Feds Paid Consulting Firm Accenture $208 Million to Manage COVID Program

The logo of Irish services and consulting company Accenture is seen at a temporary office during the World Economic Forum summit in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, on May 25, 2022. (Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

The price tag to outsource one of Ottawa’s COVID support programs came to over $220 million, with $208 million going to multinational consulting firm Accenture Inc., according to an official document.

Export Development Canada (EDC), a crown corporation with the mission to help Canadian businesses abroad, had been tasked by the federal government early in the pandemic to manage the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA).

In an Inquiry of Ministry tabled by the Liberal government in the House of Commons on April 17, EDC provided details on the program meant to support small businesses with loans.

EDC says the total cost for external services to manage CEBA is $220,560,679. The Crown corporation also provided a breakdown for each contract issued to Accenture, which totalled $208,087,622.

EDC says in the document it “made the full decision to contract and negotiate the contracts with Accenture.”

The fact that the federal government had outsourced its main pandemic loan program to private companies was not known until the Globe and Mail reported on it in February. At that time it had found $61 million in contracts to Accenture for the program in open records.

A subsequent early April report from the Globe based on data obtained through access to information noted that a total of $146 million was paid to Accenture for CEBA management.

EDC says the services provided by Accenture involved staff augmentation and technology services. It added that 15 of its staff are committed to CEBA management.

The largest contracts issued to Accenture were for “capacity based staff augmentation,” ranging from $17 to $38 million.

The CEBA program provided loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits with close to 900,000 entities signing up. Total funds approved for loans is $49.2 billion.

EDC spokesperson Shelley Maclean told The Epoch Times that the Cown corporation was not equipped to run the program when tasked by the government in March 2020.

“The CEBA program requirements fell outside of EDC’s core expertise as an export credit agency,” she said.

“The complex nature and scope of CEBA’s requirements necessitated external resources to assist in development, launch, and efficient operation.”

Maclean said the program was designed, developed, and launched within two weeks of receiving the direction, with the build being outsourced to Accenture from the onset. This was “essential” to the successful deployment of the program, she added.

Accenture provided and continues to provide “most of the core operational services and staff augmentation that underpin the program.” This includes running a dedicated call centre and managing the digital platforms.

Accenture declined to comment on its involvement and deferred to Maclean.

The Inquiry of Ministry was the result of an order paper filed by NDP MP Gord Johns, who sits on the House of Commons government operations committee.

The committee is currently undertaking a study of the contracts given to consulting firm McKinsey, which have ballooned since the Liberals took power in 2015.

But early in the study attention has turned to the entire ecosystem of consulting firms who receive contracts from the government, with McKinsey only touching a fraction of the money.

Public Services and Procurement Canada has awarded $104.6 million in contracts to McKinsey since 2015, with $14.4 million being awarded by other departments. The figures provided have changed in recent months and could be non-exhaustive.

By comparison, Accenture was awarded $388,741,265 in contracts since 2015, according to another Inquiry of Ministry tabled on April 17, also after a request for information made by Johns.

Johns’ office told The Epoch Times he was not available to comment. He has previously called on the committee to expand its study to other consulting firms.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier told the government operations committee on Feb. 8 that Ottawa’s spending on outsourcing is consistent with the size of the government.

“I think we have to make sure that we do focus on the fact that we have, as a government, a very ambitious agenda,” Fortier told the MPs to justify the spending.

One of the demands of the striking public servants is to eliminate outsourcing, but Fortier says this is not realistic.

“On contracting out, we intend to reduce this practice as we outlined in Budget 2023,” she wrote in an open letter on April 24. “That said, we hope everyone can understand that reducing it to zero would severely compromise the Government’s ability to deliver services and work for Canadians.”