Ottawa, October 29, 2026—A report from Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled today in the House of Commons found problems in the procurement of technology to support the Government of Canada’s call centres and a process managed without due regard for economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. Building on last year’s audit of the Canada Revenue Agency’s contact centres, this audit focused on Shared Services Canada’s contracts for both the original call centre system and its new, cloud‑based replacements.
In 2013, Shared Services Canada planned to modernize more than 220 federal call centres. Following a procurement process, the Hosted Contact Centre Service (HCCS) contract was awarded in 2015. By 2020, Shared Services Canada had reconsidered its approach, and 8 call centres were onboarded to the HCCS. Implementation costs had grown to $52 million, 3 times the initial estimate of $16 million.
A procurement error resulted in Shared Services Canada’s decision to reduce some of the HCCS’s features and tools to remain within budget. As a result, Shared Services Canada did not obtain the best value for money. We also found weaknesses in contract administration, as rigorous payment controls were not exercised, and invoiced amounts were not verified as required.
As the contract and optional extension to the HCCS are nearing their end, the audit found weaknesses in Shared Services Canada’s process to plan and procure its replacements. These procurement processes were launched late, despite the lessons learned with the HCCS. This increased costs and led to a contract extension and dependence on legacy systems to ensure call centre service continuity.
The 2026 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Procuring Technology for Call Centres, is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.
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