered users. Trudeau promoted the app, stating in 2020, "The more people use it, the better it can trace and therefore slow the spread of the virus.”

He added that a 50% uptake would make the app “extraordinarily useful” in preventing future outbreaks. When pressed on a backup plan if adoption fell short, Trudeau vaguely replied, “What we are doing, as it is, continues.”

Despite this push, the app fell far short of expectations.

The $63 million ArriveCan app, a Liberal government contrivance, symbolizes pandemic-era corruption, enriching insiders while confining Canadians.

Visit Rebel News for more on this story by @TamaraUgo: https://t.co/RJLzsdsGEt pic.twitter.com/77YNGy06wu

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 20, 2025

A 2022 Covid App Advisory Council report “recognized that COVID Alert was unable to reach its full potential due to technological, adoption, process, resource and individual level factors.”

“… efforts were limited by resources and did not lead to significant improvements from a user perspective,” it furthered.

While COVID Alert’s usage remains limited, the Council believes that the development of such an app can help inform how digital government services can be improved to provide Canadians and public health professionals with better tools when dealing with future public health crises.

Department of Health polls revealed many Canadians viewed the app as “an invasion of privacy,” with concerns like “I don’t want the government to have access to my location data” and “I don’t trust the government to handle my data.”

This marks another costly and poorly overseen pandemic spending error, leaving Canadians questioning how millions were spent on a response with no tangible results or accountability.